Mark Sanford, Governor of South Carolina, has admitted to an extramarital affair. As a member of the party of family values, he is about to learn anew the cost of being a hypocrite when claiming to be a conservative. Many conservatives bemoan the treatment of fallen brothers by both the left and right while “Lefties” are given a virtual pass. But we all need to understand that hypocrisy is a core value for liberals while being a despised vice for conservatives. This is just how the universe works and as good will eventually triumph over evil, this quintessential difference will lead to the inevitable triumph of conservatism over liberalism. I think this would be a good opportunity to illustrate via examples how liberals embrace hypocrisy and then explain why.
Example 1:
Nixon used his power as president to cover up a crime. The media reported it that way. One of the articles of impeachment accused him of lying to the American people. When Republicans were convinced the charges were true, they pushed him out of office.
Clinton used his power as president to fix the outcome of a court case in which he committed the underlying crime. He lied to the American people and to American courts. When Democrats were convinced that the charges were true, they urged him to stay on and pledged a dismissal in the Senate, regardless of the evidence. The abuse of power and usurpation of our court system was reported as a boondoggle over an obscure sex scandal.
Example 2:
Rush Limbaugh became addicted to pain medication prescribed to him by doctors. The liberal press excoriated him, calling for him to be fired. An overzealous prosecutor illegally released his medical records to the public. Charges have yet to be brought in as many years but assumption of his guilt for any number of crimes is asserted.
Congressman Patrick Kennedy of RI used drugs and alcohol before driving his car to the Congressional parking lot and crashing. The liberal press pitied him and heralded his courage for checking into rehab. No charges were filed or even considered. His medical records remain private. He retains his seat in Congress.
Example 3:
President G. W. Bush exercised his prerogative to fire federal attorneys en masse, a practice done by predecessors. The press was apoplectic and accused the president of covering up some unspecified crime.
President Obama fired an inspector general after the inspector finds evidence of wrong-doing on the part of one of Obama’s friends and cronies. The firing was done in violation of Federal law which requires a thirty-day notice and a reason given to Congress. Ironically, this legislation was one of very few that Senator Obama participated in and voted for. This illegal act to thwart justice is barely a footnote in the press where Obama’s late pejorative assertions are treated as fact above challenge.
Liberals view life as “us versus them”. Conservatives are more principle driven; you only get to be one of us if you abide by our rules. Liberals have rules too but they are more tolerant of their own breaking them if it’s an established liberal star. For example, polluting the planet with green house gases is bad, but if you are Al Gore, it’s ok to release tons of CO2 in every trip of his private jets. It’s bad to make derogatory comments about handicapped or minority people, but Obama got away with such a comment about Special Olympians after a light apology. VP Biden (aka Gaffe Machine) bemoaned that convenience stores were overrun with Indians and at a NAACP meeting in a hotel joked that he had never seen so many black people in a hotel not wearing maid uniforms. People just shake their head and say “Oh, that’s just Joe!” Don Imus, however, found out what happens when you are not a big enough star. For liberals, as long as you are one of us, we go to the mat for you (Just ask Bill).
Conservatives are less supportive of those that break their moral code. They are more interested in agendas than personalities. Because of the “us versus them” mentality, liberals come quickly to bash the latest conservative fallen hero but better tolerate inaction with their own agendas. For example, the civil rights movement has become a cottage industry where the complaints of the last 50 years drone on unchanging with ne’er a criticism of the so-called “leaders.” But the bloated spending and growth in the Federal government under Bush and a Republican Congress have angered conservatives (and independents who generally lean conservative), causing the power to shift in the last election in a “throw-out-the-bums” fit. Even conservative criticism of the massive Obama spending is rebutted by liberals by claiming it started under Bush (and it did). It is as if they expect us to defend Bush’s fiscal mismanagement with the fervor they defended Clinton's sins. But conservatives do not defend their own when their own stray from the path and liberals are often disappointed when their accusation is rejoined with a “So?” And while right-leaning Independents approved of Obama by about 60 percent in January, his overall inaction on issues they care about has dropped the approval to 40 percent in five months. Liberals, however, still hang adoringly on his promises, hoping he will deliver someday.
Mr. Sanford, I loved you at one point and I feel sorry for the tragedy you have caused for your family but if conservatives do not laud your admission with the fanfare liberals give the latest Hollywood starlet or Kennedy going off to rehab, please understand we have a country to save and our precious trust will have to be re-earned. As for the liberal wolves beating down your door, you heard them howling before you left the country. Yes, don’t cry for me Argentina and Mr. Sanford, I won’t be crying for you.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Dear Mr. President:
So President Obama, we committed liberals, progressives and assorted leftists have grown impatient with your inaction. Over 10 percent of your first term is gone and I thought by now we would be singing rousing marching songs, praises to the glorious worker state. Even your attempted hand-over of GM to the unions got blocked by Ruth Bater Ginsburg (You know you’re failing as a liberal when you can’t get stuff past a former ACLU lawyer). But what did we get? A media hog, as Bill Mahrer put it, who runs around talking but doing nothing. Sure, before the election you were a media hog who ran around talking but doing nothing (not even bothering to show up in the Senate most of the time) but you promised us change and we thought you would change too. But your inaction, on top of Pelosi’s being a total bimbo, could start making people question the wisdom of putting people in power based primarily on race and gender. If this keeps up, candidates will be placed in positions based solely on qualifications. We could get more minorities like Condoleezza Rice who don’t hyphenate their identities or believe in affirmative action. It may even lead to office holders who actually love their spouse and country (as is), believe that unborn babies deserve protection and think they can actually succeed in life without blaming George Bush for all their problems. Just where would that leave us poor liberals?! For the rest of your term, I have a few poignant suggestions.
• Over-seas Contingency Plan – I like the rename from the “War on Terror”—no sense calling people nasty names just because they strap bombs on their children and blow up innocent people in the name of religion. But some are starting to think that the military action in Iraq worked. The whole “Bush lied about WMDs” thing has kind of worn out. We took what Bush said about WMDs plus what Clinton said and claimed Bush said them but I think that cow has been milked dry. You declared recently that America was a Muslim nation. Now you need to claim that your intense love and respect for the Qur’an as expressed on your last trip to the Middle East is what turned Iraq around (Man, you sound good reading from a teleprompter!) You’ll need to claim the same thing about Afghanistan before Fox News starts harping on the fact that you implemented Bush’s surge strategy there too. I know all that praise for religion sort of burns your mouth but just keep skipping prayer meetings and insulting Christians when you get a chance; we would hate to think you actually became religious at some point.
• Iran – The election there is meaningless because both candidates were vetted by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, their Supreme Leader, a theocrat (Don’t you just detest religious people; why can’t they all talk like Reverent Wright?! Never mind, I just remembered that the Ayatollah hates Jews too.) The real threat to Iran now is that some of the protestors are calling for Iran to be made free. If you want to really get to the Iranian leaders, just threaten to start broadcasting Rush Limbaugh in Persian across their country. For those that still like the Supreme Leader, tell them you despise Limbaugh even more than you despise their mullahs (since this is the truth, you won’t even have to shake you finger when you say it). They will tune in just out of curiosity. All that talk of liberty and self-reliance across the land could really cause them some problems. (This might even work for North Korea too but make sure Chicagoans, New Yorkers and Angelinos don’t hear what Limbaugh is actually saying. Just blow a few kisses at the fawning press corps as you leave on Airforce One with Michelle on date night and they will continue to misrepresent the truth for you). Promise Iranian leaders that if they behave themselves, you will send Stuart Smalley from Minnesota to teach them how to properly steal an election.
• Closing GITMO – So you have had four or five years to come up with a plan and you still have nothing? Your last request for $80 million was turned down by a Democrat Congress because they were not clear what you would do with the money. We liberals love these misunderstood Freedom Fighters and would be glad to have them live in our neighborhoods. Distribute the former detainees among the districts and states that elected Democrats to Congress. Start with Reed and Pelosi. Buy a bunch of ankle monitors and require them to stay within 20 miles of where the member of Congress lives (or at least near Democrat congressional family members). This should not cost very much but don’t hesitate to ask for extra money anyway to create another bloated bureaucracy to oversee the project. Most of these Democrat areas have generous welfare benefits to take care of the Freedom Fighters but many could be gainfully employed by organizations like ACORN (If you learned anything from living in Chicago it’s that you can never have enough fraudulent Democrat registrations). I also hear you may be opening up some positions in the office of the Inspector General. Or maybe your corrupt friends that are using government money for personal services could use a few extra hands for car washing, personal shopping and other stuff. Is your buddy, William Ayers, still looking for some demolition experts?
• Universal Health Care – You have admitted that taking over the health care industry all at once cannot be done. So here is how you phase it in. Start with all the registered Democrats throughout the nation; you know, the ones that voted for change. Force them all into a single-payer program. If you get any protestors, just call them racist tea-baggers or accuse them of loving guns or God or something nasty like that. You can pay for the program through a windfall profits tax on the TV and movie industries. I am sure those rich Hollywood types would not mind parting with half their wealth or more to help the poor. Start with Michael Moore. Some American doctors and nurses may not be willing to work for the pitiful wages offered after the lawyers take their generous cut via frivolous and abusive lawsuits so you may need to import some medical professionals from India, Mexico or Cuba (Get that immigration reform going). After a while you can just fire them all and let the lawyers run the whole medical industry (Hey, if the unions can run the auto companies…) Soon I am sure the rest of the country will see how wonderful socialized medicine is and will abandon their current health-care options to join such a utopian system.
• Slave Reparations – Now you know there was some concern whether an Ivy Leaguer as President could be black enough. And you know we didn’t vote for you because you had accomplished anything (please, Lewinski had more experience than you and that was before she met Bill). Show you’re down with the folks and help us poor white liberals finally assuage our guilt by ordering decedents of slave holders to pay huge sums of money to decedents of slaves. And hey, let’s not stop with black slavery; let’s fix all injustice for all time. My ancestors are from England. There they were minding their own business when the Romans invaded, pillaging and plundering for decades. Today, Italian-Americans are the beneficiaries of that system and need to be held to account. I think $10,000,000 taken from each Italian-American split among English Americans should to the trick.
Now I could go on about the Fairness Doctrine (aka, get rid of Limbaugh, Hannity and Fox News) and Global Warming (why stop at taxing cow farts when pig poots and kitty crap also threaten the planet) not mention how it’s time to start raising money for your library (I know you have no accomplishments to showcase in a library but that didn’t stop you from writing serial autobiographies. Besides, soaking up donations from liberal coffers will torque off the Clintons and you know much fun that can be.) Just DO SOMETHING!!!
Love and kisses from a concerned liberal,
Mickey Mouse
Akron, OH
• Over-seas Contingency Plan – I like the rename from the “War on Terror”—no sense calling people nasty names just because they strap bombs on their children and blow up innocent people in the name of religion. But some are starting to think that the military action in Iraq worked. The whole “Bush lied about WMDs” thing has kind of worn out. We took what Bush said about WMDs plus what Clinton said and claimed Bush said them but I think that cow has been milked dry. You declared recently that America was a Muslim nation. Now you need to claim that your intense love and respect for the Qur’an as expressed on your last trip to the Middle East is what turned Iraq around (Man, you sound good reading from a teleprompter!) You’ll need to claim the same thing about Afghanistan before Fox News starts harping on the fact that you implemented Bush’s surge strategy there too. I know all that praise for religion sort of burns your mouth but just keep skipping prayer meetings and insulting Christians when you get a chance; we would hate to think you actually became religious at some point.
• Iran – The election there is meaningless because both candidates were vetted by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, their Supreme Leader, a theocrat (Don’t you just detest religious people; why can’t they all talk like Reverent Wright?! Never mind, I just remembered that the Ayatollah hates Jews too.) The real threat to Iran now is that some of the protestors are calling for Iran to be made free. If you want to really get to the Iranian leaders, just threaten to start broadcasting Rush Limbaugh in Persian across their country. For those that still like the Supreme Leader, tell them you despise Limbaugh even more than you despise their mullahs (since this is the truth, you won’t even have to shake you finger when you say it). They will tune in just out of curiosity. All that talk of liberty and self-reliance across the land could really cause them some problems. (This might even work for North Korea too but make sure Chicagoans, New Yorkers and Angelinos don’t hear what Limbaugh is actually saying. Just blow a few kisses at the fawning press corps as you leave on Airforce One with Michelle on date night and they will continue to misrepresent the truth for you). Promise Iranian leaders that if they behave themselves, you will send Stuart Smalley from Minnesota to teach them how to properly steal an election.
• Closing GITMO – So you have had four or five years to come up with a plan and you still have nothing? Your last request for $80 million was turned down by a Democrat Congress because they were not clear what you would do with the money. We liberals love these misunderstood Freedom Fighters and would be glad to have them live in our neighborhoods. Distribute the former detainees among the districts and states that elected Democrats to Congress. Start with Reed and Pelosi. Buy a bunch of ankle monitors and require them to stay within 20 miles of where the member of Congress lives (or at least near Democrat congressional family members). This should not cost very much but don’t hesitate to ask for extra money anyway to create another bloated bureaucracy to oversee the project. Most of these Democrat areas have generous welfare benefits to take care of the Freedom Fighters but many could be gainfully employed by organizations like ACORN (If you learned anything from living in Chicago it’s that you can never have enough fraudulent Democrat registrations). I also hear you may be opening up some positions in the office of the Inspector General. Or maybe your corrupt friends that are using government money for personal services could use a few extra hands for car washing, personal shopping and other stuff. Is your buddy, William Ayers, still looking for some demolition experts?
• Universal Health Care – You have admitted that taking over the health care industry all at once cannot be done. So here is how you phase it in. Start with all the registered Democrats throughout the nation; you know, the ones that voted for change. Force them all into a single-payer program. If you get any protestors, just call them racist tea-baggers or accuse them of loving guns or God or something nasty like that. You can pay for the program through a windfall profits tax on the TV and movie industries. I am sure those rich Hollywood types would not mind parting with half their wealth or more to help the poor. Start with Michael Moore. Some American doctors and nurses may not be willing to work for the pitiful wages offered after the lawyers take their generous cut via frivolous and abusive lawsuits so you may need to import some medical professionals from India, Mexico or Cuba (Get that immigration reform going). After a while you can just fire them all and let the lawyers run the whole medical industry (Hey, if the unions can run the auto companies…) Soon I am sure the rest of the country will see how wonderful socialized medicine is and will abandon their current health-care options to join such a utopian system.
• Slave Reparations – Now you know there was some concern whether an Ivy Leaguer as President could be black enough. And you know we didn’t vote for you because you had accomplished anything (please, Lewinski had more experience than you and that was before she met Bill). Show you’re down with the folks and help us poor white liberals finally assuage our guilt by ordering decedents of slave holders to pay huge sums of money to decedents of slaves. And hey, let’s not stop with black slavery; let’s fix all injustice for all time. My ancestors are from England. There they were minding their own business when the Romans invaded, pillaging and plundering for decades. Today, Italian-Americans are the beneficiaries of that system and need to be held to account. I think $10,000,000 taken from each Italian-American split among English Americans should to the trick.
Now I could go on about the Fairness Doctrine (aka, get rid of Limbaugh, Hannity and Fox News) and Global Warming (why stop at taxing cow farts when pig poots and kitty crap also threaten the planet) not mention how it’s time to start raising money for your library (I know you have no accomplishments to showcase in a library but that didn’t stop you from writing serial autobiographies. Besides, soaking up donations from liberal coffers will torque off the Clintons and you know much fun that can be.) Just DO SOMETHING!!!
Love and kisses from a concerned liberal,
Mickey Mouse
Akron, OH
Friday, June 12, 2009
The Tortoise and the Hare
Once upon a time there was a hare. He was a fine hare from a very rich and noble family. His name was General C. Ford, III but everyone just called him Big Three. Big Three could run faster than any other animal in all the forest. One day a small tortoise, named Tony Hondashibi showed up from the far away land of Japan, claiming that he could outrun Big Three in a race. Big Three challenged Tony to race with the winner sharing a huge banquet with his friends. The news of the challenge spread far and wide and soon the king of the forest, King Odamya, had heard about the race. King Odamya was concerned that the race may not be fair so he appointed three commissioners (Lobby-Dee, Lobby-Do and Lobby-Dum, all the king’s friends seem to be a Lobby-ist of some kind) to form huge bureaucracies to write onerous and conflicting rules on how the race was to be run.
The day came for the race and the competitors were ready to start when it was announced that there would be a two-hour delay, waiting for the arrival of the Lion King Odamya and his Lioness Queen Myhell. Since one of the rules that King Odamya had decreed was that each competitor was required to pull a wagon full of food and other provisions, the delay gave them extra time to double check their supplies and no one was really interested in the race anyway. In fact, there was almost no talk about the race at all, but focusing rather on the royal garb Queen Myhell was supposedly sporting that day. Finally, the royal couple arrived, made their way through the adoring throngs (otherwise known as the forest press) and arrived at the wagons on the starting line. The king asked the Lobby-ists to load copies of their freshly written regulations (which nobody had read yet) onto each of the wagons. Unfortunately, neither Big Three nor Tony had counted on having to carry the extra weight and when the King said, “Go,” each found his wagon to heavy to pull. Now everyone knows the warthog to be the strongest animal in the forest and before long both Big Three and Tony had enlisted the help of enough of them to finally get the wagons moving.
The race was going along fine, except for the fact that the extra rules and regulations had made a race, meant for a few hours, drag on for days. Suddenly Big Three felt his wagon get heavier and heavier. Finally, he looked back to find that the warthogs he had hired to help pull the wagon were, instead, riding in it. He demanded that they get out and help pull only to be informed that his workers had joined the United Arrogant Warthogs organization and UAW rules dictated when they worked and when they rode. He threatened to fire them until he found out that the king would disqualify him if he did. Wanting to do his patriotic duty, he trudged on under the extra load, hiring ever more warthogs to take up the slack. Tony, however, avoided hiring hogs from the UAW whenever possible and soon found himself pulling way ahead of the once proud hare.
Then one day members from the “See, I’m an Airhead” Club noticed that there were deep ruts from the wagons running through the forest. They complained to the king who sent the head of the Extra Pomp Agency to alert Big Three and Tony of a new rule. Both competitors would have to race with one hand tied behind his back. EPA studies had shone that this could decrease the depth of the ruts by as much as 0.000000000001 percent. Neither Big Three nor Tony could understand how tying one hand behind their back had anything to do with ruts left by a wagon that King Odamya had ordered them to pull in the first place. But protesting King Odamya’s polices could get them accused of prejudice against lions, a charge that could stigmatize them for life, so they both hired extra warthogs and moved on.
Finally, when Tony had the finish line in sight, word came that Big Three had broken down and could not continue without help. The warthogs from the UAW had eaten all the supplies and their combined weight had caused the collapse of Big Three’s wagon. The king had tapped out his credit line from his Panda bankers to help Big Three and now was ordering Tony to share some of his provisions to aid in the rescue. The Lobby-sists sent by the king made off with half of Tony’s supplies but by the time they got to Big Three, he had starved to death, leaving only his idle warthogs. Much to their relief, the Lobby-ists used the supplies to get the warthogs across the finish line, ahead of Tony. The warthogs were declared the winners and as the promised banquet started, everyone thought that the warthogs would share with them but to their utter shock and amazement, the warthogs made absolute pigs of themselves, leaving nothing for anyone else.
Now I wish this story had a happy ending but the reckless feasting by the warthogs left a famine in the land. Tony gave up and went back to Japan since he could see no point in continuing if there would be no reward and the king could change the rules and take whatever he wanted. Even the panda bankers went home to China leaving King Odamya with no choice but to begin eating the warthogs. Even the warthogs began starving and as they got thinner, the king had to eat more of them until one day, even the warthogs were gone. Now King Odamya only wanted to make the race fair and ensure the underprivileged warthogs got what they deserved, but sadly, here he sits hungry and starving, with nothing to show for his efforts.
P. S. You may be wondering why someone would take what should have been a simple story and make it so complex and convoluted. Frankly, I have been wondering the same thing!
The day came for the race and the competitors were ready to start when it was announced that there would be a two-hour delay, waiting for the arrival of the Lion King Odamya and his Lioness Queen Myhell. Since one of the rules that King Odamya had decreed was that each competitor was required to pull a wagon full of food and other provisions, the delay gave them extra time to double check their supplies and no one was really interested in the race anyway. In fact, there was almost no talk about the race at all, but focusing rather on the royal garb Queen Myhell was supposedly sporting that day. Finally, the royal couple arrived, made their way through the adoring throngs (otherwise known as the forest press) and arrived at the wagons on the starting line. The king asked the Lobby-ists to load copies of their freshly written regulations (which nobody had read yet) onto each of the wagons. Unfortunately, neither Big Three nor Tony had counted on having to carry the extra weight and when the King said, “Go,” each found his wagon to heavy to pull. Now everyone knows the warthog to be the strongest animal in the forest and before long both Big Three and Tony had enlisted the help of enough of them to finally get the wagons moving.
The race was going along fine, except for the fact that the extra rules and regulations had made a race, meant for a few hours, drag on for days. Suddenly Big Three felt his wagon get heavier and heavier. Finally, he looked back to find that the warthogs he had hired to help pull the wagon were, instead, riding in it. He demanded that they get out and help pull only to be informed that his workers had joined the United Arrogant Warthogs organization and UAW rules dictated when they worked and when they rode. He threatened to fire them until he found out that the king would disqualify him if he did. Wanting to do his patriotic duty, he trudged on under the extra load, hiring ever more warthogs to take up the slack. Tony, however, avoided hiring hogs from the UAW whenever possible and soon found himself pulling way ahead of the once proud hare.
Then one day members from the “See, I’m an Airhead” Club noticed that there were deep ruts from the wagons running through the forest. They complained to the king who sent the head of the Extra Pomp Agency to alert Big Three and Tony of a new rule. Both competitors would have to race with one hand tied behind his back. EPA studies had shone that this could decrease the depth of the ruts by as much as 0.000000000001 percent. Neither Big Three nor Tony could understand how tying one hand behind their back had anything to do with ruts left by a wagon that King Odamya had ordered them to pull in the first place. But protesting King Odamya’s polices could get them accused of prejudice against lions, a charge that could stigmatize them for life, so they both hired extra warthogs and moved on.
Finally, when Tony had the finish line in sight, word came that Big Three had broken down and could not continue without help. The warthogs from the UAW had eaten all the supplies and their combined weight had caused the collapse of Big Three’s wagon. The king had tapped out his credit line from his Panda bankers to help Big Three and now was ordering Tony to share some of his provisions to aid in the rescue. The Lobby-sists sent by the king made off with half of Tony’s supplies but by the time they got to Big Three, he had starved to death, leaving only his idle warthogs. Much to their relief, the Lobby-ists used the supplies to get the warthogs across the finish line, ahead of Tony. The warthogs were declared the winners and as the promised banquet started, everyone thought that the warthogs would share with them but to their utter shock and amazement, the warthogs made absolute pigs of themselves, leaving nothing for anyone else.
Now I wish this story had a happy ending but the reckless feasting by the warthogs left a famine in the land. Tony gave up and went back to Japan since he could see no point in continuing if there would be no reward and the king could change the rules and take whatever he wanted. Even the panda bankers went home to China leaving King Odamya with no choice but to begin eating the warthogs. Even the warthogs began starving and as they got thinner, the king had to eat more of them until one day, even the warthogs were gone. Now King Odamya only wanted to make the race fair and ensure the underprivileged warthogs got what they deserved, but sadly, here he sits hungry and starving, with nothing to show for his efforts.
P. S. You may be wondering why someone would take what should have been a simple story and make it so complex and convoluted. Frankly, I have been wondering the same thing!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
If There Were No America...A Followup Story
A counterview:
Anyone can do the “what if” game and come up with any number of great reasons why we are the saviors of the world just because “we” exist…….Yippy and Yahoo!
I do think that American’s do tend to get a bit too cocky and arrogant. I also believe that when we present ourselves to the world with facts and reasons for wars and actions that end up being lies, we need to be big enough to at least acknowledge the fact instead of continuing to be the idiots we tend to be. I have no qualm with a highly educated president that is probably one of the best orators of all times smoothing things over in the opinions of the world. Like they say, you get more flies with honey than vinegar. If the world likes Obama, it just makes future relations and even travel abroad for our citizens even easier.
--Name withheld.
My response:
It’s an innate fact that this world is governed by aggression and force. The most powerful nation sets the rules for the entire world. Many candidates have arisen over history. All of them tyrannical, spreading misery and violence without remorse. Then came the United States of America. Missteps and mistakes have been made for sure but what nation would you rather have in charge? Saudi Arabia, where you can be executed for adultery and women cannot drive? One of the European nations? They spend so much on social crap they would not even be able to afford a proper army to defend themselves. Want to give communism or Nazism another try? Could Americans be nicer as tourists? Perhaps, but I have lived in Europe and Americans do not hold a candle to the rudeness of the German or French cultures. But the world has a bigger problem. Our largesse has bread a welfare mentality where, instead of being grateful, the world is jealous. They treat us with the distain that a four-year old has for an older sibling that just got a new toy truck and wants it for himself. We try to teach them how to go out and earn one for themselves, but they will not hear of it. We see the same mentality in our own welfare class in which the “rich” are endless robbed of the fruits of their labors and instead having a national day of thanks for their generosity, they are reviled while one of the major political parties in this country fans the flames of envy.
The Middle East in particular has an overinflated sense of itself. It languishes under ruthless, dictatorial regimes, hoping Allah will one day do what they have failed to do, wipe Israel off the map. Then everything will be alright. Obama’s words of honey mollify their consciences as they justify jihad. His words will not change their behavior but they do offend our staunchest ally in the region, Israel, once the only democracy in the Middle East. Someday when Afghanistan and Iraq have done the hard work to produce “toy trucks” of their own, Islamic peoples will realize that Muslim nations can coexist with Israel without suffering under tyrants. This, not from sweet words read from a teleprompter, but born of a “lying” war.
Anyone can do the “what if” game and come up with any number of great reasons why we are the saviors of the world just because “we” exist…….Yippy and Yahoo!
I do think that American’s do tend to get a bit too cocky and arrogant. I also believe that when we present ourselves to the world with facts and reasons for wars and actions that end up being lies, we need to be big enough to at least acknowledge the fact instead of continuing to be the idiots we tend to be. I have no qualm with a highly educated president that is probably one of the best orators of all times smoothing things over in the opinions of the world. Like they say, you get more flies with honey than vinegar. If the world likes Obama, it just makes future relations and even travel abroad for our citizens even easier.
--Name withheld.
My response:
It’s an innate fact that this world is governed by aggression and force. The most powerful nation sets the rules for the entire world. Many candidates have arisen over history. All of them tyrannical, spreading misery and violence without remorse. Then came the United States of America. Missteps and mistakes have been made for sure but what nation would you rather have in charge? Saudi Arabia, where you can be executed for adultery and women cannot drive? One of the European nations? They spend so much on social crap they would not even be able to afford a proper army to defend themselves. Want to give communism or Nazism another try? Could Americans be nicer as tourists? Perhaps, but I have lived in Europe and Americans do not hold a candle to the rudeness of the German or French cultures. But the world has a bigger problem. Our largesse has bread a welfare mentality where, instead of being grateful, the world is jealous. They treat us with the distain that a four-year old has for an older sibling that just got a new toy truck and wants it for himself. We try to teach them how to go out and earn one for themselves, but they will not hear of it. We see the same mentality in our own welfare class in which the “rich” are endless robbed of the fruits of their labors and instead having a national day of thanks for their generosity, they are reviled while one of the major political parties in this country fans the flames of envy.
The Middle East in particular has an overinflated sense of itself. It languishes under ruthless, dictatorial regimes, hoping Allah will one day do what they have failed to do, wipe Israel off the map. Then everything will be alright. Obama’s words of honey mollify their consciences as they justify jihad. His words will not change their behavior but they do offend our staunchest ally in the region, Israel, once the only democracy in the Middle East. Someday when Afghanistan and Iraq have done the hard work to produce “toy trucks” of their own, Islamic peoples will realize that Muslim nations can coexist with Israel without suffering under tyrants. This, not from sweet words read from a teleprompter, but born of a “lying” war.
Monday, June 8, 2009
If There Were No America...
As Obama completes another successful “I’m sorry for America” tour, I began to wonder as George Bailey did in the Christmas classic “It’s a Wonderful Life,” what if America did not exist? America, like any great person, has sins and regrets but having to overcome faults is what makes a person great, and likewise, makes a country great. To be sure without America, there would have been no evil white people destroying the planet, no Viet Nam war, no black slavery on this continent. But what else?
If there were no America, would there be a Europe? Or would 9/11, 2001 have been a massive military invasion by Jihadist. As France begged for peace, would their women have been massacred for not covering their heads? Or would Soviet communism long since have locked the continent in malaise and oppression. Perhaps Hilter would have taken Britain down without hope of rescue from a non-existent America, gripping the continent in cycle of paranoia and violence. Without the example of throwing off kingly malfeasance for liberty and justice perhaps Europe would have continued, as it had for centuries, conducting wars of hegemony every time a spoiled prince got it in his head that he needed to conquer another plot of land, wars that spread pestilence and death to millions. Without America would there be a Europe?
If there were no America, would there be an Africa? Without countless billions of dollars in aid, would Africans have long since died from hunger and disease? Would apartheid still grip South Africa without America’s voice of conscience? Would Africa still be a patchwork of colonies, dominated, exploited and fought over by European powers? Without America overcoming its sin of slavery, and making slavery illegal world-wide, would African tribes still be enslaving each other? Would Obama have ever been born or would his ancestors have long ago perished? Without America would there be an Africa?
If there were no America, would there be a Middle East? Would there ever be cars needing billions of barrels of oil per day, a trading partnership that has relieved millions from the hardships of nomadic life. Would Saddam still terrorize Iraq? Would Israel exist as a shining democracy or without US-supplied weaponry would she have been destroyed by her tyrannical Arab neighbors? Perhaps the Nazis would have wiped out all the Jews in the first place. Would Britain have even ever allowed self rule in the region if America had not set the example of a mighty nation without imperial colonialism. Without America would there be a Middle East?
If there were no America, would there be an Asia? Or would communism have spread throughout the land, unchecked by the non-existent US? Would Malaysia be able to call on Belgium when struck by typhoons and tsunamis? Would Sweden keep China from invading Taiwan? Or would imperial Japan still be in charge, slaughtering anyone it sees as a threat or ethnically impure? Without America would there be an Asia?
If there were no America, would there be a Western Hemisphere? If Columbus never came, would native tribes still roam and raid, killing each other and enslaving one another? Would blood sacrifices still be offered to non-existent deities? If colonists did come but never revolted, would kings still vex the land with their whims? Would Spain still rule and oppress South America if Latin people had not seen there was a better way without the mother land? Would Santa Ana’s decedents still rule Mexico with an iron fist? Who would protect Canada from invasion as their liberal peaceniks sang “Kumbaya”? Or where would they go for medical care when dyeing in the clogged queues of their universal health care system? Without America would there be a Western Hemisphere?
If there were no America, would there be Internet, medicine, airplanes, cell phones, cars, steam engines or a myriad of other inventions contrived through or improved by the unleashed potential of American capitalism? In a world whose historical scrap pile include the likes of Rome, Assyria, Babylonia, USSR, Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan and a host of other failed empires, the United States of America stands as the only super power to ever question the morality of conquering everything in sight and wondering, instead, if helping its global neighbors for free might be a nobler endeavor. As George Bailey discovered that without him, the mighty Mr. Potter terrorized the once sleepy Bedford Falls, I wonder without America, what horrible monster might have risen in her place? Without America Obama might not have anything to apologize for but who would be left to apologize to anyway?
If there were no America, would there be a Europe? Or would 9/11, 2001 have been a massive military invasion by Jihadist. As France begged for peace, would their women have been massacred for not covering their heads? Or would Soviet communism long since have locked the continent in malaise and oppression. Perhaps Hilter would have taken Britain down without hope of rescue from a non-existent America, gripping the continent in cycle of paranoia and violence. Without the example of throwing off kingly malfeasance for liberty and justice perhaps Europe would have continued, as it had for centuries, conducting wars of hegemony every time a spoiled prince got it in his head that he needed to conquer another plot of land, wars that spread pestilence and death to millions. Without America would there be a Europe?
If there were no America, would there be an Africa? Without countless billions of dollars in aid, would Africans have long since died from hunger and disease? Would apartheid still grip South Africa without America’s voice of conscience? Would Africa still be a patchwork of colonies, dominated, exploited and fought over by European powers? Without America overcoming its sin of slavery, and making slavery illegal world-wide, would African tribes still be enslaving each other? Would Obama have ever been born or would his ancestors have long ago perished? Without America would there be an Africa?
If there were no America, would there be a Middle East? Would there ever be cars needing billions of barrels of oil per day, a trading partnership that has relieved millions from the hardships of nomadic life. Would Saddam still terrorize Iraq? Would Israel exist as a shining democracy or without US-supplied weaponry would she have been destroyed by her tyrannical Arab neighbors? Perhaps the Nazis would have wiped out all the Jews in the first place. Would Britain have even ever allowed self rule in the region if America had not set the example of a mighty nation without imperial colonialism. Without America would there be a Middle East?
If there were no America, would there be an Asia? Or would communism have spread throughout the land, unchecked by the non-existent US? Would Malaysia be able to call on Belgium when struck by typhoons and tsunamis? Would Sweden keep China from invading Taiwan? Or would imperial Japan still be in charge, slaughtering anyone it sees as a threat or ethnically impure? Without America would there be an Asia?
If there were no America, would there be a Western Hemisphere? If Columbus never came, would native tribes still roam and raid, killing each other and enslaving one another? Would blood sacrifices still be offered to non-existent deities? If colonists did come but never revolted, would kings still vex the land with their whims? Would Spain still rule and oppress South America if Latin people had not seen there was a better way without the mother land? Would Santa Ana’s decedents still rule Mexico with an iron fist? Who would protect Canada from invasion as their liberal peaceniks sang “Kumbaya”? Or where would they go for medical care when dyeing in the clogged queues of their universal health care system? Without America would there be a Western Hemisphere?
If there were no America, would there be Internet, medicine, airplanes, cell phones, cars, steam engines or a myriad of other inventions contrived through or improved by the unleashed potential of American capitalism? In a world whose historical scrap pile include the likes of Rome, Assyria, Babylonia, USSR, Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan and a host of other failed empires, the United States of America stands as the only super power to ever question the morality of conquering everything in sight and wondering, instead, if helping its global neighbors for free might be a nobler endeavor. As George Bailey discovered that without him, the mighty Mr. Potter terrorized the once sleepy Bedford Falls, I wonder without America, what horrible monster might have risen in her place? Without America Obama might not have anything to apologize for but who would be left to apologize to anyway?
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