The Madrid Effect
So in case you're wondering why I suddenly seemed to have flipped out and have started attacking Republicans every chance I get, it really has to go back to Madrid. I just sorta realized this myself. I don't think I realized how much of an effect the bombs last week had on me until I noticed myself getting *really* uptight about the year anniversary of the war and with Bush. Way more uptight than usual.
Anyone who's read this blog knows that I *just* got back to the U.S. I'm still getting used to life back here - there are many days when I can't believe I'm back. I can, in my mind's eye, envision the walk from my first offices in Madrid down to the Atocha train station where the bomb went off. I can remember my wedding day passing the station. I can remember when my family came to visit me and we took pictures of the gardens. I can remember waiting for the trains to go visit my in-laws and grabbing the metro there to go home. It's all very, very fresh in my mind. My wife and child were in that station less than a month ago. It's not some distant place on a CNN map, it's very, very real to me.
And last week when the bombs went off, I heard about it immediately. I woke my wife up and she called my in-laws (my sisters in law live there and my parents-in-law happened to be visiting). And afterwards I wondered about my Spanish teacher and close friend who lives near by. And I wondered about my old coworkers. I just was amazed at how it just seemed like a huge coincidence. But it didn't really sink in.
Madrid is Madrid - it's no secret I prefer San Francisco, but you can't live somewhere for almost four years, meet your wife there, get married there, have your first child there, without getting attached to the place and the people who live there. Until Ana and I get used to be here in the U.S., Madrid will still be "home" in many ways. And that's what makes me so mad. ANGRY! They bombed Madrid! What the hell? This doesn't just strike close to home, it strikes "home" full stop. I'm just realizing this now.
Do you know how gorgeous the Atocha train station is? It's fantastic - one of the most amazing buildings in Spain. Huge and detailed with these fantastic gardens in the old part to eat lunch in before catching the super-cool AVE bullet trains in the new part to the South of Spain. It has this incredible mix of art, culture and technology and is easily one of my favorite places in Madrid.
And they bombed it.
That makes me very upset. Bush did this. He is 100% responsible. He lied. He lied to the American people. He lied to the U.N. He lied to the Spanish people. The bombs last week were directly result of a war that should never have happened. Bush is personally responsible and everyone who even *thinks* of supporting him in November is responsible too. It's as clear as that. Thank god I'm an American and I can help right this with my vote and my voice. 200 innocent Spanish people (and countless Iraqis) died because Bush lied. He needs to go.
That's why I've gone a bit off the deep end lately, I guess. Now we know.
-Russ