The Toppling of the Statue

CHICAGO - Bankrupted by The Endless Wars...

IRAQ WAR:

AfGHANISTAN WAR:

WAR ON DRUGS:


...citizens performed an enraged Americanized version of the toppling of the statue of Saddam Hussein of April 9, 2003, using commandeered construction equipment and explosives on the Sears Tower (aka the "Willis Tower"), the famous Chicago landmark. Spearheaded by the ad hoc Citizens for Economic, Political and Social Justice (CEPSJ), the effort capped weeks of street protests venting pent-up frustration over the failed wars, the appropriation of funds from education, health and infrastructure; and a deeply-rooted multi-generational hatred of corporate behavior. "We thought the bad guys were over there...you know Sodom Hussein, Obama sin Lad-de-da or whatever his name was...where the hell did he go, anyway?..." remarked the unemployed construction worker who wired the detonating caps at the southwest corner, "...but it sure seems the real Bad Men are in the boardroom."

Miriam Falltower, laid off 2 years ago from her CPS teaching position and selected to press the button due to her most-appropriate last name concurred: "First the class size went up and the benefits down. Then the job disappeared altogether. The final straw was the tax cuts passed last week the President had to dish up to the Republicans in exchange for unemployment benefits extension. A tax cut for the richest? That's it! I'm fed up with the Iraqi War and the Afghan War and War on Drugs and the war on this and the war and that...it's time for a goddamned class war!" she yelled to the cheers of the crowd around here.

"I always kind of thought this building was an eyesore," remarked Daniel Rightangle - an architecture grad whose tuition costs will saddle him with over $100,000 of debt, "though I'm not the kind who advocates destruction just out of aesthetic distaste. This thing was a symbol. I'm sure we'll all end up labeled as terrorists...but, you know, I'm fed up with anyone not agreeing with the status quo being called a "terrorist!"

In a modern-day application of swords-into-plowshares, the building materials will go into the construction of schools, neighborhood medical facilities and continuing education/re-training centers, while the vacated site will house a think tank dedicated to peaceful problem-solving, international cooperation and a rethinking of failed US policies.