The Unclad Soul

There is a classic scene in Season One of HBO’s epic series, Game of Thrones. Queen Cersei Baratheon of the House of Lannister connives to have her young, impertinent son become King of the Iron Throne, a position of high power over the Seven Kingdoms on the continent of Westeros. When her son lies about a confrontation with a daughter of the House of Stark, the Queen assures him there is nothing wrong with that. In the pursuit of power, she tells him lying is necessary. “Someday you will sit on the throne,” she says, “and the truth will be what you make it.” The series is based on the novel by George R.R. Martin, which was written long before Donald Trump became president. And yet, it mirrors a ruthlessness of those seeking power in our own day, including President Trump. In fact, the scene I have quoted above, describes perfectly the mindset and political game plan of Mr. Trump. From the beginning of his presidency, we have seen that for him and his operatives, truth is...

We are a battle-weary people. At least I am a battle-weary person. We battle traffic, rude store clerks and customers, arrogant cops, cable companies, cell phone agents. We battle the incompetence of politicians, the hypocrisy of the religious, the indifference of employers, the jealousy of co-workers, the betrayal of lovers, the insolence of students. These battles wear us down, exhaust us, make us cynical and bad-tempered. We lose something of ourselves in every battle we wage or endure. Sometimes it’s something irretrievable. Humility. Understanding. A part of our soul. A slice of our heart. A function of our thinking that keeps us human. The battles, the wars, our American military are involved in across the world are often forgotten and ignored by most of us. We don’t really follow them. But we are part of those battles, too. As Americans, we are represented in those wars. And there is something terribly diminishing about them for all of us, whether we acknowledge...

The recent killing spree at a bar in Thousand Oaks, California, by Marine vet, Ian David Long, was a chilling reminder of the war mentality promoted by our government. Long walked into the bar and murdered 12 people, mostly young patrons, before taking his own life. He posted on his Facebook page before going to the bar, “Yeah…I’m insane, but the only thing you people do after these shootings is ‘hopes and prayers’ or ‘keep you in my thoughts’…every time…and wonder why these keep happening.” Wonder if anyone in the government will hear that? Wonder if all the NRA supports got the message? Ironically, the mother of one of the young people murdered at the bar told reporters she didn’t want anyone’s prayers, what she wanted was gun regulation. Wonder if anyone in the government will pay any attention to that? Ian David Long was not insane, but he certainly was profoundly disturbed. He returned from military conflict lost in a fog of unresolved rage and the damaging ps...

National Public Radio (NPR) had a segment this week on the chaos in Libya. With more than forty years of rule under Muammar Gaddafi, Libya had become a thriving country. There were limited freedoms and an unbending system of laws, many of them harsh and restrictive. But the country held together while Gaddafi entered strategic partnerships with the U.S. and European powers, striking deals with defense manufacturers and oil companies. We were apparently fine with his dictatorial rule as long as there was something in it for us. Then, in the fall of 2010, revolt was moving through the Arab world. The U.S. government saw, once again, an opportunity for regime change. The rich oil reserves in Libya and other resources would be the spoils of a limited battle fully supported by the U.S. but mostly fought by NATO troops. Removing Gaddafi was never admitted to as a U.S. mission, but it was carried out nonetheless. It all went bad quickly, however. Gaddafi was beaten, sodomiz...