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Politics : Piffer Thread on Political Rantings and Ravings -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jorj X Mckie who wrote (2839)	10/16/2001 3:23:57 PM
From: Neenny	Respond to of 14610

I was talking about WITH YOU!!!

To: Jorj X Mckie who wrote (2839)	10/16/2001 6:06:44 PM
From: SmoothSail	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 14610

I feel like ranting a little too: While the peaceniks and anti-war demonstrators march and protest and the I-hate-America-Muslims do the same and Americans of all persuasions display their flags and unite against an enemy that can't see, one thing is for certain - life as we knew it prior to 911 is going to be forever changed. The way we think and form opinions is going to change. The things we buy and how we choose to spend money is going to change. How we treat our neighbors and neighborhoods is going to change. Some of it good and some of it not so good. I think America is ready for this war and by that I mean we're ready for some changes. We're a media driven society where the media does a lot of our thinking for us. Two months ago the entire nation was absorbed in the comings and goings of Condit and watching Bush cut bushes on his ranch. Most issues that should have been important to us were relegated to small special interest groups. But that is changing. Complete strangers are discussing in a most earnest manner subjects like our energy policies, environmental concerns, attitudes towards other nations - ALL nations. It's happening on the internet, while standing in line at the grocery store, eating at the local diner. We are all becoming more informed about countries a lot of us never paid any attention to. (I remember a couple of years ago a congresswoman getting up to talk about the plight of women in Tajikistan who were arriving from Afghanistan and complaining about their treatment and a couple of talk show hosts making fun of her - "Tajikistan?! Never heard of the place much less be able to pronounce it. What is this lady talking about? We have enough problems here!"). Everyone has an opinion. Everyone is choosing a side. Our attitudes are changing. Our acceptance of wretched excess is going to change - and it should. My dad told me a story that during the second world war, the tops of the street lights were painted black and the backs of curtains, shades and drapes had to be lined in black material to keep light from escaping from inside during the night just in case the Japanese figured out a way to fly over here and bomb LA. The city had to be in complete darkness at night. Neighborhood men patrolled on foot and confronted anyone who was out after dark. We had paper drives and scrap metal drives to raise money for the war effort. We collected anything that could be sold at a "white elephant sale" to help raise money and those sales were held once a month. Gas and food were rationed. No cars were made in the war years. In 1942 and 1943, no copper pennies were issued because the copper had to be used for the war machine. Luxury items like nylons for women were unheard of as were any outward displays of wealth. You were considered un-American if you weren't sacrificing for the war. Heavy publicity was given to movie stars who joined the service and the ones who couldn't or didn't made movies about the war. Everyone had to sacrifice back then. Everyone united in the fight against our enemies. Earlier I asked someone where he thought all these billion dollar bills being passed in Congress and all the money the states and cities are spending to protect us are going. Who are we paying and what are they doing with all this money - and where is it going to come from? The new tax cut and rebate? Something's going to have to change to meet these commitments. During WWII, we knew who our enemies were and we knew who our allies were. There was no waffling. There was no mistake who's side you were on. We didn't have to send diplomatic missions to countries begging, threatening and bribing them to be our friends. They were or they weren't. Yes, Yes, I know. This is different. These are terrorists and there's just a few of them and they're all over there in Afghanistan with a smattering of cells located in, let's see, some countries in the middle east or was it ALL the countries of the middle east and there's some in Europe, and Indonesia and Asia and...and...well I guess they're all over. Does anyone really believe that the majority of the countries in the mideast are going to stay on our side? I don't think so. They're going to do what they think is in their best interest and what they have to do to survive. The threat of their own kind bringing the ruling regimes down is far greater than anything we're threatening to do. We're a relatively new country compared to these ancient cultures in the mideast. Our pluralistic society is as polar as it can get to theirs. We allow a myriad of opinions, cultures, religions - you name it. They only allow one opinion, one culture, one religion. Except for the ruling classes, they are poor countries. We are rich by comparison. We are free. They are not. This list can go on and on. I agree with the idea that this is going to turn into a religious war. We're not going to call it that, but that's what it's going to be. We're losing the propaganda war, in my opinion. Trying to portray us as good guys is just not going to work with leaflets and care packages. Just makes us look worse, IMHO.