my dear friend and virtual blog sister (were i to believe in reincarnation, i would guess i have known her before) karen is planning to have a well deserved, apolitical weekend. to try to pick up the slack, here are my thoughts on the current political climate...
My tai chi instructor often talks how those involved in the martial arts and who know fighting and violence, are the ones who avoid it, as they know the devastation it causes. When he speaks of this, I am reminded of my dear old dad, a person who i see as more wise with every passing day, a person whose knowledge came from life itself, not from some theoretical framework, a medic in ww2, who participated in the first wave of the normandy invasion. He was as antiwar as anyone I ever knew. He was not what you would characterize as a bleeding heart liberal. Yet he saw the devastation that war causes and understood that war should only be pursued under the most extreme circumstances. And anyone who wants to argue with him, well, when you have lived thru what he did, perhaps we can talk.
I am appalled with the Bush administration. how he has caused horrible suffering for so many people on the most dubious of pretenses. Is there anyone who feels Iraq was a serious threat to US interests? The USA is virtually a rogue state; ignoring the interrnational community to pursue the ill-founded aims of the administration.
I do not blame Bush and his administration for the 9/11 attacks. Surely, something did not work right within our intelligence community, but sadly, I really am not sure anyone could have done anything to prevent the 9/11 attacks. On the other hand, the post 9/11 actions of Bush, I have nothing but contempt for. He started a war with Iraq as a a smokescreen for his inability to bring Osama to justice. The economy is still very weak; gas is $2.00 per gallon. Bush has sacrificed our civil liberties without increasing our security against terrorism. In that respect, we have the worst of both worlds.
The recent abuses in the Iraqi prisons are symptomatic of an attitude which somehow places the USA and its interests higher and better than anyone else. I am disgusted that my tax dollars go to support this. I recognize that there will always be a few bad apples, yet somehow, the attitude of the administration to demonize anyone that disagrees with it, I feel is, in part, responsible.
It is laughable that Republicans attack Kerry for his anti-Viet Nam war protests. Like my dad, he was there and knows what he is talking about. Bush is all about privilege, even going back to the Viet Nam era. Bush has not done anything for our country, save a privileged few... When you vote, think of Woody Guthrie... "this land is your land". Do you like what Bush has done in the name of our land for the past four years? I find it hard to believe anyone, when looking at the facts, could objectively say that Bush has done a good job, or even an average job. His administration has single handedly subverted most of the principles our country stands for. Vote Kerry in 2004...