Red Light

I was in my car, stopped at a red light, when a car in the lane next to mine drifted forward and struck the rear bumper of the vehicle in front of it. A man, looking loaded for bear, got out of the whacked car, and I braced myself to witness the inevitable confrontation. A woman jumped out of the offending vehicle and began a litany of apology. Maybe it was her obvious distress, or maybe it was because the bumper was unblemished, but the man's face immediately softened and he assured her -- with a smile! -- that it was fine, no harm done. Both got back into their cars, and I let out my breath, and that green light never looked so bright.

War Is Hell

As if we need any more reasons to wish an end to war, I read in The Washington Post about 22-year-old Spec. Edward Richmond, who just completed a two-year prison sentence for killing an Iraqi civilian. Edward's parents tell folks that their son joined the Army after September 11, as if the attack on America was the reason. But it turns out that then 18-year-old Edward was facing charges for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, possession of marijuana, battery of a police officer and resisting arrest; it was suggested that the DA wouldn't seek a conviction if Edward joined the Army, and so he did. The felonies weren't the first of Edward's troubles; they capped off years of hostility toward authority, fights and other signs of alienation. His recruiter said, "He had some problems, but it wasn't anything that we couldn't put him in the Army for."

Edward ended up shooting a cow herder who'd been handcuffed and led away by a superior officer, the result, he says, of misinterpreting the situation. His father is suing the Army because that officer, he discovered, may also have killed Iraqi civilians and yet testified against his son at trial. But despite the father's obvious love for his son, another soldier's separate actions don't change what Edward did. The father said it himself: "War is not a pretty thing. Things happen in a war zone."

Unimaginable things. Instead of trying to justify them from all sides, we'd do better to look them in the eye and recognize them for the unadorned horrors they are.

Ironies & Contradictions

Last Sunday's Washington Post was filled with what I quickly labeled, Ironies & Contradictions. Among the stories that qualified:

An artist making a legitimate point about poverty being "the elephant in the room" that no one talks about honored one compassionate instinct while compromising another. He set up a room, complete with gold-flocked red wallpaper, in a Los Angeles warehouse and then not only posed a live Indian elephant in the center of it for the exhibit's three-day run, but covered the creature in red and gold paint to match the room's decor. Animal advocates spoke up on behalf of Tai, the 38-year-old elephant, and the paint was washed off for the final day. But I look forward to the day when we stop using animals as clever props and entertainment altogether.

And speaking of animal welfare and otherwise well-intentioned human beings, another article on the same page was about a man who came up with an idea for providing homes for people without them. The inspiration struck while he was out hunting.

Finally, what's wrong with this headline?: "Mother, Fetus Killed; Friend Is Charged." There was no simultaneous good to that one.