Endangered Animals or War, HUH, Good God Y'all...

As I was reading the news about Bush and the war in Iraq, I realized that the American public is susceptible to savvy marketing and promises from those in power. I thought to myself, “How can people believe this guy. He should be in jail for starting a war that would benefit his cronies as Iraq is ‘stabilized.’”

This brings me to a campaign that I started in high school. It was to save an endangered species in China, which was being mercilessly slaughtered for its hide. This animal was on the verge of extinction, and I was a one-man animal rights activist for this aquatic animal.

The animal was the elusive Naga…and it was completely fictitious, although China imported many Nagahyde products to the USA.

It took awhile for the idea to catch on, although my pandering for the rights of the Chinese Naga included a poster (of a manatee like creature with a steer's head – down to the horns) and examples of Nagahyde products.

It was surprising how easy it was to convince my classmates of the dire straits of this victimized creature, and I would rattle of facts as fast as they would ask me for information.

Before I knew it I had over 100 signatures supporting rights of the Naga. It was exciting, and incredibly sad that I had conned some of the brightest people I had ever met into believing that the Emperor’s new clothes could be seen.

Reading the news today…I realize that as a populous, Americans have been frightened, shocked, and questioned about their patriotism to believe in Nagas to help fiscally benefit those who will and have been awarded contracts to rebuild Iraq.

Let me be clear:

I support every soldier that has suffered through this war. They have done their duty to the fullest. I believe in the courage of these soldiers to make America a safer place.

I do not support this war that still rages, keeping people away from their families and increasing the deficit at an alarming rate, not to mention the death toll. “We” were after Osama, and got lost in the media blitz about WMDs and Saddam’s “plans” to attack the USA.

So when all is said and done, and those in power now get fatter and fatter on the revenue they stand to gain…I won’t say that I told you so…but I told you so.

Don’t believe in Nagas kids, not until you’ve done research to see if they actually exist.