Weapons of Mass Destruction

(Note: After a discussion with my friend Debbie, who will no doubt end up commenting here... I have been reminded once again that I am terrible when it comes to my sense of time. So if you ever see something wonky with dates, I'm probably wrong- let me know!)

The speech by Barack Obama yesterday in Berlin got me thinking about sometime in 2004, when I was taking a drive down from Maine to New Jersey to visit my aunt. I was trapped in the beast known as the Cross Bronx Expressway for hours. One benefit to that is that New York City has great radio stations! And I found a wonderful song: Mass Destruction, by a UK group by the name of Faithless (sadly, the music video's embedding is disabled, but you can check it out if you like):



This song struck a chord with me because of how I view the world. And following up Rita's post with it makes some good sense to me. It speaks to the true weapons of mass destruction, which are not the nukes, or chemical weapons, or any of that- but instead, the people who unleash them.

Some quotes:


Whether long-range weapon, or suicide bomber, wicked mind is a weapon of mass destruction.

Whether inflation, or globalization, fear is a weapon of mass destruction.

Whether Halliburton, Enron, or anyone, greed is a weapon of mass destruction.


And the reason Rita's post got me writing this, instead of just thinking about it:


We need to find the courage, overcome- inaction is a weapon of mass destruction.


We are just as much to blame for destroying the world if we sit quietly in our homes, and in our groves, as if we shot the nuke off ourselves. Because we're who has to stand in the way, and say that no one shall ever be elected who finds such behavior tolerable. As a Wiccan, my worldview is entirely encompassed in two words: "Harm none". Most Pagans adhere to this, if only to the point of "except in self-defense".

So I ask you: if we know that if John McCain is elected, he will prosecute an unjust (and potentially illegal) war in Iraq, and may expand that war to Iran, then does it not become our responsibility (or rather, that of our American readers, I'll leave the international crowd alone) to stop him? If we do not act, we will have helped drop the bombs. We will have to share the blame. We will have helped do harm to others, simply by doing nothing at all.

That is why I am in politics. Because "harm none" means saving Iraqi children from white phosphorous and cluster munitions. And the only way to do that is to be a Democrat, vote for Democrats, work for Democrats, and end the war.