Waking Up on Cold Mountain

By Leslie Griffith, Reader Supported News

14 January 11

wakenings are hard because they involve taking responsibility.

In the powerful words of Ruby, played by Renee Zellweger in the Civil War movie Cold Mountain, "They call this war a cloud over the land. But they made the weather and then they stand in the rain and say, 'Shit, it's raining!'"

Well, America, It's raining.

We all contributed to this American storm of hatred. Every time we laugh at our neighbor's politics or filled our minds with a steady diet of cable vitriol. Every time a venomous, anonymous note is posted online it creates more hate. When we refuse to do our homework and look away at irrefutable, but inconvenient evidence, the consequences include anger and hate. When we send our beloved fathers off to fight under false pretenses we leave orphaned children behind. Generational hate spins round and round. Every time we do not defend the defenseless and call heroes - traitors, there is hatred. Whenever American arms dealers sell weapons to each side of a war, whole countries end up hating us. Every time American casualties of war are mentioned and civilian casualties are not, we create hostility. In a nation swimming in information without context, the only consequence can be more hate. People often hate what they do not understand. Here are some not so fun facts.

America is the largest maker and exporter of arms in the world. American arms manufacturers make war possible around the globe. Yet, we still look like deer caught in the headlights when mass killings occur more and more frequently at home. Is there really a difference from out there and in here?

Hate is as common as dirt these days, and sometimes the common dirt is divided with uncommon adjectives like "Holy" or "Oil-rich." That's when the real fighting begins.

Look into the eyes of the little girl killed in Tucson. There is no hate. If only the mainstream media would let us look into the big brown eyes of thousands of dark-haired Iraqi and Afghani children just like her. Multiply her life by thousands of children killed by American bombs often packed with depleted uranium, which explodes with an added bonus, a little chemical-warfare-cancer-causing kick.

Cold Mountain reprise: - Ada: (played by Nicole Kidman) "All this time, I've been packing ice around my heart. How do I make it melt?"

In the midst of our national grief, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for "a credible military option against Iran." He added that the military action should be headed by the United States. "You have to ratchet up the pressure," he said.

Cold Mountain - Inman: (Jude Law) "I ain't getting shot again for some cause I don't believe in."

Much like Americans, the Iranian people are living in a country breastfed on secrecy and hate.

Cold Mountain - "See, I think there's a plan. There's a design for each and everyone one of us. Bird flies somewhere, picks up a seed, shits the seed out, plant grows. Bird's got a job, shit's got a job, seed's got a job."

Right now, our job is to give our children a chance to live in peace.

Leslie Griffith has been a television anchor, foreign correspondent and an investigative reporter in newspaper, radio and television for over 25 years. Among her many achievements are two Edward R Murrow Awards, nine Emmies, 37 Emmy Nominations, a National Emmy nomination for writing, and more than a dozen other awards for journalism. She is currently working on a documentary, giving speeches on "Reforming the Media," and writing for many on-line publications, as well as writing a book called "Shut Up and Read." She hopes the book, her speeches, and her articles on the media will help remind the nation that journalism was once about public service ... not profit. To contact Leslie, go to lesliegriffith.org.

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