betrayal

I once told my Slovak students that the US government (Truman and company) had lied to my father about the atomic bomb... (it was not dropped on a military installation as Truman said)...

And one student surprised me with his reaction, saying something like this, "Well, the Communists lied to my parents about many things...."

As if to say that one American lie was nothing compared to the many Communist lies. Or, perhaps to say that I had no business feeling bad because every government lies. (Grow up you naive American! Politics is always dishonest!)

But the lies did not start or stop with the use of nuclear weapons on a defeated country, aimed at a civilian population....

And it is probable that my student's parents did not even believe the communist lies at the time they were uttered; but in any case, the communist regime no longer exists, while there has been continuity in the sort of government in charge in the USA, one which is happy to use violence to achieve its ends, and which increasingly cares little about the real needs of its people...

These days I often think of my father's faith in his country, his proud display of the nation's flag on national holidays, his service in World War Two, the fact that he voted in every election, and always paid his taxes....

And I think that his country failed him in many ways... but most tellingly now as he is elderly, weak, and in need of help, most of all has this country failed him by failing to provide the medical care that he needs, the medical he deserves, the medical care he was promised ....