Friday 3 August 2007

We have money for killing people but not for saving them

The tragedy in Minnesota is all over the news today. And what's more horrifying than the fact that so many people died, were injured or lost beloved family members is the the fact that it was so easily preventable.

The reports coming out say that many of our country's bridges and overpasses are structurally unsound. This terrrible event was not so much of a surprise as a finally. The estimate to fix the problem is in the billions...guess it was just too expensive to save some lives....

But wait....

This country DOES have billions and billions to spend on KILLING PEOPLE. Thousands of people. Hundreds of thousands of people...

As of October of 2006, Reuters out of London estimated that in excess of 650, 000 Iraqis have perished since we INVADED their country to SAVE them! Who knows what the total is now almost a year later. If we can spend countless dollars and waste thousands of U.S. soldiers' lives to kill 2.5% of the Iraqi population, why is that we can't spend the money to keep people safe on their way home from work bridges in Minnesota?

While we bow our heads in prayer for the lives lost and the families ripped apart, we should also hang our heads in national shame...shame for out twisted priorities, shame for voting these criminals into public office who make these decisions, and shame for not getting rid of them once we knew what they were....

Let's put every single politician who voted for this war and/or against spending on infrastructure upkeep and repair ..and their families...on one of those substandard bridges and wait...it'll go sooner or later. I know karma will take care of them in the long run...but sometimes it's hard to sit back and wait.

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