Random Post from the Road

Hey Folks. It's pushing 11Pm and I'm sitting in a bar in Fayetteville NC, awaiting a 1AM train which will take me to DC, and then eventually back to Indiana. My wife dropped me off here a couple of hour ago and I've been bar crawling around to get the feel for this place. This is a town of military meatheads and other equally short haired individuals. I'm always struck by the vibe of a bar when it is filled with testosteroned up dudes.

I get kind of a sad feeling in my gut when I am around the military. These guys, for the most part, are the most patriotic guys around...yet the powers that be have been pushing them into pointless military conflicts for the past 50 years. The phrase 'tis not our job to question why, it's simply our place to do or die' comes into mind.

I strolled past a memorial here and there had to be a couple thousand names on it of guys that died from this county in various conflicts in the past decades. The fact that they died in 'conflicts' and not 'wars' should piss you off immediately, that is if you know you parlimentary rules. We haven't really been in a bona fide war since WW2, but we've been content sending our boys to bleed in foreign countries without the proper process.

I didn't really start out as a peacenik, but the more I'm around these guys...the more tangible the sacrifice becomes.

I've been doing a lot of reading lately about how wasteful our country has become and a really shitty, eye opening example of that occured a few minutes ago. I was sitting at this Army bar, watching a football game and everyone was drinking out of plastic freaking cups. I was struck by the absolute shitty irony of the situation. Here were these guys, who were employed by the military, about to be deployed to some God-forsaken sand pit of a country, in order to protect our oil interests...and they were toasting to a safe return in cups made from freaking oil! I downed my beer and walked out. It was too much for me. Note to self, make sure to always have my reusable coffee cup on hand.

I'm off to await my late night train. Tomorrow I'm going to walk around DC and check it all out. Expect more postings. I guess I can officially claim that I'm a freelance writer at this point. I cashed my first check from an article this morning.

Hopefully all of this conspiratorial writing and subversive literature doesn't throw you guys off. If you think I'm full of shit, then call me out. I've been struggling with my views on politics and society lately. I've been reading pretty much nonstop and I feel that my writer's voice needs to come from a place of skepticism of the status quo. I don't appreciate the direction this country is taking and I feel that the pen is the mightiest weapon I wield. Selah And Bah.