Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self. - Cyril Connolly
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Too close for comfort
When we watch the evening news (or even the local news), and hear something disturbing or violent, there is always that element of detachment in all of us, because it does not directly affect us, or someone we care for or know about.
Not so with today's news out of Pakistan. My friend Alison is in Karachi as a US State Dept. liaison at large. Her email this morning was "not to worry, we're heavily fortified here in the Consulate, and have been ordered to quarters for the time being. 16 people have been killed".
Well, that was yesterday, the death tole is now more than double that, and shows no signs of slowing down despite Musharraf's pleas for calm in the wake of his dismissal of the Chief Justice of their Supreme Court. This is the worst violence in Pakistan in years, and the first backlash of significance to the Musharraf regime since he took control in a coup in 1999.
My thoughts are with Alison, her husband Ambassador Bob, who is battling his own problems in Algeria, and with her Mother, my neighbor, on Mother's Day. I'm going to visit her Mom tomorrow and try to take her mind off things.
