[thechat] more of my ramblings...

[Erika Meyer]

Why are we trying to kill Saddam Hussein again?  Is that what we do 
now, with heads of state we don't like? 

When I hear about these efforts, I can't help but think about Geronimo 
and Chief Joseph who, along with scores of men, women, and children,  
eluded US army for so long, but because of the endless resources and 
mercilessness approach of the US, they too had to surrender, 
eventually, and embrace the concentration camps that we liked to 
call "Indian Reservations."

  Yes, Geronimo and Chief Joseph... and lessee, Bigfoot, theres another 
one.  Bigfoot's band hid in the mountains until weakened by starvation 
and pneumonia, they finally surrendered... and lessee, after they 
surrendered, the US army gathered them into one area, disarmed them... 
and then, with all the people surrounded, the army killed 300 men, 
women and children with their shiny new-fangled automatic weapons.  
This was about Christmas time, 1890.

What a clever strategy! 
1. make your enemy surrender 
2. disarm them 
3. kill them

I am pro-gun control.  I don't think that hand-held weaponry has much 
chance of saving us from any military machine.  In general, American 
Indians tend to be very anti-gun control.  Because Wounded Knee (and 
many other similar massacres of unarmed villages) is the vision some 
people have when it comes to any thought of disarming.

Maybe they have a point.  California Indians were some of the most 
peaceful on the continent... and only about 10% of them survived the 
latter half 19th century.  However, I think it had more to do with 
location: those in locations most desirable to whites suffered the 
worst fates.  

In CA it was gold.  In Iraq, it's "black gold."

I can't help but wish for the survival of anyone who's death our 
government deems so desirable it is willing to kill thousands of 
civilians to bring it about.  Anyone remember the good ol days, when 
Bush was just killing mentally retarded inmates in Texas.... well I 
guess the death penalty is just a gateway drug... kill kill kill... I'm 
sure it gets easier as you go along... oops there goes another life... 
had to do it.  had to do it... it's a child... the next child will be 
easier... soon you won't feel a thing... you will just aim and fire aim 
and fire...

Yeah, Geronimo, Bigfoot, Chief Joseph... now they are dead we can 
respect them.  But back in the day, they were "hostile savages."  Why?  
Because they wanted to live free, they wanted the opportunity for their 
children to live as they had lived for tens of thousands of years.  For 
that, they had to be imprisoned or killed.

"If you know your history, then you will know where you're coming 
from.  And you wouldn't have to ask me who the heck do I think I am."
-- Bob Marley "Buffalo Soldier"

Erika