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America does death very well. Praise God, al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri is dead. Praise God that American civilization has experienced relative peace since the end of World War II. Afghanistan, 9/11, and other wars have been waged for revenge, deterrence, and many other reasons, not least of which seems to be to develop and test new weapon systems on a never-ending list of men who wake up every morning thinking of new ways to kill us.
But no war has been existential to America as those world wars we venerate. What’s a warrior to do? What’s a warrior nation to do? All this death expertise and no one to pounce on.
In the meantime, we Americans fight one another to prove our manhood. We weaponize anything or anyone red or blue.
Noah’s Arc ( Genesis chapters 6–9) has a lesson for a nation at war with itself. It is this: “If it weren’t for the storm outside, none of the animals would have gotten along on the inside.”
Cue, Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall.” And, fade.
Emory Robotham
Ellsworth