TRENT'S LOTTA THANKS TO CHENEY FOR A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP

[Guest guest]

Published on Saturday, November 5, 2005

Trent's Lotta Thanks to Cheney for a Good Night's Sleep

by Missy Comley Beattie

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/1105-22.htm

On Thursday, Trent Lott said he sleeps better at night knowing Dick

Cheney is the Vice President. Of course, Trent would also sleep

peacefully on a segregation platform bed. Remember the remark that

ousted him as Senate Majority Leader—Trent, a former University of

Mississippi cheerleader, was doing flips for Strom Thurmond. " Give me

an S, T, R, O, M " as he praised and shook his polarizing pompoms for

the now deceased, 100 year-old honoree. In fact, Lott grabbed his

megaphone, shouting that if we'd elected Thurmond president " 30 years

ago, we wouldn't be in the mess we are today. "

 

And, oh, what a mess we're in today.

 

The body-count continues to rise in Iraq as the insurgency persists

in its battle against our troops and those who cooperate with us.

We've squandered the goodwill that most of the world felt for our

country after terrorism struck within the United States. We've spent

billions of dollars on a military fiasco that's inflamed Muslims and

inspired thousands of Osama bin Ladens. Our President can't take part

in a Summit without sparking an inferno.

 

But, despite all this, Trent is sleeping better, because Cheney is

second in command.

 

I'm not sleeping well. Neither is my sister. My parents aren't. My

brother certainly isn't.

 

You see, Marine Lance Cpl. Chase Comley's death three months ago in

Iraq makes slumber difficult. My mother says she thinks of the

explosion that killed her grandson and can hardly bear that no one in

the family was by his side to hold his hand as close relatives do

when a loved one moves from life to death. I think of the days my

nephew remained at Dover where his body was assessed for viewing

while we waited, not knowing when the funeral would be held. I fixate

on that young, handsome face, gone, blown away in a war that was

orchestrated by the White House Mafia, marketed to a frightened

American public by an Administration that capitalized on the events

of 9/11, and recommended by Bush-maker Karl Rove to facilitate the

reelection of the inadequate, clay figure he modeled for the

presidency. I think of our troops and the dead Iraqis, many of whom

are women and children.

 

When I try to rest, I see the youngest child of my brother. I think

of him as he spotted that Chevy Suburban, packed with 20,000 pounds

of explosives, moving closer, closer. I see it in slow-motion. I

picture Chase and I wonder how much time he had to know that he was

going to die. I wonder if he was killed instantly or if he suffered.

And, even though I didn't see his body, his head wrapped in gauze,

the image is in my mind.

 

It's difficult to imagine that Trent Lott could drift off easily to

thoughts or visuals of someone who shares a political philosophy that

has made our world so unstable. Dick Cheney, one of the masters of

war is Trent's Ambien. For me, the thought of the Vice President is

like an overdose of NoDoz.

 

Yes, I blame Cheney. We know he spent day after day, going to the

Pentagon to promote the war. We know he, Bush, Rummy, Condi, and

Scooter Libby undermined the efforts of anyone who spoke sanely about

relying on WMD inspections. We know the Administration demoted,

reassigned, or smeared anyone who openly criticized their plans to

reshape Iraq into a Disney-like, business venture.

 

I want all of them, the whole bunch who planned this reprehensible

war and those who supported it, to suffer insomnia. And if they are

able to sleep, I'd like them to have nightmares. The same kind the

Iraqis who survived " Shock and Awe " and all the atrocities we've

delivered will have for the rest of their lives. The same day and

nightmares that all of us will have who've lost someone we loved so

deeply or simply valued as an acquaintance or friend. I want the

accountability of Bush and Company to be acutely painful and chronic.

 

Missy Comley Beattie is a writer, living in New York City. Her nephew

Chase was killed in Iraq on August 6, 2005.