Layla's Dark and Foreboding Weblog

Do you love Jesus? Do you really love Jesus? Do you think that the only way to heaven is through Jesus? Do you think that George W. Bush and Jesus are pals? Do you think that your metal fish on your truck represents the lord and savior, known as Jesus? Do you think that you're really clever to put your "Support the Troops" magnet on your car sideways, so it resembles the fish it sits next to? Is your boss a Jewish Carpenter (how clever)?

Well, then you, my good friend, are the guy in front of me in traffic. No, you're not like the other Texans with Calvin pissing on the Ford/Chevy/Dodge logo, oh no. You're better than that. You've got your little Calvin (have you ever even read Calvin & Hobbes?) kneeling down to pray to your decal cross. You're a good Christian. Your bumper stickers are a salute to your messiah. As is your gas-guzzling SUV, which gently aids in milking the precious fossil fuels from God's green (soon to be brown) earth.

I am just stunned at times by the complete and total lack of thought that these people are guilty of. How people can say such mean and hateful things, or be guilty of such irresponsible actions with not even a second thought, just boggles my mind sometimes. To say "Support our Troops" and still drive an SUV is just fucking amazing to me. I know I've said this before, but bear with me here. You're pissed that us liberal commie pinko swine are *not* supporting this war, for many reasons, but the biggest being that it's an oil-based issue. We, in turn, drive fuel efficient, hybrid, green vehicles (or don't drive at all), so we're less reliant on oil, therefore lessening the need for it and the war becomes pointless, thus ending it, and our troops get to come home. Yes, that's a "perfect world" idea, but you get the picture.

Rather, though, these people - and believe me, Texans aren't the only guilty ones. SF-ers, NY-ers alike are driving these 11 MPG trucks too - are driving the huge, monstrous SUV's with their Jesus fish and their "Support the Troops" magnets, completely oblivious to the huge hypocrisy that they are completely guilty of. Ok, let me spell it out for you:

You are driving a vehicle that not only pollutes the environment, but it is SUCKING THE LIFE OUT OF THE EARTH! Yes, the earth. God's gift to you. THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL IF WE LIVE THIS WAY FOR EVEN 50 MORE YEARS! Got it? Of course not, silly. There's too much propaganda in your ears. How about this:

The demand for oil in this country, and the rate we use it is directly responsible for this:
1,458 Coalition Troops (most US) Dead
100,000 Iraqi Civilians Dead
10,000 US Troops Wounded (Many with lost limbs)
$155,891,961,000 spent by the US so far in this war (That amount of money would have FULLY funded anti-hunger efforts in the world for 6 years. Or, we could have given EVERY SINGLE CHILD on EARTH basic immunizations for 51 years. Or, we could have sent 7,557, 309 students to college for four years.)

So there you have it. Convinced? Of course not. You're American, as am I. We don't understand these numbers, these horrifying figures. We don't see why our Cadillac Escalade with its 9 MPG is wrong. We say things like "Support the Troops", but we say it from our 2 tons of metal. We laugh about how polluted L.A. or Houston is, but we still drive 2 blocks to the video store.

It's time for everyone to take responsibility for our world. Time to really support these kids over there. Stop speaking if you don't know what you're saying. Educate yourself, your loved ones. Know your role. It's a pretty big one.