Deer Caught In The Headlights

[dropcap]W[/dropcap]e all remember those vivid pictures of a deer, halfway across a road at night.... Frozen as the car is about to hit it. A shrewder animal would not allow itself to be so defenseless on that roadway. Alas, the poor deer, a wonderfully peaceful and relaxed creature of nature, many times over is found destroyed by an oncoming auto. When photographers, or even illustrators, can capture that look on the face of the poor deer just as it is about to be slammed into, is a sad sight indeed. ⁽¹⁾

The American public, or rather, a majority of us, are like that unfortunate deer caught in those headlights. Most of us are good, hardworking folks.... Decent Americans who care about family and community. We  give  to charities, help old ladies cross the street,  all  that nice stuff. Yet, when it comes to studying history, especially that of the previous 100 years, most Americans are at a loss for true clarity of facts. They rely on the mainstream media to not only entertain, but to inform- an oxymoron if there ever was one! Thus, Americans never learn, even in our primary and secondary schools ( or many colleges for that matter ) what ' really went down' in all the military engagements our nation has been in. The truth of it all would freeze us up like that deer.

How many of us were taught, from the onset of the Cold War until this day, that it was they, the Soviet Union, who really won the European portion of World War 2 while sacrificing over 25 million of their people?

How many of us ever questioned why it was necessary to drop two atomic bombs on Japan? Surely one so devastating was all the Japanese needed to ‘ see the light ‘ and surrender. What we were never taught in history class was that the Japanese were already suing for a surrender? All they needed was for the Allies ( meaning America ) to allow their Emperor to remain as titular head of their nation. Roosevelt, then Truman, along with Churchill, refused to accommodate them, on the theory that hundreds of thousands of our troops would be killed during an ‘ island to island ‘ invasion of Japan. We had already terrorized the Japanese through our incendiary carpet bombing destruction of Tokyo.... A city that was almost totally made of wood structures. The Japanese were a beaten foe, ready to  negotiate a face saving settlement. All that propaganda about ‘ fighting to the death ‘ was great for movies.... Not for what was happening on the ground. So, why did we drop the atomic bomb? And why the need for two? Well, those who study real history , and not that of the revisionist victors, know that the Cold War had already begun before WW2 ended. So much so, that in 1942, Stalin was promised by Roosevelt and Churchill that the allies would stage a second front ( later to become the D- Day invasion of Normandy ). Stalin was assured , in mid 1942 , that this would happen ‘ within one year, and no later ‘ . It took actually two years ( June ‘ 44 ) and only even then because Stalin threatened Churchill and Roosevelt that he would sue for peace with the Germans if an invasion did not happen!

So now we have two Whys . Why the dropping of two atomic bombs on Japan, if the Japanese were desperate for a deal? Why the stall of a second front invasion by the US and Brits? Let us answer the latter question first, as it happened before the other one. Roosevelt and ( especially ) Churchill were already into their ‘ Cold War Mode ‘ in 1942. What they had hoped for was that the longer it took for the Allies to invade European soil, the more. devastation the Russians and Germans would inflict upon each other. It is no wonder that the Russians are overly sensitive of NATO having missiles planted on their borders. As to the A bombs on Japan, it seems that the broker for a Japanese surrender was in fact ..... Russia. Plus, the Russians, in 1945, were turning their attention to Japan.... Gearing up their armies to attack from their land mass. The US and the Brits saw how the Russians had already  occupied a great portion of  Germany and controlled all of Poland and the other eastern European countries...... Sharing in the spoils of war and all that. Truman and Churchill wanted no part of a partial Russian occupied Japan as well. So, we had the bomb, better to use it now to show the Russians we had one developed. But wait! What if we dropped one bomb and the Russians thought ‘ Well, they made an atomic bomb. OK. How do we know they can make them so easily? ‘ Thus, the second bomb was dropped...... The war ended immediately and Japan was under full American control. And all you fools out there who follow the Neo Con mindset of a Russian enemy should realize that the Russians had every reason on earth to be paranoid concerning US and British intentions after WW2.

In that time, my parents..... And probably yours, did not even fathom any of these previously stated stories. Suggesting to them the facts or theories of those scenarios would most likely  receive a response analogous to deer caught in the headlights.  It was, unfortunately, beyond their realm of comprehension. Today, after our nation illegally invaded and continues to occupy Iraq and Afghanistan with a multitude of bases and soldiers , the facts drip out slowly. That horrendous decision to invade Iraq was the first determining factor , along with the Wall Street Subprime mortgage scam, that began the 2008 economic slide. Yet, how many Americans actually realize this, or dare question  it? We know most of our politicians ( both parties ) do not even acknowledge  the truth of it.

How many Americans are, years later, still out of decent work, decent housing and decent health care because the money is simply not there? Our elected officials and our populace refuse to look for the reasons  as to why the Feds stopped giving money to the states. Thus, the state where you live cannot send money it does not have to the localities for many projects and needs. I met a firefighter at the gym a few years ago, a wonderful young man, who told me how budget cuts are affecting his job. Slower response times , less staffing and equipment etc. Then I had a friend, whose son is a schoolteacher and coach, tell me other facts. It seems that the school system in his town in Florida is so broke, that during the intense and long Florida seasonal heat the teachers were lighting candles and placing them by the locked thermostats to get the AC to turn on!  Yet, we have spent, to date, well over one trillion dollars for our  invasions and occupations, making fabulously wealthy all the folks Eisenhower warned us about. Where is the American public’s outrage? Where are the two parties? Most saddening..... Where are you?

How many times  have writers and documentarians referred to or have replayed  Eisenhower’s famous 1961 Military Industrial Complex speech? Yet, like deer caught in the headlights, most Americans are oblivious. We who understand that ‘ history has this terrible habit of repeating itself unless,,,,’  had stood on street corners in peaceful protest. Yet, after all the news that finally is coming out....... The general public still looks from their car windows.... Like that deer.  “Huh? Wha?”  What will it take? Will it take a complete meltdown of their personal lives and that of their relations? Even still, deer like to run free, and prance about , gamboling through life. They may do so in the shelter of the forest..... But on the highway of tears..... Watch out!

PA Farruggio
July 2019

NOTES:
⁽¹⁾ A deer’s eyes consist of more rods than cones, which is why it is able to see very clearly, even at night. However, when a car’s headlight beam falls into their eyes, the deer becomes blinded by the bright light. Until its eyes adjust to that heightened level of brightness, a deer will keep standing there, which makes it look like the deer is rooted to the spot. This is something that is known by few people, and experienced by fewer still. For those who don’t know about it, if you ever happen to be driving on a road at night that is surrounded by woods with a sizable population of deer, you might suddenly find a deer standing on the road ahead of you.