How could the message not be more explicit or better delivered??? Does anyone watch Boston Legal? It is the show that gives me hope that America is not dead!

as long a somebody is worse than you, you are free to do what you want.

The ability of self delusion with FEAR what I cannot understand. Yes, I'm fortunate to live in a very peaceful land but that cannot in itself explain Americans' need to be frightened. Here, we have no defence and fear no one. You have HUGH defence and fear everyone. But for 911, you have NO justification. Your best efforts since only create enemies.

How many people died on your roads last week? Why have you not at least blown up all motor manufacturers, banned a...

How could the message not be more explicit or better delivered??? Does anyone watch Boston Legal? It is the show that gives me hope that America is not dead!

as long a somebody is worse than you, you are free to do what you want.

The ability of self delusion with FEAR what I cannot understand. Yes, I'm fortunate to live in a very peaceful land but that cannot in itself explain Americans' need to be frightened. Here, we have no defence and fear no one. You have HUGH defence and fear everyone. But for 911, you have NO justification. Your best efforts since only create enemies.

How many people died on your roads last week? Why have you not at least blown up all motor manufacturers, banned all cars, changed laws, etc etc. You did NOTHING??? No reaction. Well how many REAL terrorists have been caught? If an Arab wanted to take out 20, 40 60 Americans, do you know how easy it would be. How many would die in a real good motor pile up??? Would this thought prevent you driving on the motorway tomorrow. Why then are Americans so self terrorised? Yes, your biggest enemy is yourselves!!!

This FEAR allows your fascist imperialistic administration to pass any repressive legislation it can dream up. "Land of the free, home of the brave"???

When you breach Iran's sovereignty, what will your response be? "It's too late now."

righthand,
I'm not sure what you mean in your first paragraph.

Your last paragraph is just nuts. All the freedoms that America had are not gone. That is just ridiculous. The statement that America is now at a third world status does not even make sense.

In what manner do you mean "breaks the camels back". How do you believe this would manifest?

You talk about fear, you seem to be working quite hare to instill fear with you outrages statements.

If push comes to shove with Iran, there is no doubt who will still be standing in the end, America. If Iran turn into an all out war, they have not a prayer. No matter how much it cost us, we would win in the end. You would be foolis...

righthand,
I'm not sure what you mean in your first paragraph.

Your last paragraph is just nuts. All the freedoms that America had are not gone. That is just ridiculous. The statement that America is now at a third world status does not even make sense.

In what manner do you mean "breaks the camels back". How do you believe this would manifest?

You talk about fear, you seem to be working quite hare to instill fear with you outrages statements.

If push comes to shove with Iran, there is no doubt who will still be standing in the end, America. If Iran turn into an all out war, they have not a prayer. No matter how much it cost us, we would win in the end. You would be foolishly naive to believe that it would end any other way.

A little island in the sun where it rains constantly, but that's about the worst that nature bestows us with. The lush Emerald Isle.

Could I refer you to another posting of my that might help make sense of the above. It's headed "History lesson" under
Uncle Sam, Your BANKER Will See You NOW!!!

Events of recent days on the world money markets further highlight why an invasion of Iran's sovereignty might be the last throw of the dice for the American empire or at least of Emperor George2. It all depends on how China chooses to take it.

It is like the Suez Canal when you're handing it out but more like Vietnam when you are on the receiving end. You might have won every battle but you LOST ...

A little island in the sun where it rains constantly, but that's about the worst that nature bestows us with. The lush Emerald Isle.

Could I refer you to another posting of my that might help make sense of the above. It's headed "History lesson" under
Uncle Sam, Your BANKER Will See You NOW!!!

Events of recent days on the world money markets further highlight why an invasion of Iran's sovereignty might be the last throw of the dice for the American empire or at least of Emperor George2. It all depends on how China chooses to take it.

It is like the Suez Canal when you're handing it out but more like Vietnam when you are on the receiving end. You might have won every battle but you LOST the war to pig farmers! Do you know how the Iranians beat the crap out of the Iraqi army, equipped with the best the America had. Young men tied satchels of explosives to their bodies and attacked in such numbers that the American tanks were decimated! Your troops in IRAQ are as good as dead as soon as you breach Iranian sovereignty!

I'm not sure what you mean in your first paragraph.

America needs boogiemen! If there are none, it invents them. Axis of Evil, Evil Empire, War on Drugs, War on Terrorism, War on Want, Cuba, Libya, N Korea, Vietnam, Venezuela, Somalia, Granada, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, even France. One hand is enough for your friends. We could go into detail on your friends in the USA that have been your home-grown boogiemen, except a stinging insect. More anon.

I saw this on Boston Legal, I got CHILLS when David Spader started Speaking..I always like his rants very much..But this one was Historic, and very emotional.. Man I just wanted to get Up and run and cheer him on.. I am so thrilled when David E. Kelly and others like him can get this kind of material out there.. Thank you Sooo Much for the Clip.. This is really one to keep.. It makes me feel really good when someone gets it out like that!! Thank's Again for bringing that out in me..I was not expecting it at all... I had been disconnected from these issues for a while, Since the "Spinning" got so ridiculous it was making me feel dizzy ( And Stupid for listening to it, it was so absurd!) At...

I saw this on Boston Legal, I got CHILLS when David Spader started Speaking..I always like his rants very much..But this one was Historic, and very emotional.. Man I just wanted to get Up and run and cheer him on.. I am so thrilled when David E. Kelly and others like him can get this kind of material out there.. Thank you Sooo Much for the Clip.. This is really one to keep.. It makes me feel really good when someone gets it out like that!! Thank's Again for bringing that out in me..I was not expecting it at all... I had been disconnected from these issues for a while, Since the "Spinning" got so ridiculous it was making me feel dizzy ( And Stupid for listening to it, it was so absurd!) At least now there is more momentum towards seeing the PINK Elephant in the room.. Thanks for the Clip!!!!

righthand - Thanks! That helped... I now get what you were trying to say. In the context of the rest of what you provided, it all now makes sense. For the most part I agree with you. The only thing I might interject is that the American people's mind set was greatly effective by 9/11 and the Bush administration used this to do the things they wanted to do when they should have been doing what would best for America and the world.

Absent of 9/11, the American public would not be so easy to manipulate. The majority of the American public has finally started to recover from the mindset of 9/11. They are starting to see and think more clearly. The first expression of this was throwing ...

righthand - Thanks! That helped... I now get what you were trying to say. In the context of the rest of what you provided, it all now makes sense. For the most part I agree with you. The only thing I might interject is that the American people's mind set was greatly effective by 9/11 and the Bush administration used this to do the things they wanted to do when they should have been doing what would best for America and the world.

Absent of 9/11, the American public would not be so easy to manipulate. The majority of the American public has finally started to recover from the mindset of 9/11. They are starting to see and think more clearly. The first expression of this was throwing the republicans out of Congress. Unfortunately, we could not remove all of the republicans from congress during this last election. I have no doubt that if the American public could have, they would have voted all the republicans out of office. I don't know if you are aware that we don't hold elections for all of the seats in Congress at one time. The elections are spread out over time so that only a portion of the seats come up for election every 2 years. It is actually a little more complicated than this... the Senators have different term lengths (time in office) than the House members. Anyway, this is why the Democrats have not been able to do much to stop Bush and his Iraqi war.

The Democrats do now hold the majority in Congress which gives them control of what goes on in congress but as it stands now, the Republicans still hold enough seats in Congress that the Democrats are still, for the most part, powerless to do much. Any bill they pass, Bush just Vetoes it. Congress can over ride a presidents vetoes with a 2/3s majority vote. (cont...)

This is a problem for the Democrats because even though the Democrats have the majority of seats in congress, it is only by one or two seats. This is enough to pass bills but not enough to over ride a president’s vetoes. To over ride a president’s vetoes, the Democrats have to have 2/3s of the seats voting "Yes" which means they have to convince several republicans to vote with them, a very hard thing to do.

Had all the seats been open during the last election, the American public would have replaced most all the republicans in Congress. The last election was not a total waist of time though. Because the American public replaced nearly all the republican seats that came open during th...

This is a problem for the Democrats because even though the Democrats have the majority of seats in congress, it is only by one or two seats. This is enough to pass bills but not enough to over ride a president’s vetoes. To over ride a president’s vetoes, the Democrats have to have 2/3s of the seats voting "Yes" which means they have to convince several republicans to vote with them, a very hard thing to do.

Had all the seats been open during the last election, the American public would have replaced most all the republicans in Congress. The last election was not a total waist of time though. Because the American public replaced nearly all the republican seats that came open during this last election, the republicans lost the total control of congress. Bush no longer has the automatic rubberstamp passage of any bill he asked for. Up until this last election, because the Republicans had total control of the house and could pass anything they wanted and the Democrats were completely powerless to stop them. During this 6 years period that the Republicans maintained total control of Congress, Bush had Zero restraints. Congress gave him anything and everything he asked for. After 9/11, anyone who protested anything Bush asked for were aggressively attacked buy the Bush administration in the media as being un-American. (cont...)

I thought for sure that Bush would not win reelection a second time but he did. I was just flabbergasted that he was voted back into power. I think what did it is that the rest of the world was telling the American public what to do in the election, especially the French, as well as the rest of the world, were telling us to throw Bush out, the American public didn’t like this, especially when the rest of the world refused (rightly so) to not help us in Iraq, so out of spite, as a reaction to all this world rhetoric, the American public put Bush back into power. Little did they know how much they would regret doing so.

I guess my point is this, you are correct in you remarks about the A...

I thought for sure that Bush would not win reelection a second time but he did. I was just flabbergasted that he was voted back into power. I think what did it is that the rest of the world was telling the American public what to do in the election, especially the French, as well as the rest of the world, were telling us to throw Bush out, the American public didn’t like this, especially when the rest of the world refused (rightly so) to not help us in Iraq, so out of spite, as a reaction to all this world rhetoric, the American public put Bush back into power. Little did they know how much they would regret doing so.

I guess my point is this, you are correct in you remarks about the American Public but please keep in mind the context of what all was going on. Even the Vietnam War has a lot to do with this. The American public treated the service men returning from Vietnam very badly and still feels regretful for it. All Americans feel a deep need to make up for this now by always making sure that we provide our service men with the best of support. This is another thing the Bush administration has used to manipulate the American Public during all of this. Every time someone protested against something Bush wanted for the war, he proclaims that by not giving him what he wants, they are not supporting the troops can calls them un-American. Believe it or not, this has been one of his most effective manipulations. He is still using it now. (cont...)

Be assured though, the system will work in the end, the American public will finish the job during this next election. There will not be many Republicans left in congress and there will defiantly not be a Republican president. One of the things about our government is it has built into it slow change. They made is slow for good reason. They also build in steady change so that in the event, like we have be through, a group or party that manages to gain a great deal of power, it will never be able to hold onto that total power for more than two years unless the American public gives it back to them. The reduction of any group’s power that has managed to gain control of both Congress and t...

Be assured though, the system will work in the end, the American public will finish the job during this next election. There will not be many Republicans left in congress and there will defiantly not be a Republican president. One of the things about our government is it has built into it slow change. They made is slow for good reason. They also build in steady change so that in the event, like we have be through, a group or party that manages to gain a great deal of power, it will never be able to hold onto that total power for more than two years unless the American public gives it back to them. The reduction of any group’s power that has managed to gain control of both Congress and the Presidency will only take place in steps. At most, total power can only be held unchallenged for two years at which congress has elections where the other parties can recover seats in congress effectively removing a portion of power. They wanted stability built into the system which is why changes take time yet the wanted to be able to keep checks in the amount of power to be fairly quick so they set it up so that every two years there is always a portion of Congress up for reelection. We are seeing this system working right now. In about a year and a half, the US government will be something completely different what it has been for the last 6 years. If the American Public again gives power back the Republicans, I think I’m going to leave the US. So what is it like living on an Island?

Bush and his so called “moral” religious conservative right wing republican base have definitely done a great deal of damage. Just don’t forget that not all of the American Public falls into this category. I would say we are about 1/3 of the above bone heads, 1/3 middle ground sane people, and ½ far left liberals. I figure that makes about half of the American Public seeing things more in line with the rest of the world. The system will self correct... I just hope it does before the

All of us, and especially patriotic organizations of enormous influence like the American Legion, must be vigilant in protecting our birth-right from its too zealous friends while protecting it from its evil enemies.
The tragedy of our day is the climate of fear in which we live, and fear breeds repression. Too often sinister threats to the Bill of Rights, to freedom of the mind, are concealed under the patriotic cloak of anti-communism.

I could add, from any own experience, that it is never necessary to call a man a communist to make political capital. Those of us who have undertaken to practice the...

All of us, and especially patriotic organizations of enormous influence like the American Legion, must be vigilant in protecting our birth-right from its too zealous friends while protecting it from its evil enemies.
The tragedy of our day is the climate of fear in which we live, and fear breeds repression. Too often sinister threats to the Bill of Rights, to freedom of the mind, are concealed under the patriotic cloak of anti-communism.

I could add, from any own experience, that it is never necessary to call a man a communist to make political capital. Those of us who have undertaken to practice the ancient but imperfect art of government will always make enough mistakes to keep our critics well supplied with standard ammunition.

There is no need for poison gas.

Adlai Stevenson's ''Nature of Patriotism'' Speech, 1952

Again, I agree with the things you are saying... I just think that you might be over doing it a little on the implications of these problems. The uninsured do get taken care of, they just have to pay for it which is unfair and wrong. When they can't pay for the care the system takes a loss and just absorbs it. In the case of huge bills, the unissured have to declare bankruptcy which wipes out their debt for ever. It ruins their credit ratting for about 10 years but that's about it. For the most part, the unissured do get medical care. Some don't always get everything they could use but the system does take care of them just not in a fare way. I think after the next election, there i...

Again, I agree with the things you are saying... I just think that you might be over doing it a little on the implications of these problems. The uninsured do get taken care of, they just have to pay for it which is unfair and wrong. When they can't pay for the care the system takes a loss and just absorbs it. In the case of huge bills, the unissured have to declare bankruptcy which wipes out their debt for ever. It ruins their credit ratting for about 10 years but that's about it. For the most part, the unissured do get medical care. Some don't always get everything they could use but the system does take care of them just not in a fare way. I think after the next election, there is a good chance that universal heath care will finally become a reality in the US. I'm a strong believer in health care being a human right.

cptenaud
I'm not a big fan of the Democrats myself. They may be very different than the Republicans but they are not that much better. The one big difference between them that might make me dislike the Democrats less is that the Democrats do not try to push the religious agenda into the government. The are both puppets to their money supplies.

By the way, let me take this moment to personally thank you for your service in Vietnam. Also, I would like to apologize to you for the poor treatment the American public gave you during and after the war. I was not very old back then but I remember. As I got older and was able to full understand what happen, it angered me greatly that the pub...

cptenaud
I'm not a big fan of the Democrats myself. They may be very different than the Republicans but they are not that much better. The one big difference between them that might make me dislike the Democrats less is that the Democrats do not try to push the religious agenda into the government. The are both puppets to their money supplies.

By the way, let me take this moment to personally thank you for your service in Vietnam. Also, I would like to apologize to you for the poor treatment the American public gave you during and after the war. I was not very old back then but I remember. As I got older and was able to full understand what happen, it angered me greatly that the public could be so thankless and so down right mean.

To all the other Vietnam Veteran out there, this thanks goes out to you as well.

righthand,

All the things you pointed to are very scary in deed and are very real possibilities. I'm trying to be less alarmist for a few reasons. First, like I already said, Bush will soon be gone. There are also a few other things to remember. China's goal is not to take America down completely. It would not be in their best interest to do so. The depend on us to continue to buy form them for their economy to be strong. They can't afford to hurt us too much without hurting themselves. This fact will keep them from going to far. In fact, I would say the more we intertwine the US economy with other countries such as China, it will, by default, generate stability between the US an...

righthand,

All the things you pointed to are very scary in deed and are very real possibilities. I'm trying to be less alarmist for a few reasons. First, like I already said, Bush will soon be gone. There are also a few other things to remember. China's goal is not to take America down completely. It would not be in their best interest to do so. The depend on us to continue to buy form them for their economy to be strong. They can't afford to hurt us too much without hurting themselves. This fact will keep them from going to far. In fact, I would say the more we intertwine the US economy with other countries such as China, it will, by default, generate stability between the US and these countries. It is much like two people, who tend not to like each other, finding themselves holding the others balls in their hand. You don't dare squeeze the other guys balls to hard because you know he has your balls in his hand. This creates stability.

China is thinking about squeezing the US's balls and is verbally threatening to do so. They are hoping we will forget we have their balls in our had. As long as we don't forget we have their balls, we can take much of what the treat with a grain of salt. That being said, you don't want to anger China so much that they react out of anger and squeeze our balls out of spite even though they know they are going to get their balls squeeze in the process. If this happens, it becomes an issue of who can bare the most pain trading hits (or squeezes in this case) back and forth until one quits.

China's goal is not to take America down completely. It would not be in their best interest to do so. The depend on us to continue to buy form them for their economy to be strong. They can't afford to hurt us too much without hurting themselves.

Ezsparky,
you paint a reasonably rosy picture of American politics. I'd wish too that it was even close to how you tell it. Not being American, I do not believe that my comments on your system would be appreciated and I usually refrain except about Bush, but if you invite me then I would comment.

Your insight into China indicates that you may know also the real truth of the American political system. Yes, ...

China's goal is not to take America down completely. It would not be in their best interest to do so. The depend on us to continue to buy form them for their economy to be strong. They can't afford to hurt us too much without hurting themselves.

Ezsparky,
you paint a reasonably rosy picture of American politics. I'd wish too that it was even close to how you tell it. Not being American, I do not believe that my comments on your system would be appreciated and I usually refrain except about Bush, but if you invite me then I would comment.

Your insight into China indicates that you may know also the real truth of the American political system. Yes, America and China are tied together like the scorpion and the frog. As to which I believe is the scorpion may unfold.

All you say is true, but if a world recession was triggered, their system is far better able to withstand a crash while it would be doom for the American empire.


I personally have more to lose than most. My future is bound up in the market. One 9/11 policy maturing that month caused me a 40% loss. Another CRASH would be the last thing I'd want. So I do have a staken in the American system no matter how much I might wish otherwise.

righthand-
I would not call it a osy system... in fact, it gets very messy. What I wanted to point out is that in the end, after things get messed up, it self corrects. This is not to say that it is able to keep people form messing things up again but in the end or the long run, the system makes the needed corrections to put the country back in line with the majority of the people's expectations. The system does not prevent the country from making bad decisions. Many US leaders have made some huge one. The think to understand is no leader will ever be able to take total control of the country permanently.

I did not mean to say that China could not greatly hurt the US, just that it w...

righthand-
I would not call it a osy system... in fact, it gets very messy. What I wanted to point out is that in the end, after things get messed up, it self corrects. This is not to say that it is able to keep people form messing things up again but in the end or the long run, the system makes the needed corrections to put the country back in line with the majority of the people's expectations. The system does not prevent the country from making bad decisions. Many US leaders have made some huge one. The think to understand is no leader will ever be able to take total control of the country permanently.

I did not mean to say that China could not greatly hurt the US, just that it would be in their best interest to do so. I was trying say that because of this, the chance that china would go all out on the US is not as high as some would like it to be.

A world recession would be felt by the US more China but it does not follow that the would be the end of the US. The US built it strong economy from within meaning the markets the US originally used to build its strong economy was its market found withing itself. If need be, the US can return to the original internal markets to rebuild her economy. Granted it would not be as large of an economy as it has grown to be but it didn't need the world wide market when it first built it's strong economy.

The American Public is not under any delusion that things can turn very bad at any time. It would be a big mistake to believe that America can not handle hardship. It was built on hardship.

righthand- I forgot to tell you... your comments on our government would be welcome.

If you are going to Bush Bash, I should tell you that you would just be preaching to the choir here with me. From the fist time I saw and heard him speak, I could not stand the man. Personally, he might be a nice guy, but as a political figure, he is a total moron. I will never know how this man became president. I take that back, it was Daddy and his buddies. With President Bush being such a moron, one can only conclude that he is just a figure head puppet for Cheney and his buddies.

Again, please feel free to comment on the US Government.

Let me just say first though, what Americans like so mu...

righthand- I forgot to tell you... your comments on our government would be welcome.

If you are going to Bush Bash, I should tell you that you would just be preaching to the choir here with me. From the fist time I saw and heard him speak, I could not stand the man. Personally, he might be a nice guy, but as a political figure, he is a total moron. I will never know how this man became president. I take that back, it was Daddy and his buddies. With President Bush being such a moron, one can only conclude that he is just a figure head puppet for Cheney and his buddies.

Again, please feel free to comment on the US Government.

Let me just say first though, what Americans like so much and put their faith in, is not the leaders of the government but rather the US constitution and the system of government outlined in it. We would be the first to tell you that it is not a perfect system but we have learned it is a system that we can trusted not to turn into a dictatorship or worse.

The leaders often make huge mistakes and have done many wrong things over the years to may peoples and countries. The world should not be angry at or against the system of government, they should be angry at the wrong acts of its leaders and even with those leaders supporters. When the world sees the US doing something wrong, they should work to educate the American Public about these wrong things and help them to make changes in the offending leaders such as Bush. Don't throw out the baby with the dirt and bath water.

I think most of the world often fails to understand that the American people can and do have complete faith in their system of government, while at the same time completely hate the people in charge of the government. No mater how much the different groups in America i.e. Republicans and Demarcates, may fight with each other, in the end, all groups are totally committed to the system of government and each other as Americans. No mater how much turmoil that

You see, it is not that we feel that our government functions so well on a day to day bases. It does not. It is very inefficient and often fails to get things done in the best way. We Americans ourselves get very frustrated with it.
What we like about it, cherish about it, is it ability to insure that the power of the government is always in check. We cherish the systems ability to insure that no single group of people can gain power for a long period of time unchallenged. We trust the system to protect us from emotional mob mentality thinking taking control. We trust the system's checks and balances to protect the public. It is these very check and balances that make the governmen...

You see, it is not that we feel that our government functions so well on a day to day bases. It does not. It is very inefficient and often fails to get things done in the best way. We Americans ourselves get very frustrated with it.
What we like about it, cherish about it, is it ability to insure that the power of the government is always in check. We cherish the systems ability to insure that no single group of people can gain power for a long period of time unchallenged. We trust the system to protect us from emotional mob mentality thinking taking control. We trust the system's checks and balances to protect the public. It is these very check and balances that make the government so wacky and inefficient that provide the built in protection. Knowing exactly why Americans are so up on America seems to elude most of the world for the only see the day to day wacked out functioning of our system. They fail to see that what we like about it is not that it works so well on a day to day basis for it does not, what we like about it is the system provides security in insuring that the power will always be ultimately be in the hands of the people. We have learned that we can put total trust in this funny wacky system, to protect us from ourselves and the powers that would be. So we may have a lot of screwed up things like health care and such... those are things will in the long run be fixed. We all know that it is not the system itself that causes the problems, it is ourselves that cause these problems and it is ourselves that always have to work them out through through the system. We know that the system is not conducive to solving problems quickly. Why we put up with it is because we understand just how much protection this system of check and balances provides us.

What we like about it, cherish about it, is it ability to insure that the power of the government is always in check.

Often linked with the right to bear arms, somehow. But where is the recent evidence for this? Millions vote in a 'democratic' election and after chads etc, 5 politically elected judges get to decide the outcome.

You have played about on the margins with reform but it is more a case of one step forward then two backwards. You spend so much time naval gazing at the FF that any real chance of progress is impossible. For a country founded without previous baggage, you have done everything possible to stifle progress. You were blessed with brilliant FF but their ...

What we like about it, cherish about it, is it ability to insure that the power of the government is always in check.

Often linked with the right to bear arms, somehow. But where is the recent evidence for this? Millions vote in a 'democratic' election and after chads etc, 5 politically elected judges get to decide the outcome.

You have played about on the margins with reform but it is more a case of one step forward then two backwards. You spend so much time naval gazing at the FF that any real chance of progress is impossible. For a country founded without previous baggage, you have done everything possible to stifle progress. You were blessed with brilliant FF but their brilliance for their time now seem to be a burden against progress in a modern world!

If your system was so perfect, why, when virtually imposing 'democracy' on liberated states, is it not your version of democracy that you impose. The reality is that why would impose a broken system on others that you are 'helping', so allow them have something that has some reasonable chance of success. Don't say theirs is a simpler system for an unsophisticated people. My evidence is based on voter participation. What's yours?

Having to trek many miles on none existent public transport to be challenged as to my right to vote often based on my skin colour, only to eventually be told that I'm in the wrong site, well, it's not my idea of democracy for all the people.

When I was a child in the 70's I was told how important it was to always follow the constitution. It protected me from those that hated me, but gave them the right to hate.

I watched as my father paraded down the street in a protective formation surrounding a group of the KKK. My father a Jew. My father a US Marine.

My mother told me that my father was defending their right to march in our community parade. My father was upholding the constitution. My father was giving them the right to hate us and do so publicly.

I took that lesson to heart when I was five. I remember it still today. I still believe in the constitution of the United States of America.

My belief also means that I have ...

When I was a child in the 70's I was told how important it was to always follow the constitution. It protected me from those that hated me, but gave them the right to hate.

I watched as my father paraded down the street in a protective formation surrounding a group of the KKK. My father a Jew. My father a US Marine.

My mother told me that my father was defending their right to march in our community parade. My father was upholding the constitution. My father was giving them the right to hate us and do so publicly.

I took that lesson to heart when I was five. I remember it still today. I still believe in the constitution of the United States of America.

My belief also means that I have to tolerate the will of the people even though I disagree with them. It means that I have to stand by and watch George W. Bush destroy what I believe.

This post should remind us all that while we stand by and tolerate this, we do not need to do so silently.

Yes there are awful people in this world. We label them criminals and terrorists. However, we must always remember that they are first people as are we. While they do horrible things, it does not mean that we the people should forget our own beliefs. We should not forget the beliefs of our forefathers either. We should not forget why we have a constitution.

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

(http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_pre.html)

Defense of nation can be achieved without breaking the constitution. Defense of our ideals can be handled peacefully. Defense of our nation can use force when that force is required. Defense of our nation should not be done with lies, and falsehoods.

Should it have been me that was the preside

I think that there is a popular misconception about the defence of human rights as a glamorously international pursuit; a misconception exploited by conservative nationalists and middle-class liberals alike. As Forghani makes clear in her letter, the struggle for an end to human rights abuses is far from glamorous and in her case is not for a 'minority' or 'ethnic group' - that those on the far right like to tell us are being privileged over a now mythic 'indigenous peoples', the white working-class - but for the familiar and local people in Iran - her mother, brother, neighbour, as well as the poor village girl in a distant province. Her fight is against abuses that come in many guises: cla...

I think that there is a popular misconception about the defence of human rights as a glamorously international pursuit; a misconception exploited by conservative nationalists and middle-class liberals alike. As Forghani makes clear in her letter, the struggle for an end to human rights abuses is far from glamorous and in her case is not for a 'minority' or 'ethnic group' - that those on the far right like to tell us are being privileged over a now mythic 'indigenous peoples', the white working-class - but for the familiar and local people in Iran - her mother, brother, neighbour, as well as the poor village girl in a distant province. Her fight is against abuses that come in many guises: class, racial, economic, sexual, territorial. Recently, when watching (too late at night) the documentary film on the building of Israel's apartheid wall, Mohammed Alatar's The Iron Wall, the one thing that struck and wounded me the most was the level of abuse the West Bank Palestinians were made to suffer on an hourly, daily basis. Abuse is shamefully banal and when we abuse we all become ugly thugs, no matter our professed belief system or our superficial markings of piety or liberalism. Young settler girls who have been taught to throw stones and insults at Arab children walking to school, have themselves been abused by being subjected to the hatred of their parents. Abuse is local and if the individual wants to fight it they do not need to board a plane with a fat salary from an international NGO, they have to confront their own abusive behaviour and that of those around them.
http://clipmarks.com/clipmark/A0B7FDEA-4D9C-43CC-A3C2-B201BBEF9AE4/
source:
http://madny.blogspot.com/2007/07/word-on-word-abuse.html
By: Dodge Body Kits -
http://www.replacementdoparts.com/dodgebodykits.html

Recently, when watching the documentary film on the building of Israel's apartheid wall, Mohammed Alatar's The Iron Wall, the one thing that struck and wounded me the most was the level of abuse the West Bank Palestinians were made to suffer on an hourly, daily basis. Abuse is shamefully banal and when we abuse we all become ugly thugs, no matter our professed belief system or our superficial markings of piety or liberalism.
Young settler girls who have been taught to throw stones and insults at Arab children walking to school, have themselves been abused by being subjected to the hatred of their parents.
Abuse is local and if the individual wants ...

Recently, when watching the documentary film on the building of Israel's apartheid wall, Mohammed Alatar's The Iron Wall, the one thing that struck and wounded me the most was the level of abuse the West Bank Palestinians were made to suffer on an hourly, daily basis. Abuse is shamefully banal and when we abuse we all become ugly thugs, no matter our professed belief system or our superficial markings of piety or liberalism.
Young settler girls who have been taught to throw stones and insults at Arab children walking to school, have themselves been abused by being subjected to the hatred of their parents.
Abuse is local and if the individual wants to fight it they do not need to board a plane with a fat salary from an international NGO, they have to confront their own abusive behaviour and that of those around them.

Savage02, very well observed and articulated. The abused of WW2 are now the abusers of the 21st century.

If your system was so perfect, why, when virtually imposing 'democracy' on liberated states, is it not your version of democracy that you impose.

The system that is the United States Government is imperfect. It has imperfect results as well that may take the form of dangerous leaders or any classification of malpractice. Another example is our imposition of badly-characterized democracies upon liberated states.

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union ...

Regardless of labels of difference (e.g. patriotism, race, gender, age, intelligence, etc.), we are the same: human. The imperfect results of the United States' imperfect syst...

If your system was so perfect, why, when virtually imposing 'democracy' on liberated states, is it not your version of democracy that you impose.

The system that is the United States Government is imperfect. It has imperfect results as well that may take the form of dangerous leaders or any classification of malpractice. Another example is our imposition of badly-characterized democracies upon liberated states.

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union ...

Regardless of labels of difference (e.g. patriotism, race, gender, age, intelligence, etc.), we are the same: human. The imperfect results of the United States' imperfect system is embarrassing to us all (i.e. embarrassing to all humans), but imperfections found in any man-made object (such as government) are embarrassing to us all as well.

I say it's time to realign our system - revive it, if you will - "in Order to form a more perfect Union."


righthand-

You spend so much time naval gazing at the FF that any real chance of progress is impossible.

You were blessed with brilliant FF but their brilliance for their time
now seem to be a burden against progress in a modern world!

What is FF? Please excuse my ignorance!


ezsparky-

It is important for people outside the country to speak up and remind
the American public about the history of mistakes made by past leaders
of the US.

I wouldn't limit conversation to just past leaders. Please, righthand, totally disect our system as well, or anything else you feel a need to criticize.


(so - what is FF? =)