Renee Good’s shooting is not an ICE incident. It’s a tragedy of war – a mother and a wife, in the case, was the soldier.

We can’t see the forest for the trees – because we are under-educated. We’ve watched the videos, archived from the 60’s; we have watched the protests on Wall Street. It’s all TV, you know. It takes more than watching to put it together, and what’s more, apply it to now.

So, Renee Good plays the role of the Vietnam war solider, gladly going to the war, because he believed his Country had his back – that somebody in Washington knew what that war was about, and there was the implicit promise that the motivation for the war was full of love for the Vietnamese people. And that soldier had a wife and kids, and while he lay dying in the MeKong jungle, missing the lower half of his body, he reviewed his life – and he may have thought no differently. He may have thought that he was giving his life for a noble cause, and died a hero’s death.

Renee Good was not really a protester. She was a soldier. You’ll note that Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn (from the Weathermen), responsible for 12 bombings, went on to careers in academia and social work after surfacing and facing legal repercussions for their past actions. In February 1970, an alleged Weather bomb at a Park Police Station in San Francisco killed Sgt. McDonnell. The first Weatherman bombing at the Berkeley, California police headquarters injured several officers, one severely. These bombing were in protest to the Viet Nam War.

On March 6, 1970, when a bomb they were constructing accidentally detonated at a townhouse in Greenwich Village, New York City. 

• Three Weatherman members were killed: Ted Gold, Diana Oughton, and Terry Robbins.
• The bomb was a nail bomb intended for a non-commissioned officer’s dance at Fort Dix, New Jersey, a plan which, if successful, would have killed dozens of people

So, these Weathermen were “agitators” and “protestors”. We look back at their activities, and, at least for myself, cannot really justify their actions. Certainly, the intended effect was never reached.

There were activist protestors killed, and US soldiers killed, all in protest to the Viet Nam War. At this point in history, the Viet Nam War poses serious embarrassment for the US Government. The U.S. and its allies likely killed far more South Vietnamese (civilians and soldiers) than North Vietnamese/VC, primarily due to overwhelming firepower, bombing campaigns (especially in the South), and chemical defoliants, with estimates suggesting millions of Vietnamese deaths overall, heavily skewed towards the South’s civilian population and fighters. This was all covered up, until the release of the Pentagon Papers, a secret, 47-volume government study detailing U.S. involvement in Vietnam from 1945-1968, leaked by Daniel Ellsberg in 1971, revealing systematic government deception about the war.

So who is the good guy? Who is the bad guy?

I don’t actually care at this point in history: ultimately, it was President Richard Nixon – the sworn and hated enemy of the protestors – who ended the war, and, after the war ended, the Viet Kong stormed South Viet Nam and wreaked death on the remaining population. The US involvement in this was was initiated by President John F. Kennedy – the good guy! You tell me.

But my point is: we are not in a situation of foreign war and protest against that war. We are instead in a crazed and deranged maniacal civil war, against our own people. Unlike the US Civil War, there are no uniforms, no official decree of war: there will never likely be a civil war, in those terms, ever again. The existence of “cyber society” has made some aspects of war largely cerebral – but make no mistake: the Country is divided, and blood is being shed.

Lincoln was assassinated. Two assassination attempts were mad on Trump. Assassination: Check! The actual issues are academic: there is the notion of undocumented deportation – similar to slavery – a blanket, reduced notion, with no clear lines. There were plenty of Northerners who were in favor of slavery, including Lincoln. And Lincoln wanted to be King. Don’t be fooled. The actual issues in the United States are ALWAYS economic. But like the ignorant soldier from the Viet Nam war, the ignorant solider from the US Civil War, and Renee Good – the actual shallow economic and political motivations for their horrid deaths can not be mentioned – because there is no greater horror than the realization that we are all puppets, and we are all being manipulated.

But for the time being, take notice: this is a war, and you may be killed in action. How much do you want things to change? Enough to protest a little bit, maybe injure others, blow up their Teslas, but not enough to die for? That’s the thing you need to consider, if you’re going to get involved. This is NOT the internet. If you resist arrest or conflict with an official, they will fucking shoot you dead. Wake up. Clear up your dream images, and look at what you are doing. As with Viet Nam and the Civil War, you are being mislead – by YOUR OWN SIDE!. Go ahead – take it for granted that Trump and ICE are the bad guys – because you aren’t wrong. But to assume that what your side is doing and saying is the “right” thing, will impact the nature of your own death. I’m saying, wake up. Think about your future, your children’s future, and the future of this Country. Do you want a Civil War? Who cares – you’ve got one! Do you think your death will contribute materially to the change you want? Unlikely. Bloody revolutions have NEVER solved any of their goals. The new boss was the same, or worse, than the old boss.

The way to avenge Renee’s death is to stop the Civil War – peacefully. The end of the conflict begins with you, your understanding, your research, and your carefully organized efforts to make change happen. But increasing the hatred and animosity will NOT affect change. Read the book.