Something 4 The Weekend # 20

As I write this post the story broke that Saddam Hussein was executed in Iraq, at the end of a noose, which somehow seems like a fitting end to a violent year. I certainly won't come to Hussein's defense, but I will note that the 142 deaths for which he was convicted occurred in 1982, a year when Hussein was one of the United States' allies. He was our ally because Iran was our enemy at the time, and even though the US knew the man was evil, he was a necessary evil.

I'm certainly no expert on geopolitics, and I'm not exactly sure what any of this has to do with the coming new year, or this particular post, the last SOMETHING 4 THE WEEKEND of 2006, but I've been listening to The Thermals' latest album, The Body, The Blood, The Machine, quite a bit lately, and this song in particular, piques my curiosity and imagination.

The Thermals: "Power Doesn't Run On Nothing": 128k mp3

I hope I don't sound too trite when I say that power runs on human blood, and broken bones, and shattered families, and the inherent unfairness that governs this world and our lives. As you read this, carbombs are exploding somewhere in Iraq, innocent Iraqi's and American soldiers are dying, and that country is being pulled further into the bleak, black abyss. As you read this, young American men and women are being trained to carry out the will and whim of the current Bush administration, which includes plenty more sacrificial blood and bones, and shattered lives. Of course, the same is true on the insurgent's side. All in the name of God, which plenty people easily forget is the same God on both sides of the Iraqi war. Same God, different names. Now THAT'S power. And the rest of us are merely fodder.

I hope that 2007 is a good and better year for you, and me, and all the fodder in the world, but I hope this with full knowledge that it really won't be the case. Not really. There's plenty more blood to be spilled, plenty more innocent lives to be destroyed, and even though you might get that promotion, that raise, and even though I might fall in love, none of it really matters. The occupation continues, the insurgency continues, and all I'm left with is the belief that "evil" is the rule, not the exception.

Hotcha New Year!
Hank