Graffiti
It’s unbelievable the amount of ink the Mike Ferner graffiti trial has generated. The spectrum of opinion has run the gamut; some consider Mr. Ferner as a modern day Joan of Ark standing his ground in a great contest of right verses wrong. Others liken him to a gang-banger tagging his turf with spray paint.
A recent editorial by Thomas Walton of the Blade suggested the jury in Mr. Ferner’s case could have, and would have given Mr. Ferner a mulligan (jury nullification); if only they had known they had that option.
No one doubts Mr. Ferner’s heart is in the right place; his intentions are noble. Who wouldn’t want to stop this war if they could? A sudden withdrawal will only buy us some time, we will need to fight this same enemy another day. As long as we are hated, we are in danger. We need to destroy our enemies; there is only one way to do that — by making them our friends.
Middle Eastern religious Zealots look at us and see everything that is wrong with the world emanating from the United States. The immorality, the greed, the God they love being mocked.
It won’t be easy to turn the tide at this juncture, as Americans we have let far too many decades slip through our fingers while we should have been using our wealth to make friends. If my child was sick and starving while yours were fat and sassy, and all the while you had the means to help me but choose not to, I’d hate you too.
America could have been a big brother; the world’s guardian; not militarily, but with love. Greed has robbed us of the greatest opportunity ever laid at the feet of man.