The more things change ...

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Columnist

Same old same old.

I guess we were wrong. The world isn't fundamentally different after all. For a few days and weeks, it really did feel like the earth shook and our footing was forever altered. It seemed like we really were going to have to change our basic approach to the world.

Wrong! It's becoming clear now that life goes on pretty much unchanged in the ways that count the most. Sometimes it seems like it's just more of the same.

Same old violent, militaristic responses to complex geopolitical problems.

Same old bickering down at the Legislature.

Same Bishop Street execs and Waikiki hacks offering the same old tired ideas on how to "jump-start" the economy by spending money we don't have or telling others how safe it is to visit Hawai'i.

Same old new year of tired television sit-coms, reality shows and mediocre NFL football.

Same old Hollywood movies made for the 12-year-old intelligence, and the same old $3.75 for a small bucket of popcorn.

Did we really think it was going to change? Did we really think we might be forced to re-evaluate the way we do everything?

Yes, for a while we did. Now we're starting to know better.

U.S. military personnel speaking to the press are often being quoted only by their nicknames to protect them and their families from reprisals. Nothing wrong with that.

But when a B-1 bomber pilot spoke out last week, one old hippie was rather offended by the pilot's choice of a nom-de-guerre: Woodstock.

Speaking of peace and love, let's say a few words of thanks to some unrecognized heroes, the ones who have been willing to speak out against violence in all its forms.

In times when public opinion polls show that 90 percent of Americans endorse our bombing of Afghanistan, it takes an enormous amount of commitment and courage to hold fast in the nonviolent beliefs.

As one longtime Hawai'i activist said right after Sept. 11: "It's easy to be a pacifist in between crises, just like it's easy to be a vegetarian between meals."

Those who have the courage to stay true to nonviolence and pacifist ideals right now deserve as much praise as the brave young men in our military who have the courage to hunt down and eliminate those who would try to tear the country apart.

They're all Americans trying to do what they think is best for the country. That's the nation's strength.

Mike Leidemann's columns appear Thursdays and Saturdays. Send him news or thoughts on the Sept. 11 attacks by phone, 525-5460 or email, mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com