Agent Orange, dioxin, and Vietnam

Friday's—June 22, 2007— program on Democracy Now was about the lawsuit working its way through the U.S. courts for which "earlier this week, a delegation of Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange traveled to New York. Some testified in federal court. They’re suing over three dozen chemical companies for manufacturing the toxin. The list of companies being sued includes Dow Chemical and Monsanto." -From the transcript of the program, Vietnamese Delegation in U.S. to Sue Chemical Companies for Ongoing Effects of Agent Orange.

It is hard to imagine anyone—any person, group, organization, nation— doing anything this horrific ... knowing the damage the poison—dioxin—would cause. Having to acknowledge that my country DID do this ... on purpose ... and now the bastards responsible for making the choices that allowed it to happen, paid for it to happen, received payment for it to happen, performed its happening ... these bastards are trying to shirk responsibility?

When does the stink of our elite ruling class finally cause we the people to gag?

A thought ...

I went to Marc's Place last night, billed as "a monthly coffeehouse of music, poetry, and discussion inspired by the memory of Coalition Member Marc Shapiro." (Note: The "Coalition" is the Central Jersey Coalition Against Endless War whose website is www.againstendlesswar.org.) It was a program of music, poetry, and discussion. Ordinary people spent the evening together openly, publicly ... freely ... sharing our concerns about where our leaders have taken us as a country. This is the real strength of our nation.

And it isn't just people on the left of the political spectrum ... it's people all over the place, doing all sorts of stuff ... from a country music bar in Austin, Texas, to a mid-week social at the Baptist Church in Lincoln, Nebraska, to a union picnic in Seattle, to an annual stock holders meeting in Chicago, to a jazz club in Greenwich Village ... people in these United States are doing their thing.

Another thought ...

The greed of our ruling class is ruining us ... because they have no idea of what makes our nation great. They think it is the wealth and power that has been created ... when it is the motivation, energy and labor of the people that creates ... the true source of wealth and power.