Patriotism and I have never crossed paths, and it seems less and less likely that we ever will. Lately this country has been scaring me as much as it scares other countries.
In August, President Bill Clinton admitted he had an affiar of sorts with Monica Lewinsky. The very next day he bombed terrorist sites in Afganistan and Sudan. Suddenly, a president that appeared foolish and decieving was putting people on the other side of the globe "in their place", and all of a sudden his bleak approval rating soared. To me, this can only have meant one thing; the American public dislikes but forgives infidelity, and it loves to hear that we are still capable of killing non-Americans left and right. The gullibility of the public scares me alright, but not as much as Bill Clinton wielding our country like a blunt weapon.
Apparently, the knowledge of this entire terrorist organization was top secret. I have tried to keep as informed about Arab terrorist organizations as I can, and this one didn't ring a bell (okay, I'm kidding, but they were still unmentioned until now). Of course, they were apparently responsible for the attempted World Trade Center bombing and the ambassador building in Africa that was blown up, we just didn't have any evidence. Well, in that case I should have been very excited, right? I mean this band of hired guns must have been on the brink of destroying us all. Unfortunately, our government was not willing to present the public with the exact information linking this group to the attacks. And it's not just we U.S. citizens who were missing out. The United Nations and the countries we bombed didn't get a real answer either. As it turns out, Sudan even claimed that the site that was bombed was in fact not a terrorist building but a medical supply building.
We, the lucky public, were assured that this was all done within our best interests. The immediate results we got weren't so ideal. A Planet Hollywood restaurant in Africa was soon mysteriously bombed, but the odds were that it could have been anyone causing that disaster. By this point, anti-Americanism was spreading fast, and we were very quickly being observed as a country that fires missiles and asks questions later.
It is in this part of the story that I honestly start to worry. Our president was setting us up for an honest to goodness war. It's pretty easy to put two and two together and think:
"Hmm... Clinton admitted to those affairs, but first he lied and made those women look like whores and liars themselves. Could he be applying that mind-set when he's using weapons of mass destruction?"
This opinion may or may not be founded, but if you asked a Clinton spokesman what his response to that is, he would probably tell you not to worry. He'd tell you that it's ridiculous to think such things. It is my strong opinion that these worries are at least remotely founded, and that we should never be put in a place where we as citizens need to worry about things like that. I don't care if Bill promises it's what is best for defending our country, he can only defend his personal life by lying. Bill Clinton will forever be remembered by myself as the president who said "Hi, I'm a liar, and now I am going to blow some random people up.".
On a more personal note, I was scared out of my mind along with many other Chicago residents that following weekend. That weekend, you see, was the annual Chicago Air and Water Show, featuring loud stunt jets and stunt skiing off Navy Pier. Every year, I think it sounds like war with all those jets. Well, three days after Bill Clinton bombed those countries, and all that anti-U.S. talk was building up, I woke up to a series of low flying Blue Angels. I had forgotten about the air show, and now there were a bunch of sonic booms and jet screeches making my apartment shake violently. In retrospect I can snicker at the way I ran around in my empty apartment yelling "Oh shit, we're all gonna die! Aah!". Sure, I was just imagining Chicago was under a missile attack, but I don't feel any safer now than I did then.