March 11: Bombing of North Vietnam, Law of the Land, Executive Order Against Poetry

Billy was not moved to protest the bombing of North Vietnam, did not shudder about the hideous things he himself had seen bombing do.  He was simply having lunch with the Lions Club, of which he was past president now.

Billy Pilgrim, a survivor of the firebombing of Dresden, doesn't feel compelled to speak out against the bombing of North Vietnam.  He simply wants to eat his lunch--probably chicken and rice--then go home and have a martini.  Billy is a business owner.  A prominent member of the community.  A time traveler.

Of course, I could launch into a rant about the current state of politics in the United States here.  Talk about complacent citizens, sitting back and letting the President of the United States trample and piss on the Constitution.  Make Islamophobia the law of the land.  Suspend the rights of transgender students.  Make healthcare an impossibility for a whole lot of poor and near-poor people.

I'm not going to do that, though.  I'm not going to be political today.  I have too much to do.  Papers to grade.  Church music to select.  A church service to play for.  And then more papers to grade.  This weekend is going to be a whole lot of work.

But I'm not complaining.  There are people in the world who have a whole lot more to complain about than me.  Syrian refugees.  Illegal immigrants.  Members of the LGBTQ community.  African Americans and Muslim Americans.  I'm a white, almost middle class man in the United States.  Unless I convert to Islam or discover that I'm transgender, I'm in pretty good shape.

Saint Marty is thankful today that President Trump hasn't signed an Executive Order against poetry.  Yet.