Send In The Clowns

Why, my wife asked, write a story about clowns? Why not, I said, they're the real heroes of a circus or rodeo. When you need a change of scenery they always appear. When a bull rider gets gored, the clowns appear to save him. And if the bull gets too close to home, they simply disappear into either a barrel or thin air. They can make the real magic, something out of nothing be so very real. I realized clowns are the true heroes of American politics: Karl Rove, Lee Atwater, Jerome Corsi, and now John O'Neill come to mind. Why discuss the economy or Iraq turning the corner, when both now have taken a turn down a back alley filled with uncertainty.

Simply send in the Clowns. Let's talk about memories of 35 years ago and Winter Soldiers stories. This is the stuff of relevance. I once heard that old soldiers never die, they just fade away. Apparently not, they seem to be dissected until those that never showed up for duty become the better because they were never there. A soldier that did his duty and served his country honorably earns the right to say whatever he believes from firsthand knowledge. Kerry's men campaign with him. George W. Bush's men don't seem to remember he was there, perhaps it was a different George or maybe a different Bush. All too often decisions involving our young men dying are made by older men who never witnessed the reality of war.

Unfortunately, the Mai Lai Massacre is documented proof that our actions in war were not always spotless. But certainly America has criminals and mentally ill people in our population as a whole and given wartime stress, some are less than perfect, as war is certainly not perfect. But the point is men of conscience cannot tolerate gross cruelty and murder whether or not it is civilian or military. That why we have a society the whole world envies, but everyone knows that there are problems. By pretending ugliness does not exist does nothing to stop it. Courage is the man that steps forward, not the coward that goes along with the crowd when he knows their actions are wrong. Lest we ever forget, the Nazis were only obeying orders.

No one implied or should have implied that everyone is perfect and the imperfection of the few does not tarnish the whole, nor do the majority absolve the wrong by inaction. If there were only one serial killer and you didn't stop him, his victims would be on your conscience. If you do not stop and render aid to an accident victim, you commit a crime against the suffering. To a religious man, war itself may be an atrocity. Or then again Send In The Clowns.

Thomas P. Love