RANGER AGAINST WAR: SOCOM and GOMORRAH <

Tuesday, March 06, 2012

SOCOM and GOMORRAH

--Ranger was recently awarded the FUBAR
medal by Ranger Andy
of the Society for Dysfunctional Vets


"And you will know I am the Lord

When I lay me vengeance upon you."

I just thought it was a cold-blooded thing

to say to a motherfucker

before I popped a cap in his ass

--Pulp Fiction
(1944)

They had found a can of white paint,

and on the front doors of the cab

Frank had painted white stars,

and on the roof he had painted

the letters of a granfaloon:

USA

--Cat's Cradle
, Kurt Vonnegut
___________________

Contrary to the views of people like Rick Santorum & Co., God rained destruction down upon the residents of Sodom and Gamorrah not because, to quote the coy Santorum, they were "do[ing] things in the sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be." No -- they angered a tightly-strung God because they took advantage of travelers; Good Samaritans they were not:

"It is only somewhat mollifying to realize that the sin of Sodom was not homosexuality but inhospitality. You can't tell from this episode whether God is against buggery, but you can be sure he takes a dim view of raping perfectly nice strangers who come to visit" (The Gift of the Jews, Cahill, p. 77).

The next set of gods were Greek, and they emphasized the host's imperative to treat guests well. These guys learned from others mistakes (but don't look for any sexual changes there.)


So what are the rules of godly etiquette for treatment of people in their own homes, sleeping in their own bedrooms?

We in the U.S. believe a man's home is his castle. Here in the Gunshine State in 2005, our own Governor Jeb Bush signed State Bill 436, the "Castle Doctrine", into law. It basically
establishes the presumption that a criminal who forcibly enters or intrudes into your home or occupied vehicle is there to cause death or great bodily harm, therefore a person may use any manner of force, including deadly force, against that person (gunlaws.com).

Reasonable enough idea: Someone does a home invasion, they are not coming to bring you cupcakes. However, the Castle Doctrine was violated when god created an unclassified critter cataloged as the SOCOM (
Special Operations Command) WARRIOR. A SOCOM warrior breaks into people's homes, usually under cover of darkness, and violates their very existence, defying the sacredness of the home.

The biblical god allowed the Angel of Death to kill Egyptian babies in their cribs, but SEALs are not god's angels of death. Sadly, even many otherwise informed people think that SEALs are "kill teams".

RangerAgainstWar will call this sin, SOCOMY. Forgive them, Lord, for they know not what they do. Thinking is not their purview.

As the the poet Tennyson wrote, "
Theirs not to reason why / Theirs is but to do and die."

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2 Comments:

Anonymous Alan said...

It is quite the quandary when the state says your home is inviolate and then with a twist of reality the state says except your ass is mine when we need some theatrical distraction. And if that means law enforcement drama - (according to recent court decisions stating you have no right to challenge the identity of someone claiming to be an officer of the law in the process of breaking into your home) you have to take that home invasion.

We call this process, "schismogenesis," - the creation of insanity through creating intolerable conflict in what is real. A state of contradiction which cannot be rationally resolved.

Can we pretend any longer that we are not just another thuggish empire on the treadmill of time, an empire of great leaders who seek expanded growth and power, and not of law? So much of what we do now is a total raping and pillaging of other people.

Predator drones over anywhere?

Really?

Contemplating bombing IRAN now?

Really?

I guess this is just the normal evolution of civilizations; we too are subject to our nature and our nurture. And we really need resources.

That of course is a big part of my personal moral wrestling: we all want our loyalty and sacrifice to be meaningful (hint - we are wired that way) and we all want to identifiably be seen as really valuable, and for our neighbors to be altruistic (in return for dubious one-sided treaties), and for our society to be somewhat beneficially protective, and to be just.

Cynically, I say, "just limited in sharing its benefits to mostly us, that is."

Well, half of us are below average, and we don't use average to describe rocket scientists. There will be plenty of fodder, er, loyal warriors and real citizens, for the interesting times to come.

Monday, March 12, 2012 at 11:32:00 AM GMT-5  
Blogger rangeragainstwar said...

Alan,
I read a good comment yesterday-re; Rush L.
To wit; the repubs favor bombing Iran, but they're afraid of what Rush will say about their candidacies.
that sums it up perfectly.
jim

Tuesday, March 13, 2012 at 8:11:00 AM GMT-5  

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