Something happened.  It was ugly.  Bad.  I guess that one says ugly then bad is implied.

23 OCT 1983: Two suicide attackers drove, struck, and killed.  241 US “peacekeepers”, mostly Marines, died.  So did 58 members of the French military.  Six civilians as well.  Oh, and yeah, the suicide bombers.  For two it was a choice.  The rest, a sacrifice for parents, siblings, spouses, children.

25 OCT 1983: US RDF invades Grenada, a small Caribbean island.  The “reason”?  To free medical students who, unknown to the students, were being held “hostage”.  The secondary reason?  That Cubans, to help the USSR, were building a runway.  Some said the runway was so tourists could fly to the island.  The “official” reason was it was to base Soviet bomber to attack the US.

So why remember this?  Regan was president.  And a whole lot of flag draped coffins were about to be flown home.  Sons and daughters that died in a faraway place for reasons that most of us didn’t understand.  And the equation changed.  The critics of blame in Lebanon focused on Grenada.  The supporters supported.

And I’ve been hesitant to write about this.  Magicians call it a “sleight of hand”.  Politicians see it as diverting attention.  But what if I wrote, someone noticed, and instead of talking about #fucktrump and #treason, there was a new war started.  Today I wonder….

Someone needs to change the calculus of Syria.  Too many are dying at the hands of DAESH and a corrupt leader.  Europe is being deluged with refuges in a war that has gone on too long.  Yeah, the chemical weapons attacks are real.  But why now?  Did #smallhands suddenly care?  I don’t think to.  Tonight no one is talking about treason.  Nothing about Russia and the apparent collusion, the #treason that put someone in the White House.  Tonight the focus is on tomahawk missiles and acts of aggression.  And I can’t help wondering how many might die for a sleight of hand.

Resist