40 Years Later: Nothing Has Changed Except The Images

The photo above was taken in Vietnam 40 years ago this month.

I remember it as if it was yesterday.

I was 20 years old, had just graduated from college, and was waiting to be reclassified "1A" by the U.S. Selective Service, at which time I would be drafted and sent to Vietnam to witness, and be expected to participate in, the murder and mayhem that was and remains the foundation of American foreign policy.

It was Vietnam and it's images that dispelled me of the notion of American exceptionalism. It was the first time I wanted to escape America, but not the last.

Fast forward to today.

The murder, the mayhem, continues unabated.

Now, instead of napalm, there are drones that silently and anonymously maim and kill the innocent and the guilty without differentiation, without declared war, without due process or trial.

The difference between then and now? Today, there are no pictures, no images, no guilt associated with supporting a corrupt government and military-industrial complex and mainstream press that have become one.