Sorry...it's the other me
I was reading one of AI's posts and he had some really good points. I was making a comment and it just kept getting longer and longer and for each point I made, 2 more popped into my head. So I brought the comment over here and turned it into this morning's post. It's kind of out of character for me, so you've been tode.
This next is not meant to be disrespectful nor unpatriotic. It's just something I think about. A LOT:
I don't think that it was wrong that we went into Iraq. Not really. And I fear the result if we pulled out now. So I am solidly behing the President on this.
But I do not feel the guys are fighting for my freedom. I am no more free with Sadaam and the Taliban and whatever nefarious dudes we've killed gone than I was when they were still running around. The Iraqis and Afghans are more free. Women in those countries are more free. The region as a whole is getting a bit of a shake up, hopefully for the better.
No, I think I am more comfortable believing that our boys are out fighting for their freedom and for my security. And we need security. The attacks are viscious and I am glad we took the fight to them.
Also, I don't believe a lot of Americans even understand what the true concept of freedom is. They think it means that they can dress how they want, be rude if they want, blah, blah, blah. A lot seem to start each example of freedom with a personal pronoun. And to me, that is but a small part of it. There seems, to me at least, to be little understanding by a lot of folks that freedoms do not come without critical thought and responsibilities.
The larger, probably more important freedoms are being eroded or taken away out right. That scares me. And what scares me more is that the general population thanks the government for it. Says "Thanks for keeping me free". I think they mean, "Thanks for keeping me safe."
You cannot travel freely now without being tracked. TSA continues to compile profiles that they've promised not to compile and have been forbidden to compile. There is commentary about it, but no outrage.
The law enforcement agencies continue to seek ways to monitor all of our electronic communications so they can look for "threat words". Of course they, too, promise it isn't something they'd abuse. Yet the sentence "The movie was about THE PRESIDENT and it BOMBED" in an e-mail to your sister would bring you under federal scrutiny. And it might even get ugly for you if you happened be of middle eastern descent.
We have vigilantes at our borders. Think about it. Armed farmers and residents at the border. Whether you call it this or not, that seems to be a localized foreign policy. When has that ever been condoned before? But now it's for keeping out terrorists, so it's A-OK. ('Cause you know farmer Joe knows a terrorist when he sees one.)
National ID cards. 'Nuff said.
The line of BS that a butane lighter might bring down an airliner, I mean really. They blow off a whole lot more bombs with cell phones than with fuses, but guess which one is forbidden on a plane? Somehow, TSA came to believe that inconvienence was the same thing as security and moved forward with great dispatch.
I am not anti-government. I don't want to move to a ranch in Montana and plot against it. I laugh at conspiracy theories and believe that, by and large, the government attempts to do right by us. I have no problem paying my taxes, voting, supporting the decisions of my elected officials.
But I do fear that following blindly and without discussion or debate because they included the words HOMELAND SECURITY in the wording. I think we should be skeptical of the government and make them spell out each decision that has been made and why, and then we should examine the merits of what they have said. In fact, I believe that is our responsibility.
I think we should abolish political parties and vote for Congressmen, Senators and Presidents. I don't want a Republican in the White House. And I don't want a Democrat in the White House. I want an educated, principled individual in the White House. I want a President. And I want him surrounded by people who follow and debate issues...not polls.
Some of us freaked out when the Supreme Court said we could post the 10 Commandments in some places. The rest of us freaked when we found we could not post them in some places. Seems it always has to be all or nothing. Why?
The Supreme Court also said Brandon, Florida can take my house and land away from me to give to somebody else. But only if they'll build something nicer and pay more taxes. That completely freaks me out. And that only four justices thought it was a terrible idea has freaked me out even more! I had complete trust in those nine and now I don't know what to think about them. Flip-flopping on the 10 Commandments and redistributing wealth....I'm sorry but that sounds pretty political to me.
Last thing, and I apologize mightily for ranting like this. The worst thing we have done in this country is split into blue and red, cease dialog on important issues, and give away the farm in the name of "security".
Travelin' Ed
This next is not meant to be disrespectful nor unpatriotic. It's just something I think about. A LOT:
I don't think that it was wrong that we went into Iraq. Not really. And I fear the result if we pulled out now. So I am solidly behing the President on this.
But I do not feel the guys are fighting for my freedom. I am no more free with Sadaam and the Taliban and whatever nefarious dudes we've killed gone than I was when they were still running around. The Iraqis and Afghans are more free. Women in those countries are more free. The region as a whole is getting a bit of a shake up, hopefully for the better.
No, I think I am more comfortable believing that our boys are out fighting for their freedom and for my security. And we need security. The attacks are viscious and I am glad we took the fight to them.
Also, I don't believe a lot of Americans even understand what the true concept of freedom is. They think it means that they can dress how they want, be rude if they want, blah, blah, blah. A lot seem to start each example of freedom with a personal pronoun. And to me, that is but a small part of it. There seems, to me at least, to be little understanding by a lot of folks that freedoms do not come without critical thought and responsibilities.
The larger, probably more important freedoms are being eroded or taken away out right. That scares me. And what scares me more is that the general population thanks the government for it. Says "Thanks for keeping me free". I think they mean, "Thanks for keeping me safe."
You cannot travel freely now without being tracked. TSA continues to compile profiles that they've promised not to compile and have been forbidden to compile. There is commentary about it, but no outrage.
The law enforcement agencies continue to seek ways to monitor all of our electronic communications so they can look for "threat words". Of course they, too, promise it isn't something they'd abuse. Yet the sentence "The movie was about THE PRESIDENT and it BOMBED" in an e-mail to your sister would bring you under federal scrutiny. And it might even get ugly for you if you happened be of middle eastern descent.
We have vigilantes at our borders. Think about it. Armed farmers and residents at the border. Whether you call it this or not, that seems to be a localized foreign policy. When has that ever been condoned before? But now it's for keeping out terrorists, so it's A-OK. ('Cause you know farmer Joe knows a terrorist when he sees one.)
National ID cards. 'Nuff said.
The line of BS that a butane lighter might bring down an airliner, I mean really. They blow off a whole lot more bombs with cell phones than with fuses, but guess which one is forbidden on a plane? Somehow, TSA came to believe that inconvienence was the same thing as security and moved forward with great dispatch.
I am not anti-government. I don't want to move to a ranch in Montana and plot against it. I laugh at conspiracy theories and believe that, by and large, the government attempts to do right by us. I have no problem paying my taxes, voting, supporting the decisions of my elected officials.
But I do fear that following blindly and without discussion or debate because they included the words HOMELAND SECURITY in the wording. I think we should be skeptical of the government and make them spell out each decision that has been made and why, and then we should examine the merits of what they have said. In fact, I believe that is our responsibility.
I think we should abolish political parties and vote for Congressmen, Senators and Presidents. I don't want a Republican in the White House. And I don't want a Democrat in the White House. I want an educated, principled individual in the White House. I want a President. And I want him surrounded by people who follow and debate issues...not polls.
Some of us freaked out when the Supreme Court said we could post the 10 Commandments in some places. The rest of us freaked when we found we could not post them in some places. Seems it always has to be all or nothing. Why?
The Supreme Court also said Brandon, Florida can take my house and land away from me to give to somebody else. But only if they'll build something nicer and pay more taxes. That completely freaks me out. And that only four justices thought it was a terrible idea has freaked me out even more! I had complete trust in those nine and now I don't know what to think about them. Flip-flopping on the 10 Commandments and redistributing wealth....I'm sorry but that sounds pretty political to me.
Last thing, and I apologize mightily for ranting like this. The worst thing we have done in this country is split into blue and red, cease dialog on important issues, and give away the farm in the name of "security".
Travelin' Ed
That's what I'm about. Ramblin' Ed at 4:08 PM
7 comments:
It seems that I have started a Wildfire.
Not really. I've just been amazed for the last couple of years that important stuff is left undebated and that minutae is seized, blown out of proportion, proponents demonized, opponents demonized and talk radio/talking heads go crazy. Then everybody demands an apology from everybody else and refuse to play together in the sand box. How can that be good?
God love you, AI. You have got me spouting off more times than anybody else. I think it's your gife. : )
Ed
I mean, I think it's your GIFT. I'm not real sure what a gife is. (Maybe some kind of frilly drawers)
Ed
Wow, I go away for a week and almost dont recognize you. I am in agreement with most all you say though- good friends are like that ya know. Anyway, Jn and I will be back up in W. PA this weekend and will start blogging then. Just wanted you to know we are back stateside.
I guess I agree with pretty much all of that- maybe not exactly all but I am too tired to go back and read it over to be sure. I am generally of the opinion that people dont like to be forced to think or they dont like to be made uncomfortable. (Sometimes this is the same thing.) It's kinda like in the morning you put your shoe on the same foot first every day and if one morning you do it differently it is a big deal. You spend a lot of time thinking about it and it gets in the way. So for a lot of people a lot of things are boiled down to two options. It is so much simpler that way. You line up pros and cons and pick which on has more pros or less cons and stick a little "I voted" sticker on your chest and feel all warm and fuzzy. If you are as apathetic as my one friend you will just flip a coin and still feel like you have done some sort of valuable service. But it is the same with right and wrong (I do believe in absolute truth-that is not this issue), creation and evolution, chicken or fish, red or blue. Make it as painless and unthought provoking as possible so we can still sleep soundly at night and we dont have to do a lot of research to back up what we think if we are questioned. We will pick our sides then stand at opposite ends of a very wide very deep chasm and chuck rocks at each other as hard as we can. It doesnt matter that we rarely ever reach the other side at least we know that we are right and they are wrong. While the poor moderates are somewhere down in the deep dark and murky middle with large pointy rocks hurtling down at them from both sides. This sounds a little cynacle I guess but most of the time I am one of those thinking types who has a hard time with sleep and who catches flack from both ends pretty heavy. That is I guess why I dont really like 'politics'. Boy I sound chipper tonight -Jn
Coal Miner's Daughter ,
Sounds like we share some views. Still, I'm not trying to get anybody to agree with me so much as to get them to know why they believe what they believe.
To know that when they pulled the lever they did it to make things better (hopefully) and not for the sole reason that Howard Dean, or Dick Cheney or even Jim Beam told them to.
I used to be straight Republican ticket, conservative to the core. And I still cannot stomach about 99.5% of the liberal platform on any given day. But the GOP swung way off far right, got shrill and unforgiving, and more and more seemed able to speak for me less and less.
That is why I continually say that my biggest fear about American Politics right now is having to study the facts hard to see who is the least dangerous, instead of who is the best for the job. They're kinda the same thing, but not.
Get me off of politics. I'm not good at it.
Ed
Yeah, me either. Poetics just seem to sit better. -Jn
Post a Comment
<< Home