A friend asked me today if I could explain America’s problems in Iraq using Twitter’s rules of only 140 characters. “You’re a bright guy and always saying nothing in life is complicated. Either you understand what you’re talking about or you don’t.”
It’s always nice when your words of wisdom are returned to you. I believe in Einstein’s theory, if you cannot explain something to a six year old and have them understand then you don’t know what you are talking about. “Well?” he asked.
I thought about it for a minute. How do I explain centuries of people killing each other while blaming it on their “religious” beliefs? How do I explain a “religion” broken into two groups, Sunnis and Shiites and the hatred they have for each other that only stops for brief moments when the opportunity to kill Americans or Jews arrive?
“Well?” he said again.
“I don’t need 140 characters” I told him, “only eight…Insanity.”
He shook his head. “That’s not going to do it. I need something better than that.”
“Okay, do you remember that commercial ‘this is drugs, this is your brain on drugs, any questions’?”
He nodded.
I continued. “Sunnis equal Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. Shiites equal Iran and Hezbollah. Any questions?”
He nodded, “Just one. What in the hell are we doing in the middle of it?”
I shook my head. “These are the decisions we get when an entire generation of American politicians are on drugs.”
He looked at me for a moment counting out the characters to my statement about Saddam and Osama, Iran and Hezbollah in his head. “Less than 140. Okay smart guy how do we fix America’s problems at home in less than 140 characters.”
“It’s in my book,” I said.
“We need help now,” he replied.
I stared at him as my anger started to take over at the abuse of our great country.
“Sober minds and patriotic hearts must rise to the occasion. We’re only free until we aren’t. The decision is ours.”
