Bet you wouldn't expect me to say this.....

This is a response to a comment made by one of the earliest, most respected, and loyal readers of this blog. I hesitate to make new posts to comments but this time it seems appropriate. Thank you Interstellar Lass.....

InterstellarLass said...

I can't believe that you would accept anyone making the comments Chavez made about the leader of our country. It's kinda like family. You can tease someone for being bald/chubby/ditzy whatever, but someone teases your family member about that, and it's on. I'm shocked Dean. I can understand you're angry, and you feel screwed, and probably rightly so. But I expected better.

Please. I am an only child for one. Second, I find that sense of protection shallow, self-serving, and hypocritical. Do we all live in that bubble of american delusion that I have suspected and accused everyone of? Do you all think that the world really respects our president, our government, or our "way of life" (I did not say 'culture' purposely because I maintain we have none and will never have an american culture due to the negating effects of 'multiculturalism'). I like freedom of speech, I like freedom of information, hell, I like freedom - personal and societal. So if we actually get some open and accurate feedback from a foreigner who is not intimidated by our political, economic, and military influence over the world...then so be it!!! Freedom should be for all mankind, not just politicians and the sheeple of america. We are not a God-annointed 800 lb gorrilla crouched in the world's corner, but we act like an 800 lb deaf, dum, and blind kid who needs ritalin with regards to our behavior and international affairs.

Maybe we can take a step back, look at what we really have become as a politic, and see how others view us. They are allowed to have opinions based on experience and evidence too. We haven't yet placed tariffs on that....soon maybe.

---

Now, I have done a lot of soul searching, challenging my own points-of-view, reliving my experiences, sorting truth from the multitude of fiction pumped to us by the media, talked to many many different people and truly listened. This is what I have recently concluded, simplistic as it may be, I stand behind it and hope it some day may be a true focal point for a movement. Here it is: No more dead Iraqis.

Over 6500 Iraqis were killed in the violence that is due to our presence in that region. Our inability and politically motivated unwillingness to wrap it up and conclude perpetuates the killing cycle. Less than 10 american lives were lost, yet we were outraged at the carnage and death toll we have to suffer. Would you not be outraged enough to the point of violent action if your family, friends, and neighbors were being victimized and pointlessly subjugated? We (read "Ronald Dumsfeld") expect that "our work will be done there when the insurgency is stopped. Sooner or later they will be tired of dying." Does the american spirit include a characteristic similar to what we expect the Iraqis to accept? We expect the Iraqi citizens to allow us (imperialistically) to subjugate them for their own good...we know better than they do what is right for them. I do not in any way suggect that the deaths of the american soldiers were justified, and I do not encourage that in the least. But let's remember the beginnings as a nation...we were not born as a nation through peaceful nor diplomatic means. We fought back the British who treated us very similarly. Dozens of other examples.

How many people died under Saddam per month due to his violence?

Once again.... No more dead Iraqis

Durka Durka Durka Mohammed Jihad

At home for a few hours instead of duty....some thoughts.

a) Let's take an example from Thailand. Please.

b) Hugo Chavez rocks. You smell sulfur too?

c) Evo Morales rocks more.

d) Pope Benedict went from hero to zero pretty quick. The pope now kissing islam's ass because they predictably act in a violent un-peaceful way? Oh ya, insulting their dude is legitimate reason. Someone may need to redefine "peaceful religion" to me. Not seeing any obvious evidence from the f*&%$ng ragheads.

e) Paul Harvey, now a mouthpiece for american brainwashing, reindoctrinates us all by reminding us that conclusively now that "communism does not work. Cuba is falling apart. In havana alone, 500 buildings fall and crumble into the pot-holed streets every year. Communism does not work." Has anyone told hime the cold war is over? Has anyone suggested to him that the only reason that Cuba is economically feeble is because of U.S. embargoes on the 2 main products / exports? Hell, democracy would fail there too! Not that I am pro-communist, not at all. I am truly all for seeing things as they are...cause / effect, instead of these obvious lies that rely on our intellectual laziness to perpetuate.

Think about this....

Baaaaaahh, Baaaaahhhhhh!!

Hear the sheeple bleeting the rhetoric of this new quasi-holiday? Sickens me every year when we "observe" the tragedy that happened 5 years ago. Tragedy is that most people are unthinking enough to allow the obvious cover stories of our own Federal Government sink in and be parrotted as truth. Lies folks, lies. True, almost 3000 real americans lost their lives in the plot, but the reason.....heinous. With Great Britain standing by our side, propping up our own version of the Emperor's New Clothes, we keep repeating the self-deluding mantra of neo-patriotism. Terrorists this and terrorists that and Cheney stating that he didn't expect the insurgency to last this long in Iraq. Has anyone actually studied real american history? And my own Pennsylvanians, lining up like retarded lemmings to honor an empty hole in the ground from a plane that never actually crashed at Shanksville...stuff makes me proud. The rest of the world shakes their head in amazement that we have created and perpetuated the absurd state of affairs that we americans now live in. By the way, what color is it today? Do I need to wear my aluminum beanie or haven't the terrorists yet launched the brain scanning satellites yet?

Today sickens me every year that those that died at the WTC, those comrades of mine that have died as heroes in the Middle East (not those idiots who died because they were shitty soldiers), and those who are overlooked because they serve out their year missions successfully, have all done so knowing that we've all been lied to and few people seem to care.

Gary Coleman

So many facets of my life right now are unsettled. I had to stand in from of officers days ago and explain to them that my old unit set me up on a path for failure. Given the nature of single-fatherhood, I decided that I am unable to get my Family Care Plan together in a reasonable amount of time and thus should be honorably discharged from the Army. Sad fact is that the bastards at the 17th could have easily done the right thing and I would have easily and happily continued on as a soldier. No more did I leave their offices with an extension on my leave and instructions on how to start the separation paperwork did I begin missing the Army and being a soldier.

So I made a choice, probably the 2nd worst choice of my life, and am trudging on. My first hope is to get employment as an Army civilian back in Germany. This separation paperwork could take 2 months or so, therefore I have some time. But my awesome relationship back in Germany might not hold forever. Nothing is easy or clear at this point except that living in central PA is much less preferrable than living in a tent in Iraq.

If I get stuck living here in the States, I will migrate towards Philly most likely. I have some very close friends there that have encouraged me to move nearer them. It will definitely be better than right here, and I love spending time with them, but Philly is not the same as being back in Germany. Maybe we all will move back to Germany together someday.

On a more political note, I just read an article in the paper today stating that Opium crops in Afghanistan have increased this year by (I think) 65%. Any other questions about why we invaded them? Natural gas and owning both ends of the War on Drugs. Sweet!