I was watching the news earlier and watched with interest as details of Bush's spying operations were shown. When I made my super I turned on a movie I had just rented. The new version of the War of the Worlds. What is interesting is the the basic theme of the movie runs parallel to our fears of terrorism. The original war of the wars ran parallel to America's red scare in the 1950s. There is this great America cycle of fear that seems to progress from generation to generation. What is the purpose of fear?
I found some interesting articles on the subject.
These Americans feel that America is being brainwashed by fear, controlled, and maupulated by fear to choose security over freedom. That there can be no way to win a war on terrorism anymore than there can be absolute victory in the war against drugs. Some feel that we allow Bush to get away with invading Iraq, the Patriot Act, and his wire tapping so that we may stay secure...
"THOSE WHO WOULD TRADE ESSENTIAL LIBERTY FOR A LITTLE TEMPORARY SECURITY DESERVE NEITHER LIBERTY NOR SECURITY." Ben Franklin
"A society that will trade a little liberty for a little order will lose both and deserve neither." - Thomas Jefferson
"All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree." -James Madison
"They are continually comin g up with new ways of keeping the citizens of the U.S. in a state of fear. The "security alert" with it's color coding is perfect. All they have to do is change the color of it to turn the level of fear in this country up or down, just like controlling the flow of water in a faucet."-Kathy Wilson Anderson
HISTORICALLY, fear has proven to be one of the most successful political means of controlling the masses. Not for the first time, our political masters are employing the tradition of using exaggerated fear to further their objectives. This time around the aim is to gain public acceptance for anti-terror legislation.-Dr Amjid Muhammad
Our own government has us capitulating to fear, using the psychology of the weak-minded human brain to ensnarl us in terror. It is using human fear to erode our freedoms and rights. In order to feel secure, in order to have a sense of safety our fellow citizens are gladly eviscerating their rights and freedoms, granting their government unprecedented levels of power over us. We are blindly giving up the beauty of America and the future of our children for the perceived security provided by government. -Manuel Valenzuela
Some Americans feel that the fear and battle of terrorism is real and that we must make sacrifices to use every resorse whatever the cost to fight and win.
In response, American policy should be predicated not on friendship or the desire for appreciation, but on what is in our national interest and what is right — whose symbiosis is possible only through the current policy of consistently promoting democracy.
Yet if we get through all this with the extinction of Islamic-fascist terrorism and an end to the Middle East autocracy that spawned and nurtured it — and I think we are making very good progress in doing just that and in less than four years — it will only be because of the superb quality of the American military and the skilful diplomacy of those who have so temperately unleashed it.-Victor Davis
Winning the war on terrorism requires winning the war of information."
- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales
While Al Qaeda has only a handful of members, the danger lies in the resonance of their message with billions of desperate, angry people. Just as with communism, we have to fight this battle in a way that separates our enemies from the people they are appealing to. We must show that we care about these people’s plight. And we must not fight the battle in a way that seems to confirm what the terrorists say about us."-Herry McNerney
I have included quotes from both sides of the board. Strangly it is not a right wing and left wing stand but rather one's stand on the price of liberty and the price of security. I will keep my own opinions to myself about whether fear is founded or not in this country and if it has a purpose. But it is a touchy subject and would rather not get fire bombed by members of this board who may disagree. I shared these articles that were inspired by a country's issues that have come and gone since the civil war. I, though, have long ago decided to be very careful with my opinions on this board.
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a little advice
Zac, you have already voiced your anit-bush message some time ago. Most everyone knows where you stand and a vast majority here appeared to had disagreed with you back then.
Most of what is in the media these days is smoke and show. Just yesterday, they reported the Mexican Army crossing our border on maneuvers. Okay...it happened back in April 2004! As of yet, the reports haven't shown how the wiretapping by Bush was illegal. It's all talk. The media is so out of control and out of touch these days that it is Lucretius.
This is a Civil War message board. There are items of interest that come up that don't fit the other categories but we should really refrain from posting political opinions that don't relate to history.
Throwing a bunch of historical quotes into a post doesn't necessarily constitute being related to history.
Now, it is true that many folks don't like President Bush, but it really does no good to bash him. It's not going to get him out of office nor is it going to help our country in anyway. If anything it damages our imagine on the international level when they see 100's and 1000's of people bashing their leader. We are not alone in Iraq, there were and probably still is a dozen other countries assisting over there. The effort was made to extend the work we are doing for other nations to assist and help reshape want was a very dangerous regime. Some came and other bulked. Case in point...we are not alone in this mission.
Years ago, when Sen. Benton signed on for Vice-President ticket, he told a story that impressed me. When he first began running for office he was running virtually unopposed as a Republican. An old time politician asked him why he was run as a republican when 90% of the residents were Democrats? He didn't really have an answer. The old time told him, he would do a better service to the residents if he ran as Democrat, and so he did.
It is a similiar situation here on this board. Not saying that you shouldn't have your personal views but there is no good to become of bringing up a trivial subject that you know the majority of people are against you on. If there is nothing to gain why stir the pot?
Just some insights and thoughts.
Will
Will, I didn't say any
I did not slander Bush in the last post.
This topic is okay being in the off topic discussion folder. There are a varity of other topics in the off topic folder not connected with the civil war.
But thanks Will for your advice, but lets please stick to the topic of this thread.
Fifties sci-fi fed off of cold-war fears. Movies such as Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Them! revealed the paranoia that underpinned fifties complacency. But few people saw this connection at the time. Rather with the distance of several elapsed decades, the connection became increasingly clear.
With cold-war dangers now reduced, Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds looks to terrorism to feed its brand of sci-fi paranoia. Here, the invaders are out to destroy our way of life. They're merciless. There is no middle ground. There is no room for compromise. It's us or them. Spielberg has even gone on record talking about how he drew on terrorism when crafting his revision of H.G. Wells' classic tale; however, by bringing the underpinning paranoia so close to the surface, the movie takes on a pre-fabricated aura, which makes the movie's drama artificial and contrived. -Gary Johnson
What I find interesting is that both versions of the film came out in different periods of American history when paranoia is at its highest. The first one came out during the McCarthy red scare and the days when the fire bell would ring in school and children would hide under their desks to defend themselves against a nuclear fire ball. The second version came at just the right time when Americans are stocking up on duct tape and are praying that we do not go from yellow to orange to red. Fear is one of the key things in American society. Fear of terrorism, natural disastors, the bird flu, and high living costs. Movies and literature have always defined our culture but culture itself. Nothing including art can hide from the reality out there. What other films or books reflect our times?
Speilberg makes some good
Speilberg makes some good movies
But lately his constant movies with a point become tiresome, not that they arent good movies, but th eaverage movie goer is lost to the "real Point" and even some that "get it" only do so because they heard it from a reviewer.
Hollywood in General is out of touch with the american public, Brokeback mountain for example, gets lots of acclaim with critics and theh rest of hollywood, but is only on limited release to locations where it might make some money....The english patient got rave reviews and lots of awards....But was a plodding and boring movie...rife with logistical stupidity...I have watched plodding and boring movies before and came away enlightened but not the english patient....
now to the subject of fear, true enuff that fear helps to motivate the country lets look on past paranoia, duck and cover...wouldnt actually work on the larger megaton weapons, NbC training often gets silly when we get to the N part..you have more chance against chem and bio then nuke....
Real threat, but at waht level?
WWII
love those bugs bunny cartoons when hes doing the elmer fudd treatment to some Japanese Soldier, artfully drawn with thick glasses and slanty eyes,,,big buck teeth, most would know that the average japanese male doesnt look that way but you have to dehumanize your enemy, makes it easier to kill them...
Remember the Maine!
bad gunticking er cotton blew up the Maine, pure accident, gave us the imputus to go to war with spain and aquire the phillipines and panama....later home to the canal(major stratgic point , given away by carter, good move jimmy!)though I dont knock him for his humanatarian works...makes a better gov than president...
and it goes back to the civil war .....on both sides
Fear is employed on BOTH sides of any issue large or small, what is high school gossip but the employment of fear on a smaller and different level
"jimmy says you are gay..."
male does not want to be considered to be such, goes out and smaks jimmy who probally never said such a thing, but a person was manipulated but he did most of it himself...his personal fear that it would spread like wildfire that he was in fact Gay, made him lose self control and showed his conciderable lack of self esteem.
I agree with will to a point that this is like going into Watts wearing a kkk robe....past evidence suggests that the message board is roughly 95% republican give or take 5% im actually a Libertarian meself, but mostly vote republican.
Zac has his points in that it is in the chatter section where we often build mythical Ironclads....so its perfectly ok to post it...and it does have a possible hook to it that can be applied to history....as others could cite examples of Fear and manipulation,
Personally I dont buy what either side is selling most of the time,
Seamus
(soylent green is people!)
"it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifing......nothing"
MacBeth
Looks like a cat
If it looks like a cat, feels like a cat, sounds like a cat...it must be a Dog! Best I can do with the post. I did say couldn't just suggested for your peace of mind you shouldn't post controversial items if you don't want the heat. I re-read the original post several times before I remotely saw that it may not be as it appears. Oops my goof up. Luckily I restrained myself from any harsh comments on what appeared to be more Bush bashing. I doubt I was alone with this thought. It is seldom that one can be objective and neutral with a subject after vehemently attacking or giving extreme views. For what it is worth, there is a heavy tone of anti-Bush in the post. Perhaps if he were left completely out of it, I would not have walked away with that opinion that the post was against Bush and the war.
Will
I agree with you Mike,
I agree with you Mike, Speilberg's latest movies are too political and try too hard to make simple statements through an over kill of satires and loopy plots. Basickly it is not his geinus. One example of this is The Termenal. I think that he should stick to what he is good at and come out with a Back to the Future IV!
Fear is employed to gain power. Stalin, Hitler, and a few other leaders that I will not mention have used this to fabricate their personal ambitions. However powerful fear gives one power it refuses the person any trust or respect. Most of the time, though, the leader who inflects fear on the population becomes themselves a victim of fear and paranoia. Stalin and Hitler both lived their last years gripped in their own fear. Perhaps it is conscience rather than fear, though. The problem with fear in a democracy is that fear is the exact opposite of liberty.
" When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty."-Thomas Jefferson
I was watching Oprah the
I was watching Oprah the other day, and for some reason she believes herself to be the modern day guru for the people. She had a terriosim expert, an middleeastern expert and the guy who wrote the book the world is flat, now the terroism expert was saying things like chilling, its going to happen, matter of time, then came an unless.....apparently we dont give enough money to third world countries, so the hate us and want us to die...never mind that most food sent to "impovershed" areas are kept from getting to where its needed by armed thugs who are either employed by the govt or opposition rebels...Re somalia,sudan,ethopia......
If a meteor strikes indonesia killing 500,000 it must be some how Americas fault, that we didnt send our vast space armada to shoot it down. but I digress
but theh world is flat guy and the mid east expert took a different tack, saying things werent all that bad in Iraq, the iraqi on the street says things are getting better and at least we are free...I think Id rather have mad bomers roaming the street than one day a knok on the door and the whole family is arrested and taken and tortured and forced to watch you female family members raped in front of you.......all perpatrated by the Govt.
Bin laden releases a tape....offering a truce? some say that this means we have him on the ropes, cave life is getting a little hard on the old boy.
Fear must be concoured at home(my spelling sucks) and the left is so good at it as well, I am sick and tired of celebrities.....and their mythic causes.....why dont they advocate giving to the Red cross, cancer society, or salvation army? its always about some lesser known charity in Santa Cruz, called the " gaslights for glory" and its all about supporting a transgender thespian group, to advocate tolerance......
but its about fear......but the Iranians, the guys on the street want to be america....if I was to go looking for a second wife, I might go for a young persian....anyhoo....but we have to Fear the madman in the cheep Jordanian suit....
will there be war? thats the tagline now, and of course $9.00 gas, which has almost as much power in the human mind as nuclear devistation... and thank you Harry Belifonte for making us so proud of you.......someone send a black ops team to Venesal that damned s. american country....and one to Hollywood too....
I dont fear... im just mentally tired of..
the.
alf
elf
peta
hollywood
peace activists
terri schivo and anything associated with
democrats
Fema
displaced katrina victims
global warming?
zero tolerance policies
Baldacchi
teachers unions
any unions
large corporations
greed
apathy
legislation for"our own good"
gun control advocates
and most of all..
FEAR!
Seamus
(I really need more coffee)
"it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifing......nothing"
MacBeth
Seamus,I'm sending you a
Seamus,
I'm sending you a case of my special blend of decaf espresso laced with 10 mg of valium and a haldol chaser!
It's the diversity that makes us human. If it weren't for all of the misguided tree hugging Al Franken wannabe liberals...then we would be bored to death because it is idiots like them who show us how truly misguided and insane people can be...and in so recognizing the Hollywood Elite Liberal Anti-Bush Freakshows running around this country, we realize just how much harder good Civil Libertarians like us have to work to keep this country sane.
So don't be tired of them, Seamus...embrace them! For they are truly the ones who enlighten us...they are the virtual signposts in the road that point toward the Twilight Zone...Where the misguided liberal extremists go, we know NOT to follow!
As Custer said to Jack Crabb in "Little Big Man"..."You are my perfect reverse barometer..." OK, maybe Custer isn't the best choice of people to quote when representing our side of the issue, but he's all I got this early in the morning.
I think most of America are
I think most of America are just tired. Tired of bought and sold politicans, a wannabe Texan from Connecticut, a senator who declared he spent his whole life earning purple hearts on a swift boat, a fat wrinkled Kennedy who just may live forever, tired of Angelina jolie adopting Ethiopian babies, every American child left behind, hip hop terrorism, the searching of weapons of mass destruction but only finding weapons of mass stupidity, of peace activists who dishonor our troops and war activists who dishonor their families, people forgetting the sons and fathers and brothers, our servicemen, who sacrifice for us and our freedom, and tired of those who forget and turn away from God, a God who still believes in America, belives in us. Is America tired of hypocritical republicans and dishonest democrats, money-licans and money-crats, a rainbow of paranoia, PETA, and the KKK? Or is it just me? Volumes told by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying everything which in the end is nothing. Tired of ritalin, ADHD and the CIA, depression and ecstasy, and tired of the Kennedys who keep breeding. Tired of our reverends saint Al Sharpton and saint Jessie Jackson, the patron saints of ignorance. America is tired of black berries, cell phones, are we there yet, can you hear me now, evil do-ers and intelligent don't-ers, Guantanamo Bay and E-Bay, Nick and Jessica and Rose O Donel and Kelli Carpenter, Puff Daddy, P Diddy, and now just Diddy. America is tired of Peter wako jacko pan in never never land, kkk burning crosses, and the naacp burning Confederate flags, liberal garbage and conservative junk. Three dollars a gallon because of a hurricane, four dollars a gallon becuase of another hurricane, a new world order in the old world, United Nations dividing all that is good. Tired of hollywood heroes earning a billion, lying and buying a billion. Is America tired of fear or is it just me? Mind sparing some of that decafe coffee, Rod?
Yet, I pray for our country, a country I love as much as I love my family. I pray for its leaders, and most of all I pray for our armed forces who give us the right to question, to speak out, and in the end preserve our right to live here in hope.
I actually like
I actually like E-Bay.........
seamus
"it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifing......nothing"
MacBeth
lol me too. Maybe I should
lol me too. Maybe I should have said Casco Bay in Portland but then again that's a pretty bay. Oh well. It was a fun piece to write. Had to keep up with you some how!
I have held my tongue long enough.
We really need to stop throwing around the stereotype that all liberals are tree hugging Al Franken wannabees. I am an unabashed liberal who happens to like Al Franken, but has for years worked in the paper industry. I am a liberal who is a Confederate reenactor. I am a liberal who does not want to take anyone's guns. I just believe that there are some things as a society that we have to take care of because there are people out there that won't or can't do it themselves.
Social Security for example. There are people out there that are just living paycheck to paycheck and just can't afford to save anything for their older years. Isn't it wrong for people to look the other way saying, "Well it's their own fault." If they had saved, then they probably would have ended up on public assisstance and then people would have looked down on them as deadbeats. Are there problems? Yes there are, but that's why we have to work to solve them.
Medicaid and Medicare. Should we as a society discard those who can't pay for medical treatment or as a Christian nation do we help those less fortunate?
In closing, just remember Jesus was a Liberal.
I'll get off my soapbox now and await for the mud.
What's The Point?
When Spielberg came out with "Saving Private Ryan"all the pundits (Sandskrit word for mindless idiot) were extolling how the realism would show everyone the horrors of war and we would all hold hands and sing KUMBAYA!. Well pals & gals the ones who REALLY were there on Omaha, Utah, Sword, Gold & Juno beaches,and survived the slaughter were the ones who were promoted or voted into office and sent people to places like Chosin Reservoir, and Khe San. If those who really fought and bled didnt get the message, HOW THE BLODDY HELL CAN A 3 HOUR MOVIE DO IT!!!!
"Never Apologize, It's a sign of weakness!
Cpt. Nathan Brittles
Pvt. Steve Henry
Co. A, 3rd Maine Volunteer Infantry
"Bath City Greys
Jesus as a Liberal
Yes, our Lord and Savior by definition may have been a liberal, but look what the powers that be did to him!
"Never Apologize, It's a sign of weakness!
Cpt. Nathan Brittles
Pvt. Steve Henry
Co. A, 3rd Maine Volunteer Infantry
"Bath City Greys
The so called powers that be
The so called powers that be had no power over Christ. Jesus still lives and those so called powers that be or were exist no more but in total darkness. If Jesus was a liberal then call me a liberal as well. I'll be with him before I'd ever follow, "the powers that be."
Franken's actually a good comedian
I never said ALL liberals were "tree hugging..etc" I just said "if it weren't for all of the tree hugging Al Franken wannabe's, then we wouldn't have...etc" There are some good liberals who make sense, and there are some good conservatives. There are also fanatics on each side who make enough noise to cause all the hubbub...the libs and conservatives who are more toward the center are willing to see both sides of the fence and try to work a reasonable compromise.
As for Franken, he's pretty funny. I listened to Air America a few times and think it's one of the funniest comedy shows on Radio!
America NEEDS liberals, concervatives, and centrists. One faction cannot be completly in charge because both sides have been known to come up with some really stupid ideas (Undocumented Guest Workers comes to mind from the Republican side...what WAS he thinking when he said that?) I don't agree with a lot that the Conservative side says, but I disagree more with the extreme left (The Hollywood Left..the ones who are WAAAAYYY out there).
So I'm not bashing all liberals. We need to balance each other out, point out the facts because each side sees them a little differently. It's like Pentacostal's and Lutherans. We all have the same bible, but get two completely different interpretations. The left and right read the same Constitution and can't seem to agree on hardly a single paragraph.
I agree that Social Security is a joke, but I really don't want to have my money taken by force by any government in order to pay for someone else's oil, or drugs, or food. If the government could come up with a fair way of taxing everyone equally and then actually making that money do some real good, then I would gladly give my "fair share". Medicaid and Medicare? I don't even want to think about the mess that is in. I have 42 residents in my nursing home who deal with that mess daily. The govt screwed that up big time and we need to come up with a good solution. But again...I really hate having my money taken from me by force, and that amount can be increased every year as the government sees fit....
So be Liberal, be Conservative, but be reasonable and use common sense. We can't save all of the trees, and we can't save every country in this world from despotism either.
Passion
Of course Christ lives, but in order for him to rise from the dead, he had to submit himself to the Romans and Pharisees
"Never Apologize, It's a sign of weakness!
Cpt. Nathan Brittles
Pvt. Steve Henry
Co. A, 3rd Maine Volunteer Infantry
"Bath City Greys
Granted. True, Steve Henry.
Granted. True, Steve Henry. He did not rebel in the throws of his death. He only asked that God defend them.
From War of the Worlds, to fear, to being tired of PETA and ELF, to being tired of a wanna- be Texan, to the proclaiming of a liberal, to Jesus. What a thread. yeee haaa
Oh my, I should not say a word...
In my opinion:
Political Jesus? Politics is about the brain and how man governs. Parties and views (liberal or conservitive or whatever) are measured as relative to eachother and are a way to achieve a political goal. Jesus' thought, words, and deeds are about the heart. His death is about our salvation. He came to save us from the religious law written in stone. He came to give us a new judgement which is by our hearts.
Matt 22:15-22
Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk. And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men. Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto him, Caesars. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesars; and unto God the things that are Gods. When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.
Pvt/Lt Craig Young
3rd Maine, Company A
29th Georgia/7th Maine
Lambh Deargh Erin Abu!
Most importantly we are free. Free in thought, body, and soul.
It is no longer the blood, but the spirit that makes us what we are.
We are Celts!
Good one Craig. Right to the
Good one Craig. Right to the point. as Far as dick Claiming to be a liberal, well one must understand My Rant was going to the Extremes of extremists I doubt Dick will go out and burn down the paper mill to protect the enviroment.What galls me is those that Down the common man as being unable to protect himself, guns bad(you might put an eye out)French fries..(or freedom fries I just call em fries)bad....make you fat...well heres a littel thing get off your buttocks and excercise...bike hike something...What I see as the bigger problem is just a general lack of disipline in the general public most of oour ills were started with the permissiveness of the 60s and the movement of public opinon and micromanagement of a war and now as some of those got older they realized their mistakes and those who didnt have risen to higher hights in Govt and society.
Do I agree with the War? Yes. Do I think its being fought correctly? No. I think we should have gone in with two divisions more than we should have...get there first with the most, and be backed up by support divisions to Fix the roads and power grid. weapons of mass destruction? didnt matter to me, had to be done. insurgents are going to Iraq to attack our Military, not finding their way here to attack us...
Bush Is not the sharpest tool in the shed, but hes a damn site sharper than the one running against him.
SS and medicare, Despite its faults it does help, My wife is on disability with her affliction, so Its helping us, what it shouldnt help is Drug addicts and alchies who did it to themselves..Welfare moms who have kids with different men just for the baby check, we all know some dont we?
I dont make alot but what I make is mine, I did it... Ive looked at the figures there Are times if I became worthless I could make just under what I make playing the system...But thats not what its there for...Its for the downtrodden to use it as a hand up....
But I have ranted too much this morning...See you tomorrow for my next installment.....
Seamus
(libertarian Canidate for Gov)
"it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifing......nothing"
MacBeth
I haven't looked at this in a few days.
Steve, Loved the Jesus witticism. No offense was meant, just good old irish wit.
Zac, you have to remember Jesus was obeying the will of God. Historically Jesus was not as powerful as God until the Crucifixion and then he was no longer a singular entity but became part of the Trinity. Though remember, some sects of Christianity do not believe in the Trinity and God is held in higher regard.
As far as the rest of it goes. It's Interesting.
Will
its like a bloddy
its like a bloddy shamrock!
Seamus
"it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifing......nothing"
MacBeth
Jesus is the will of God.
Jesus is the will of God. My faith teaches me to believe that Jesus is God. There is no trinity. There is but one Being. In what I have read in the Bible, I have found much proof to back this faith up. When He was praying "to the father" he was doing so as a teacher, giving examples, always teaching his followers how to pray. I know this is a very Catholic state so I won't dig in with my Apostolic faith here. His love is truly amazing. It is hard to imagine why He would promise us an eternity of life and salvation when some of us break a tooth before saying a prayer. And I admit, I'm one of the guilty ones who don't pray enough and am not always thankful for Jesus' many blessings. Amen!
That being said, and while I'm up at the pulpit I will have a little of what Mike is drinking and get a lil honest too!
Do I agree with the invasion in Iraq? no. Do I believe in gun laws? NO. We are our own last line of defense against terrorists, enemies, whoever, including each other. Sorry Bush and Miss (or is it Mrs.) Rice, duct tape and dust masks just won't do! I am Anti-UN, anti-big government, anti-higher taxes (though I do believe in the benefits of social security, disability, and Medicare). I'd like to think that I share the same principals as my great great grandfather but I could will never have the chance to stand up for them as he did.
Bush is a little too lefty for me. Though he talks like a righty, his actions are definitely of the left. He talks funny (a Connecticut yankee trying to sound like a Texan). He also seems do things with misleading catch phrases. For example Operation Iraqi freedom. An honest guy would call it operation Iraqi Demolition. The Patriot act is more honestly the nip freedom in the butt act. Mission Accomplished actually means Mission un-accomplished. Operation Shock and Awe (well that at least clearly defines itself). The Department of Homeland Security should be called the KGB and the War on Terrorism should be called Orwell's dream come true (for in Orwell's 1984 he envisioned a state constantly at war with little victory and little defeat going on and on to substain power and enconomy).
Personally unsettling though is what he did as governor of my home state. Here is a letter he asked his personal secretary to send to the NAACP
Dear Mr. Bledsoe:
Thank you for your January 14 letter to Governor Bush regarding the confederate flag in Texas. Governor Bush understands the sensitivity of this issue to many people and agrees with you that the only official flags that should fly over our Texas State office buildings are the Texas and United States flags. Sincerely,[signed] Clay Johnson, Executive Assistant to the Governor
George Bush supported the removal of two Confederate plaques in the Texas Supreme Court. The plaques were placed there to honor Texas Confederates. Why were the plaques placed there? Because in 1954 Texas Confederate Widows and family members of Confederate veterans voted to have all Confederate pension funds be used to construct a new Court building, now being the Texas supreme court. Bush, without the consent of the people who, years earlier, voted in favor of the placement of these plaques, decided to remove the two plaques in the middle of the night. One of the plaques read, "I rely upon Texas regiments in all tight places, and fear I have to call upon them too often. They have fought grandly, nobly..." This plaque was replaced with a new one that reads, "The Courts of Texas are entrusted with providing equal justice and the law to all persons regardless of race creed or color."
Would have my great great grandfather voted for him?
Some may say that I am living too much in the past and am unsensitive to the politics of the times where a Confederate flag or saying has no place in the present and that any politican would be guilty of the same. Well, seriously, it just don't sit right that a Connecticut yank would come down to Texas and without the will or word of the people, take two public plaques off a public building.
Maybe I am whistlin Dixie a little loud but who I am is who I is.
Would I have voted for Kerry? NO NO NO. haha There are some politicans out there including John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Hiliary Clinton, Bill Clinton, and the guy in Terminator who make George Bush look like Thomas Jefferson. But all in all, all politicans are just a bunch of girly men.
Any how, I am pretty positive that these feelings are neither welcome here. Forgive me if I offended any of y'all. Tar and Feathers, a saw horse, 50 lashes, a firing line, a spanking, I'll take whatever torture you choose upon me. FREEEEEDOMMMMM!!!