"Those who can, do. Those who can’t, bitch about it on the Internet." -Simon, from The Book of Simon
Some bios list credentials, such as: Education BFA in Illustration, Massachusetts College of Art Occupation Former Production Slave, Ballantine Books Comics Credits Columnist, Writer, Artist, Editor Etc…
And some bios tell a story, such as: I can remember sitting in front of my television one morning, watching the old Batman show, when Julie Newmar appeared in that skintight black leather outfit as Catwoman. It was my first boy/girl thing. >A year later I was in kindergarten telling Katherine Burke that I loved her. It’s pretty much been a string of stupid mistakes ever since…
Still other bios state an intent, such as: This is a series of essays illustrating the life of one particular struggling artist as he plods through the world and occasionally bumps into some interesting shit.
But most bios just sit to the right of the column and are never looked at. So ignore this space and just read the damn column already…
I was all set to write a primer for some long lost comics art that has recently been returned to me, which I planned to post here the two weeks following. First Bush announced his ultimatum and I was still planning on writing the same column. But last night I was watching television and found out that we bombed a bunker in Baghdad. Suddenly writing about comics, paying my rent, getting a book published, or going to parties seems frivolous. Especially when you’re sitting right next to the primary retaliatory target.
Even though I have been very vocal in past columns about how I oppose the war, now that it’s begun I don’t think this is the time for smart-ass comments. It’s sad that our president preaches about liberating the people of Iraq and spreading democracy while dismissing the outcry of a significant percentage of the world to not do this thing. But now that it’s started the majority of my wishes go to a swift end. Bush has made it clear that he has a specific goal in the war with Iraq and even dissent among his own country won’t deter him. So, rather than pound my head against a wall trying to help make him hear, I’d simply just like whatever he hopes to get over there to give it up quick and with as little loss of life as possible.
The last news I heard before going to bed was just after midnight Wednesday night. A bunker thought to contain high ranking Iraqi officials was pounded by three dozen Tomahawk Cruise Missiles. Already, two divisions of Iraqi soldiers, somewhere between ten to twenty thousand men from what I heard, were offering surrender in southern Iraq. I was about to go to bed just as Hussein came on and gave his response to the bombing. So, apparently he wasn’t in the bunker our troops targeted. But things seemed to progress very rapidly and I wondered if the war would end overnight.
Just checking the latest I find out we’ve fired more missiles at targets in Baghdad and the Senior Republican Guard wants to surrender. The news ticker on television is claiming that the Iraqi leadership is falling apart from within. And things must be going well because US and UK troops are entering Iraq from Kuwait. Who knows, maybe by the time I post this more will have happened. Maybe in a couple days all this will be over.
Last night, as I watched footage of the bunker being bombed and I picked up the new newsbite lingo of this war (Psy-Ops and Bunker Busters) all I could think of was what it would be like if the war came home. The last time a battle was fought on US soil we were killing ourselves in the Civil War. Some could make a good case that 9/11 was pretty close to having a war hit our shores. But, and not to diminish the events of that day, that was really two isolated incidents rather than an ongoing barrage of fighting. Two buildings coming down is a terrible thing to be around, but I can’t even imagine what it must have been like to be in London during the Blitz. I’ll be perfectly fine if I never know. I think Americans are a little too removed from the true destructive nature of war. Maybe if they visited some of the European cities that are still partially in rubble from WWII they wouldn’t be so callous about bombing the hell out of Baghdad.
Alright, enough preaching. Next week I’ll feel a little more comfortable writing about comics and whatnot. This week I just want to sit around and enjoy what I have and try to ignore my personal problems. Because, no matter how bad I think things are for me lately, right now some poor kid in Iraq is being pulled away from a blast area because two rich dictators are playing a game of who has the bigger missile.
