What a Long Strange Trip it‘s Been

Aug. 18, 2004

I was watching a movie on HBO the other night called “Live From Baghdad,” when it occurred to me what a long, long time we’ve been mixed up in the affairs of Iraq.
The film was also a reminder that “they started it,” or at least Saddam Hussein did, by invading Kuwait back in 1990. Some of us have perhaps forgotten that little detail.
That was 14 years ago, and it seems like ancient history now. There are people reading the Northern Express today who weren’t even born then, but most of us can still recall being glued to the tube for the 1991 bombing of Baghdad.
That first Gulf War seems as old as Babylon itself now. By contrast, I was born during the Korean War, just seven years after World War II. By that time, the greatest shoot-out in history was already a fleeting memory for many Americans because we were up to our necks in the Cold War and worried about the Soviet’s hydrogen bombs and millions of Chinese communists.
No one gave a second thought about what the Japanese, Germans or Italians were up to seven years after WWII, much less 14. By comparison, it‘s hard to believe we‘ve been tied to the Iraqis for 14 years now. Consider all that’s happened since the first Gulf War:

• Bill Clinton’s election and Whitewater, sexual abuse allegations and the Monica Lewinski impeachment.
• The federal attacks on Ruby Ridge and Waco and the resulting rise of the militia movement, the Oklahoma City bombing, and the Atlanta Olympics bomb.
• The fall of the Communist Party and disintegration of the Soviet Union; the creation of East European democracies and their membership in NATO.
• The first bomb in the World Trade Center, attacks on our African embassies and the U.S.S. Cole.
• African genocide, 60 million AIDS cases.
• The rise of the computer age, email, the World Wide Web, digital music and films.
• The millennium and the Y2K scare.
• U.S. bombs in Bosnia, the No-Fly zone in Iraq, the Palestinian uprising.
• Enron’s looting of California during its energy crisis. Corporate crooks Kenneth Lay, Martha Stewart and a host of CEOs. The Jon Benet Ramsey case, O.J. Simpson, the Scott Peterson case, Nancy Smart’s abduction...
• The historic 2000 presidential election and its delayed findings, Florida vote count and Supreme Court decision. H. Ross Perot scuttling the re-election of the first George Bush and Ralph Nader scuttling Al Gore.
• World trade agreements that have drained America of manufacturing jobs. The rise of China as America’s junk maker and Walmart as its pusher.
• The destruction of the Twin Towers, anthrax attacks, the war in Afghanistan, the Patriot Act, invasion of Iraq...

And so much more, all since Saddam invaded Kuwait 14 years ago. Add in the No Fly Zone bombings, dogfights and Oil for Food events of the ‘90s and we’ve literally been at war with Iraq since 1991 with no end in sight.
Wonder where we’ll be 14 years from now?

Nader radar:
A poll claims that three percent of Michigan voters plan to cast their ballots for independent candidate Ralph Nader this election.
That’s a lot of people -- there were 6,859,332 voters registered in Michigan during the 2000 presidential election. If three percent vote for Nader in 2004, that would be a little more than 204,000 votes.
Who are these guys? The Lost Tribe of Naderites? Disgruntled cave-dwelling supporters of Dennis Kucinch?
During the last election it wasn’t hard to find people in Northern Michigan who planned to vote for Nader. But those were more idealistic days. I don’t know of a single soul from that crowd who’s planning to get back on the good ship Nader this year. Perhaps there’s someone living in a teepee out in the boonies who’s still carrying a torch for Ralph... but three percent of all voters?
Still, I believe the polls. It’s not hard to imagine someone pulling a pollster‘s leg on the phone just to get off the line and back to a “Seinfeld” rerun. “Yeah, I’m voting for Ralph Nader.” There’s got to be three people out of 100 who think that would be a pretty funny response.