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On Georgia and Russia’s Potential to Murder

“In the spirit of the Olympics, let’s be friends,” China said through a lip-syncing schoolgirl. But the tanks pushed on past Georgia’s fourth wall, through the illusion of safety. Through the delusion that sovereignty mattered so long as you clung to Europe’s periphery.

But it doesn’t matter, and you can tell it doesn’t matter when the brashest statement regarding a war is “Hey, pay attention to me! I’ve got sparklers and medals and under-age gymnasts – this stuff doesn’t all grow on trees!”

Not that I’m looking for “Mission Accomplished” with photo ops outside the Kremlin. Prudence is proper when acting alone, and maybe someday we’ll know better. It’s just that I see even now the potential for peace to again seem impossible. Familiar villains reprise their roles, and you know how Americans love a good sequel. This is a pattern that dictates the universe; it goes beyond Hollywood greed. Never devalue the known quantity, for masses aren’t apt to breathe free.

Yet even if that weren’t the case, there’d still be the issue of who’s in charge. A group of souls guided by lobbies and legacies – the fate of the world’s a distraction. They’ll do what they can to reveal their side right, and they’ve got the doctored documents to prove it.

This has nothing to do with G. Dubya except to prove that it’s possible. We’re not by ourselves in electing incompetence and it only takes one tainted smile. They’ll present their case to a world seeking guidance, appeal to our reason and gut. It’ll all seem official, the conventions of murder, and the white noise will drown out our conscience.

And it’ll be us and them once again, with slightly shifted storylines I’m sure. People will die for the sake of a lie that we’ve never seen evil quite like this before.

[audio:http://www.mikevarley.com/old/words/MikeVarley.com On Georgia and Russia’s Potential to Murder.mp3]