The Greatest Privilege
In approximately three weeks I will be celebrating my first birthday as an American citizen. What a wonderful year it has been. I have had a very successful three quarters at my new company Dell, I have moved into a new home, and as of October 31st, I voted in my first election.
The older I get the more epiphanies I have. My eyes were opened to what a special privilege it is to vote in a Democracy. Iraq is fighting for its fledgling life as it grows into a Democracy. The word’s origin (from the Greek), dēmo- DEMO- + -kratia, translates as “by-the-people”. People have spilled more blood for this privilege than for any other reason. Democracy (to me) means an escape from the tyranny of oppressive rule.
I know, I know, one should never discuss politics or religion. But I will say that over the past ten years, I have solidified my stance as a conservative. I have heard people’s opinions run the gamut. I have heard people profess their love for President Clinton and his policies. They have also said that his antics in the White House were “no big deal” and that he was a wonderful President (even though he perjured himself under oath).
I have witnessed, first hand, people spewing all sorts of hateful rhetoric against President Bush and his policies. But let me say this; unemployment (due to Bush policy and tax cuts) is now at 4.4% (the lowest is has been since Q1FY01 - http://www.forecasts.org/data/data/UNRATE.htm) , the hourly wage is now $17/hour, and the U.S. economy is doing VERY well. Obviously Iraq is a major issue. But I have yet to hear a Liberal politician articulate their plan to get our troops out of Iraq, end the war, or their plan to properly secure our homeland. Liberal’s say that Bush is doing a lousy job, that he is a liar and that it is time for a change in government.
Here are the facts:
1) Secret prisons throughout the world and their AWESOME and effective work (using tactics like water boarding) in prisoner interrogation have thwarted attacks on LAX, the Sears Tower in Chicago, three British airliners traveling to the U.S.A, and stopped the destruction of the NYC Brooklyn Bridge.
2) We have not had another attack on U.S. soil in four years.
3) The NSA continues to track and thwart terrorist activity within the U.S.A. because of its Record Collection program.
4) Five major terrorist heads (from around the world) have been killed in Iraq because they too see Iraq as a battlefield against the U.S.A.
Earlier this week John Kerry, the 2004 Liberal candidate for President (and Senator from Massachusetts) made derogatory comments about U.S. troops. His comments can be seen first hand at the following link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3noYSLX1zw
John Kerry has now recanted and sloughed off his accountability as a “joke”. That is a lie and he lacks the fortitude and the core to stand behind his idealism.
As an added benefit, I have included within this BLOG update the link to the Oprah interview with Bill O’Reilly. I have included this link because my cousin Josh still thinks that America is NOT a land of opportunity. Josh, I hope you watch this interview so you can hear first hand what Oprah says about the U.S.A.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1xnb1vcleg
As November 7th quickly approaches, I would just ask that people think hard and reflect about what it means to vote. We have been given the honor and privilege to direct our country (Canada too) in this Democracy. Whatever your political persuasion, make sure you vote. Do not take this honor for granted!
November 3rd, 2006 at 4:35 pm
Well said… and happy b-day!
November 4th, 2006 at 8:21 pm
happy birthday cus.
Ok well I guess I’ll have to respond to this one since i am apparently the bigot/outsider in this family.
Well see now I’m really suprised that the economy has improved under Bush. I mean all the guy seems to create is an aura of “death and destruction” in my mind and the only news i ever hear is Fox News. I’m just watching the news and judging for myself, just like you. Maybe i should start watching something else, i dunno where you’re getting your info from…ah probably from good ol’ Billy.
Bush’s foreign policiy…well they are improving as he slowly learns that it’s not just about America. The idea of a nation only creates exclusion and ultimately conflict. Those inside of it try to keep everyone else out and everyone else resents them for their attitude. Bush has already done so much to ruin the global view of America. He can barely make a speech without stuttering or mixing words. Is that someone that you really want to have represent and lead your country.
November 4th, 2006 at 9:12 pm
BILLY O’really…
Ok, and on to Bill. Ok well this interview clearly proves my point. There should be a middle ground if that’s what you want to call it. It’s simply just a view. Not everyone has to agree with everything on one side, this isn’t Nazi Germany…seriously. Why should i have to agree with what politicians agree with on one side. Politicians have been some of the most despised people in history since they invented the bloody scoundrels. Scandals are their thing. I mean even Kind David got into a few in his time. Why should i have to agree with everything they say? O’Reilly seems to really love creating conflict. They should put him into the NHL. Agitator O’Reilly…ah the good ol’ Irish eh always love starting a fight.
THe media is a machine. The new media was manufactured by Mussolini and then Hitler and then adopted by America. If you don’t have the people involved how can you have democracy? …..if you don’t have opinions clashing how can you have democracy? Democracy is the voice of the people being heard and them being able to voice what they like and not what others (ie politicians and their parties) want. This interview with O’Reilly is interesting…I dunno what this does for your pro-Bush opinion and conservatism. This guy is far right…wow..there is no way he is neutral…i mean according to him their is no middle ground right. he’s definitely not a liberal or demoncrat…sorry democrat. That must leave him on the side of the conservatives then I guess. Those two guys who stood up and voiced their concerns. Well because they don’t agree with the Irish bloke doesn’t make them democratics does it? Are they in the wrong for having these views? It’s not like they don’t vote…they just switch back and forth…it’s the pendulum theory this has to happen to create a balance. why do you think Democrats go out and Republicans come in and then they next time vice versa….People are voting for different parties…ah what a concept. Switching sides…oh no! Those treacherous scumbags!! Come on it’s their right. I do it all the time…parties need to get out once and a while or we have a very slanted democracy. Not ruled by the people but by the party and their leader.
I lived just outside the nation’s capital this summer with my cousin Dallas and his sweet wife Reena who I still don’t understand how he got (haha kidding donkey balls). It was an eye opening experience that I’ll cherish forever. My cousin has some very good opinions, some of which I agree with, but there are some that I’m just like woah!…and i know he’s the same with me though.
See here in Canada we don’t need to fit in molds like in the US (according to O’Reilly). You don’t have to choose a party side. You vote for the individual generally. Do they have morals? Will they take this country where it needs and should go? In the US, well guys like O’Reilly make this process confusing. You can’t be in the middle and you have to be a Democrat or a Republican. What a life if you have to walk around with a stamp on your forehead…”I’m a Repulican…oh you’re a Demoncrat”….what a process of exclusion…why create more when there is already so much there. This makes no sense. My roomate Manu who stands on a middle ground greed with former Chancellor Schroeder’s (liberal) politics and now agrees with much of Merkel’s (conservative) as well. She’s doing a pretty good job and relations are still improving between Germany and Russia. 60 yrs ago they had their hands at each others’ throats. America has lost many of its allies over the war in Iraq. I agree that Iraq needed to be dealt with. I mean it doesn’t take a genius to realize that they had some pretty lethal weapons that could cause some bad times for others. But like i told my dad before they invaded. “If they don’t have the western world all in agreeance for an invasion you’re gonna run into some problems.” And well look at things now…sure they are slowly improving things there…but America still hasn’t left like they had said they would…Rumsfeld and the generals knew this would happen. You can’t expect to go into a country and just pull out. America is still in a nation like Germany where the people aren’t savages. Most Sunnis are complete barbarians they hate the Americans and the Brits…and who’s to blame them. British abused them and the crusaders before them. What would the American citizens be like if the tables were turned around. You think they’d just continue to sit back…I mean they get riled up when a bad Bill is passed.
Ok well I guess I’ll stop there. I don’t want this to come across like I have all the answers and everything i say here needs to be truth. If you even agree with 15% of what I said then I have done my job.
No hard feelings I hope. Just standing up for myself and my beliefs plus I’ve got the day off so I can actually take the time to sit down and do this this time.
That black guy or african american who stood up in the interview..was he gay? wow he’s a minority …gay, black and a republican…good for him.
Josh
November 10th, 2006 at 5:32 am
Josh I agree..Bill O’Reilly? As Al Franken says in his excellent book “Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right” he should be called Bill O’Lie-lly (Shamless plug for the book).
Let’s take a look shall we?
Bill O’Reilly frequently likes to boast about how he grew up in a rough working class section of Long Island called Levittown. However, Bill’s mother tells a different story saying that Bill went to a prestigious private school, that the family took vacations in Florida and that they actually resided in the affluent suburb of Westbury. When confronted he claimed to have grown up in the “Westbury section of Levittown” which does not exist. I grew up in the Whalley area….of Kits? Doesn’t work. Also, he claims that when he registered to vote in Nassau in 1994 there were no boxes for independent so he left them blank. Oddly enough an inspection of his voter registration card reveals that William J. O’Reilly checked the Republican box. Another interesting tid bit: when O’Reilly interviewed a Jeremy Glick whose father a Port Authority worker had been killed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the topic of discussion was supposed to be that Glick had signed an advertisement opposing the war in Iraq. Instead, O’Reilly shouted him down saying “I don’t want to debate world politics with you” even though as Glick reminded him wasn’t this a show about world politics? Well even if it was (?) O’Reilly “doesn’t care what he [Glick] thinks.”
He is a bully.
He is also very splotchy.
With Remembrance Day (or Veteran’s Day in the U.S with the unfortunate abbreviation of V.D) fast approching perhaps we should remember those men and women who made sacrifices in the past and continue to sacrifice their bodies, minds, and emotional psyches as they wade through the current theatre of war. I do not want to say any more about the war in Iraq as I believe passions run high on both sides. Perhaps we should debate gay marriage or abortion instead.
Oh and Blair, if I may offer you some advice: you sir, are terrifying. I think you would benefit from some Haloperidol.