May Weeds

As I write this, on an absolutely gorgeous April weekend in the Pacific Northwest, I find myself red-eyed and angry. The sun is shining, trees are blossoming, flowers are blooming, birds are chirping, and here I sit pounding away at my keyboard.

It’s not that I’m stuck inside watching the beauty of nature unfold through my window—heck, if I were out there with the blossoms and blooms I’d probably be even more red-eyed…and sneezing. Allergies make this time of year a very trying one for yours truly.

No, I just feel bitterly disappointed to see what’s become of our once-proud country. Now that our economy seems to be based on the outsourcing of jobs—manufacturing nothing while consuming everything; now that our foreign policy seems to be based on nation invading rather than nation building, I fear for America’s future. The United States, like Spring seeds, is capable of so much greatness and beauty. Yet now it looks more like an untended garden overrun with weeds…

We have all seen the images of the grisly deaths of American “contractors” in Iraq. You probably assumed, as did I, that these were innocent civilians—engineers and ditch diggers sporting pocket protectors and Palm Pilots. No. These “contractors” were, in fact, armed mercenaries (“security guards”). In all due deference to the families of these brutally slain men, I’m not trying to explain away their horrific murder. I simply want you all to picture this: An SUV full of armed Iraqis driving through the streets of an occupied Bellingham. Our jobs are lost, our homes, schools, churches, bombed. Do you, in your wildest dreams, suppose that you would welcome the invader, the “infidel?”

A great many Iraqis who formerly revered the United States and the freedom we stood for now hate and despise us. If they could come here and fight us on our very own soil, they would do so. Iraq was invaded in order to bring stability to the Middle East and safety to us here at home.

Now how much safer do you feel?

Instead of rebuilding Afghanistan and making it a shining beacon of democracy and progress, we’ve poured the American Empire’s wealth, sons and daughters into a simple-minded assault upon a regime that would have fallen of its own accord had we merely stayed the course. By now, the economic sanctions and military restraints imposed by the international community would have stopped Saddam in his tracks and most likely sent him fleeing. No burnt-out mosques, no thousands of dead civilians. Just an impotent (and probably overthrown) dictator and an Iraqi nation yearning for freedom.

But no. Seven hundred American lives (and counting) later, our nation has de-evolved from a shining outpost of hope into just another dark symbol of occupation and oppression.

From the grisly murders of those four “contractors” has emerged a grisly realization in the Islamic world: that America is just another imperial bully. The Bush Administration has transformed us from knights in shining armor into marauding crusaders.

Now how much safer do you feel?

Anyone heard how Attorney General John Ashcroft has fared with his recent gall bladder surgery? God(dess) knows the worthless old sack of poop had way too much gall to begin with—he’s been urinating on our civil liberties for years.

Be it duly noted that this reporter was pleasantly shocked to learn that St. Joseph’s Hospital is offering employee benefits to same-gender and other non-traditional domestic partners. Who’da thunkit? Such a forward-thinking proposal from a minion of the Catholic Church! Perhaps yours truly owes an apology to the Pope. By the way, other major local employers granting such rights (which, by all rights, should have been granted long ago by every major company) include the BP Refinery and Western Washington University. Kudos! Now let’s spread these good deeds among the rest of the unplowed corporate world.

Why isn’t Bellingham Mayor Mark Asmundson following the lead of so many other progressive civic leaders from coast to coast by presiding over the celebration of same-gender marriages on the steps of Bellingham City Hall? Where is Mayor Mark on this essential issue?

We damn well know where the Religious Right stands. But how, exactly, are gay unions a “threat to the institution of marriage?” Or, for that matter, how can such unions be “contrary to the teachings of our faith?” Two people who love each another and want to express their commitment by sealing their bond publicly and legally—this is a threat to marriage, this is contrary to your faith? Perhaps you need to examine your ideas about marriage and your religious beliefs.

Then there’s this nonsense from so-called “conservatives” about being opposed to “special rights” for gays. Since when is marriage a special right? Gay and lesbian couples should have a right to share the same benefits and responsibilities as heterosexual couples. Do we Americans now live under the very type of fundamentalist regime, driven by fear and intolerance, that we find ourselves opposing so vehemently in the Middle East? Increasingly, that appears to be the case.

Ah, but it is Spring, and Mother Earth is again reborn. Even through my red-eyed haze, I can see hope for the future. We just have lots and lots of weeding to do.

To contact Matthew, add spice to this casserole, or request Free Samples from his upcoming book, “Original Recipes: Ten Years of Tasty Columns from ‘Thuney Casserole’ and Other Early Entrees,” please write to P.O. Box 28983, Bellingham, WA 98228; or email mdthuney@email.msn.com. §