Friday, September 12, 2008

my...

diego has put on a few pounds since wednesday. furthermore, he looks more like a drawing here than usual.

often, on 9/11, someone will ask "what were you doing when the towers were hit?" of course, there are a lot of answers to this question. many of these answers i haven't heard, likely because people are afraid, ashamed, or embarrased to say them. answers such as...

"when the towers were hit, i was taking a shit."

"i was jerking off."

"i was raping someone"

"i was being molested."

"i was beating my wife."

"i was abusing my child."

"i was watching porn."

"i was having sex."

"i was throwing up."

"i was starving, and i am now no longer alive to answer this question."

i have heard a lot of people ask this particular question about 9/11, but there are many other tragedies where this question is never used. some examples...

"where were you when we began bombing iraq?"

"where were you when aristide was kidnapped?"

"where were you when 30,000 children starved today, and yesterday, and the day before that, and...?"

"where were you when sean bell was killed by the police?"

"where were you when mumia was framed?"

"where were you when serbia was attacked?"

"where were you when immigrants suddenly became subhuman according to our media and political system?"

"where were you when panama was destroyed?"

no, i have never heard any of these, or the hundreds of other questions that could take their place. and i won't hear them, because they will never be asked. no headmaster will ever recognize their anniversaries, and no editorials in mainstream papers will discuss them. for, you see, in this "great" nation of ours, we have mastered something i like to call "selective compassion." that is, we mourn those either killed by others, or killed long ago, and we ignore the murders and crimes our society is currently, or has recently, committed.

yeah, selective compassion.

otherwise known as bullshit.

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