Body of War and about buzzwords

Sorry for the light blogging lately. Work has been busy. Can't talk about that, but I can talk about this: buzzwords.

As election day looms, buzzwords fly around. I find them dangerous. Any shortcut to decision making has the potential to be dangerous. It's like getting directions off of Mapquest and being surprised when one of the on/off ramps strands you at an intersection you can't find on your map.

Buzzwords can lead you to nowhere, because there's very little information behind them. This isn't just true in politics, it's true in life when you're self advocating. I've seen buzzwords thrown at parents in IEP meetings, buzzwords thrown at friends and clients when trying to gain access under the Americans with Disabilities Act and buzzwords tossed in my direction when I start talking about which legislation which candidate supports. It's as if people use them to defend against having to think too much. And yet we know that they are buzzwords.

I watched Body of War last night. It's an antiwar documentary about a guy named Tomas Young who joined the Army on September 13, 2001, two days after 9/11, served in Iraq for five days and sustained a spinal cord injury. He was in the hospital for a little over two and a half months and came out sick, not just paralyzed. His medicine trays (at least two of them, the kind that hold a dozen or more "servings"), were full. He became lightheaded easily, had the quadriplegic body temp issues, still had lead in his knee due to surgery that wasn't done, UTI's, etc. He felt he wasn't getting adequate care and his conversation with a Vietnam vet supports this. Despite this, he and his wife traveled to speak at various Iraq Veterans against the War functions. He spoke under outdoor tents, at churches- anywhere people would listen.

Interspersed with clips of his life being shown was the 2002 vote taken in support of the Iraq War, and you know what it consisted of? Repeated buzzwords from members of congress' speeches right before they cast their votes. Repeated. Buzzwords. Sen. Byrd opposed the war, as did 22 others - a total of 23 votes against.

Sen. Byrd met with Tomas at the end of the film and they read the names of those who opposed the war. It was a touching moment, when the senator thanked Tomas for his service and Tomas thanked the senator for his.

The next time you hear buzzwords, remember this: it's your country. It's dangerous not to know information and rely on buzzwords when casting a vote. It can strand you in a place you don't want to be.

For photos of Tomas Young go to the link to read an article in the Nation called War is personal.
To see how Tomas is doing more recently, click here for an article from 2008