If we were not able to depend on each other's word, things would spiral down pretty quickly
jjkirk, this is the same problem that I was trying to highlight, and to this end you’ve probably done a better job of it than I have.
At the end of the day simple acceptance of whatever we’re told robs us of any personal responsibility that we might want to use in projecting our power into the world. In this particular case I seem to have been more a part of the problem than the solution. This is just the human way, the issue might be more of learning when to keep my mouth shut, or better yet, one of learning when to be moral.
Politicians are no different and I’m prepared to cut them plenty of slack in this regard, but it doesn’t mean they should be unaccountable, and I'm not claiming that you said that. They lack discipline and are often driven by shallow egos. We are constantly judging their credibility. From an intellectual honesty point of view, the problem I have with the President, is that the inconsistencies are so glaring, but this doesn’t mean I’m deeply offended or outraged or that I hate the guy. I may kick and scream every now and then - so what, we all do. Indeed it’s simplistic to present either/or’s, but when the world is driven by soundbytes this is what happens. Either that or I’m more disturbed than I thought.
You’ve got a real job to do and it’s easy for me to sit here and chit chatter, I’m quite convinced that this thought already crossed your mind. To me the personal honor of US military officersis quite a different matter compared to that of those running the Grub-mint. The US Military has limited objectives - unfortunately Governments often don’t, and my job is to remind them of this as I see it. Please note that in my post about my impressions of the Cold War, on a global level, my beef was with the politicians of the world, not the soldiers of the world. Individually they are heroes, sacrificial lambs if you will. Sometimes politicians exploit their soldiers and in south africa clear distinctions between the two were not so easily made, unless the soldier happened to be say a personal friend.
I accept government as a necessary evil at worst and necessary benevolence at best, because whether they want to be or not they are the real cops. They can be like the traffic police and we are the cars or they can be like the gestapo where we are the pavement. "Suspicion" may be in my blood, because of my history, but psycho-politically it is what makes me see red. When I first came here, possibly the greatest culture shock I faced was not feeling threatened when I saw a policeman on the street, or cop car or a Fed or a soldier. It was not about Mickey D’s or MTV, hell it was more like a drive-in bank. Feeling safe was a giant relief, just like what I felt that night of 911 - it was in the air, an invisible moral dream. Powertrips flow directly from fear, which is what makes them so scary and I am not invulnerable. Trick or teat, by all means fair or foul, by hook or by crook is the art of war, not everything is good and clean and fresh tra la la. It may not be very civilized, but as violence tends towards extremes it tends towards it's opposite. My Respect and Gratitude towards the US fighting forces is quite intact.
I might have a problem with discipline, but Following the Rules here is easy. I have never thought of US soldiers as bloodthirsty savages, nor am I an evil monster if that’s what you were thinking. I just wanted to clear that up.
Ashcrofts announcements a few weeks ago regarding an increased threat facing the nation, were based on what? In the grand scheme of things, this is neither here nor there, but it caused quite a controversy, and for me this time round I didn’t particularly care if it was true or not, if it was based on fact or on fantasy. I am well aware of methods used to induce fear by the Right but this doesn’t mean they are always wrong -g- I do feel people need to wake up to The Threat, so what if it’s only a scare, it’s only when panic sets in that it tends towards trouble. Currently the govern mint$ domestic actions are arguably normal at best, so urging us to get back to normal makes arguable sense. We do the best we can. The cheapest way is to treat us like mushrooms, pure economics, and if we don't watch out that is what we become - present company excluded of course - I may get stomped on, but you know I’ll be back for more, got nothing to do with morality really.
The very fact that it invokes my sense of morality so strongly is what makes Politics so compelling for me. I may have gone a bit overboard, so call me an extremist, but what I was doing was not without my awareness. I apologize for hurting some feelings but like any Politician I told no lies. When you look at America from Afar, you don’t look at the difference between the left v the right. This board was getting submerged in this gulf and for me it was like being underwater without air. Call me Osama, whose flaws will lead to his destruction.
To make the distinction between policy consistency and double standards is a challenge we all face - SI can be like a battleground or a color-field full of poppies, and that is what makes it so interesting for me, particularly as an immigrant trying to learn about America.
Not-with-standing the fact, that getting shrunk here is free, in the interests of not disrupting things further I will curtail my ot / personal postings. |
