By Jack Perry



Whatsupic -- You cannot even open a U.S. newspaper right now without someone (always a conservative) whining about this deal with Iran. It's the same fear-factor that convinced America to be prepared to destroy the entire planet over a difference in economic systems during the Cold War. "Be afraid! Be VERY afraid of THEM! They're not like us! They don't value human life as we do!" Thus saith the people who dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, the 70th anniversary on which falls upon this week, the 6th.

Thus saith the people who then dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki three days after that. Gee, I guess waiting a week for a response was out of the question. Drop nuclear weapons first, ask questions later. Some of the film footage of Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the bombings remains classified by the U.S. military to this day. Makes you wonder what those bombs did to human beings that they don't want us to see. How, then, says this country unto the world that Iran cannot be trusted with peaceful nuclear power?

Yes, we're told to be afraid of Iran. Some people, in conversation have asked me, "Aren't you AFRAID of Iran?!" NO! Why should I be?! They haven't done anything to me. They never laid me off from a job I held for ten years so the CEO could keep his salary. No, one of my "fellow Americans" did that. They never gutted the economy, throwing millions out of work while millions more lost their homes, then had the nerve to go---and GET!---bailouts from the federal government. And then award bonuses to their CEOs with that money! Iran didn't do that. Our "fellow Americans" did that. Afraid of Iran?! NO! We should be afraid of these "fellow Americans" of ours. They're the ones actually trying to kill us, not Iran!

Here in the State of Arizona, there is a chronic shortage of schoolteachers. Why? No, it isn't Iran's fault. It's because the starting salary of a schoolteacher in Arizona is $32,000 a year. So, you go to four years of college, usually taking on massive student loan debt, to make the salary of a "customer care agent" in a ant colony-esque call center. Well, considering the state of education in the entire United States, the two are closely linked, even more than we might imagine. What's more, the U.S. pretty much has a government institution-to-institution system many of its children now fall into. It's called the School-to-Prison Pipeline. Teens graduate from a woefully inadequate "public education", can't find jobs, and end up imprisoned (often for minor non-violent offenses) hardly a year after graduation. Now, can that be laid at Iran's doorstep, the doorbell rung, and then America runs away, leaving Iran holding the bag? NO! This is the proud work of our "fellow Americans" that, in their greed and lust for power, gutted public education. Probably to ensure plenty of "repeat customers" for the scores of private prisons. An endless parade of 21st century serfs and slaves in a privatized franchise of chain gulags and Big Box concentration camps.

We have a whole platoon of conservatives running for president here. Their solution to fixing America? Why, bombing Iran, of course! It must be said: Many of our "fellow Americans" are insane. And they can run for president! Never mind that the insane can acquire firearms and commit mass murder! Yes, that's a problem, but look at this! The insane can acquire a military, including nuclear weapons, and then commit mass murder on a scale that would make every bloodthirsty dictator of the late 20th century green with envy. My gosh, when we're talking about keeping guns out of the hands of crazy people, we need to include our politicians in that equation! A guy with a gun can kill about 30 people at the most before the cops arrive. But a president with a military and a "foreign policy" can kill 30 people per second for years! And we call Iran "crazy"?! The crazy people are right here! They're our "fellow Americans"!

I see these newspaper articles and can't understand how people actually believe what these clowns say about Iran after what happened in Iraq. Oh, yes, remember that? "Saddam is building a nuclear weapon! The smoking gun might come in the shape of a mushroom cloud!" Yes, and we went in there and found---nothing. How says this country unto the world Iran is building a nuclear weapon and keeps a straight face while doing so? If this country believes this and votes for one of these crazies as president, well, all I can say is the gutting of public education was a success---for them.

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The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, the Whatsupic.