On the threshold of Memorial Day the nation is in mourning over the Uvalde, Texas school tragedy – at least in some non-political realms there is genuine mourning. Within the political realms there is posturing and pointing of fingers for political capital. That in itself is tragic – that the “leaders” of the country would use the horrific and insane actions of a deranged individual to bolster their own advancement or their political agendas.
The ugly murders of the children and the teachers at Robb Elementry School in Uvalde, Texas is just the latest tragedy to wrench people’s hearts all across the nation. But, as regular people attempt to grapple to understand this tragedy and not just become overwhelmed with emotion, or seek sly political spins for self-centered motives, intelligent people must also look at a much bigger context in which events such as these unfold.
Despite individual efforts to seek sanity and peace within a world that is at war, Americans must not lose sight of the fact that the nation has been at war since the horrific and deadly events of September 11. 2001. Try as we might, as American citizens, to move beyond the tragedies of 9/11, we exist in a post 9/11 world, which means America is embroiled in war whether we deny it, whether we are affected directly by it, or whether we can appreciate it. We are in the midst of war – and it started long before the United States’ government was to get directly involved in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
