Congratulations – It’s A……..RANT!!
WARNING: What follows is a bona fide rant. Read it or not at your own risk.
To this point I have limited my commentary on Dubyas Folly to a random paragraph scattered here and there, or notes left in other diaries. I do believe, however, that anyone who has read my diary with any sort of regularity knows that I am not a fan of Dubya nor do I believe that this Iraqi SHOCK and AWE debacle is justified. But neither of those subjects is the reason for this rant at least not directly.
What has my panties in a wad, is the assumptions being made and put forth as fact about people who are against this war in Iraq. I am extremely tired of being portrayed as anti-American, anti-Military, ungrateful, ignorant and misguided. Even my friends harbor these feelings secretly. When I call them on it, they say they meant all those other peace freaks not me. Riiiiiiiight.
So listen up and listen well folks, because I am not going to spend my time defending myself repeatedly.
I am NOT anti-American. I love this country. Not only do I enjoy all the freedoms and privileges I am given by doing nothing more than being born here, I also appreciate them. But love and appreciation do not mean blind acceptance. I remember a saying that was popular when I was in high school Viet Nam war era – America, Love It or Leave It. I hated that saying. It was thrown accusingly at every dissenter, protester or independent-thinking individual. The poster I chose to hang in my room instead was My Country, Right or Wrong. When Right to be Kept Right. When Wrong to be Put Right. If I had that poster today, I would hang it again.
I am NOT anti-Military. The men and women of our armed forces have my deepest respect and unending gratitude. They do a difficult and often thankless job. I remember the Viet Nam years when they were spit on publicly and people screamed baby-killer at them and I still weep when I think of how they were ostracized and reviled. They are doing their job and they are doing a damn fine job of it. These are peoples mothers and fathers, daughters, sons, brothers and sisters separated from their families and laying their lives on the line. Far from being non-supportive of our troops, I support them with every fiber of my being and every prayer I can muster. I support them so much, that I want each and every one of them safe at home now, rather than fighting an unjustifiable war on foreign soil to advance the personal agenda of a very small group of powerful men.
I am not ignorant. On the contrary, I have quite a good brain which has benefited from both formal and informal education. The most valuable lesson my parents ever taught me was how to use that brain to take in information, process it, and make my own decisions. I dont have to take somebody elses word for it. I dont have to blindly accept anything. I know how to think for myself and I do. Of course this is a little inconvenient for those who wish I would take their flimsy reasoning as the gospel truth. It is those same narrow-minded folks who are calling me ignorant, when what they mean is that I dont accept their opinions as my facts. Thats not ignorant or uneducated or even misguided thats intelligence and independent thinking in action.
I would like to remind the critics of us peaceniks of a small historical factoid or two. Nowhere in history in ANY country in the world did change or improvement happen without rebels or dissidents people who thought differently and spoke out about it. Look at this country in particular how about making Boston Harbor into a giant tea pot? Were those folks sticking to the status quo? Or lets get a little more recent was Martin Luther King, Jr. anti-American, anti-military, ignorant, ungrateful and misguided? The United States of American was founded and forged by different-thinking people, for goodness sakes. This has always been a country of rugged individualists. This is our heritage, our DNA this is who we are. It is one of the best things about this country.
Those who support the war I disagree with you, but I dont think you are anti-American. I just think we disagree on this. I certainly dont want you to shut up or leave because maybe, just maybe, what you have to say will spark something in my mind or someone elses mind that could change the shape of my life or of the world. I respect your right to whatever opinion you hold. I encourage you to speak it out loud. Debate is healthy. And yes, he is the President and I give that office all the respect it deserves. The holder of that office is one of the most powerful people in the world. Its quite an accomplishment to have gotten there. But that is an elected office and if he isnt doing the job that I wish was being done then I get to tell him and ask him to change. I get to vote against him next election AND I get to try and convince you to vote against him, too. We can disagree and still be respectful of each other.
My rant is running out of steam and turning to a ramble. I dont want to do that. Let me just close with my hope that the creator will continue to watch over and bless us all no matter where we live and that all the troops involved in this Iraqi war will be watched over and protected as well. Grant that we, the human race, can wake up and see that our sameness is much greater than our differences and that our differences are cause for celebration rather than war.
Rant Over.
Bravo…in fact I wish I had your composure…I am so angry about this war and all the righteous holier than thou rhetoric that goes with it. If you go to my diary you might think I am extreme, but I will not stand the jingoistic self pride and moral certainty that goes with it. Having travelled in Asia and the Middle East, I know how crowded these cities are and how the people we deem to be
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enemies. I find the bombing of cities like Bagdad to be morally repugnant. I question the notion of the Iraqi people being liberated. Liberated into what??? Do people think the US would allow Iraqis to democratically elect a government antithetical to US interests?
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^HEY! He stole my sobriquet for Dubya! I should’ve trademarked it. Hear, hear, SW!!!!!!!! Well, you and I are on the same page, so you already know that I think you’re 110% correct. Now, what about those young men with rippling muscles????
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kinda like that one quote “I don’t agree with what you’re saying, but I’ll die for your right to do so” I don’t remember who said that. And you have personified my rant too. Just because you don’t want the war doesn’t make you unamerican. If it did, being american would be synonymous with war-hungry bullies.
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ryn– yes, yes I was. I have reserved one.
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Bless your ever loving, pea picking, heart my friend. You have very eloquently echoed my own feelings in every aspect. (Big surprise…”Too”) ***Sending you a big (((HUG))), warm smiles of appreciation, and a one woman standing ovation to boot!*** I’m so glad we’ve become friends and that you are here!
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Warm greeting and light
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I hereby offer my smelly sphincter to anyone you may need to offer it to, also. You know, out of context, that is a very scary note. 🙂
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Bravissima, my darling!! The trouble with all this is back in Sept/01, Dubya said out loud to the world, “If you’re not with us, you’re against us.” and that sentiment leaves NO ROOM for disagreement. It’s hard on us Canucks to stand firm and say, “You go right ahead. We’ll be along shortly with the medicine and blankets and our peacekeeping troops, but we’re not coming with you.” With a sigh…
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SW In reguards to what I had to say in my diary….no my comments were not directed at you, for several reasons, first you are the unique person you are…second, I’m not saying that I agree with was the mainstream media is force feeding us….what I’m saying IS in a perfect situation we would be over they to liberate, and a small part of me hopes that is the true agenda, cont…
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I would in a perfect world done my flowered skirt, and put flowers in my hair and chant love not war, but after talking to those that went to NYC and loosing close HS friends there, there is a human part of me that wants it revenged, right or wrong deep inside when after Sept 11 I saw those same people burning our flag in their streets it hurt. cont…
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No offense was ment to you or those that have made a informed decision, my rant was not directed towards anyone here.It was the result of someone I thought to be educated in my life that made some inane comments about the US being the one’s that infact “hired” someone to cause the 9/11 and it just really rubbed me raw. again my apologies if you took offense… Lael
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I struggle daily with so many conflicting feelings on this…~:/ ArtImp, nsi
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Hurray for you!!! That was eloquent & succintly said. Why can’t we get people like you as our polititians? You’d be great! …I also have to agree with what Torin said. Many people have taken it personally that Canada didn’t join the fray & they can be very spiteful ‘cus of it. They seem to forget about all we’ve done for our Yanky neighbours or how our soldiers were killed last year in a ….
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….so called ‘friendly fire’ incident. It still bothers me that days later American fans booed our national anthem at a sporting event. Not very neighbourly huh? At least I have enough sense to realize that not all Americans are bad based on the actions of a few ignorant, arrogant, & rude twits. We all need understanding, compassion, and respect. *with a sad smile & a warm hug*
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Hey – good to see you again. I’ve caught up on all the entries and I think this one is fantastic. Anti-War demos are still going on here in NZ as they are in other countries. I gagged when I heard Dubya’s speech – God I can’t stand that man. The stuff he was spouting made me growl. I also respect the people going to war I just don’t like or respect the person who sent them. (DrmDrgn -nsi)
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I still haven’t made my mind up about the war but I think it is ridiculous to classify everyone who is against the war as unAmerican or against the military or everyone IN the military who does not support the war a coward! Since when did Americans loose their right to an opinion that doesn’t necessarily coincide with the governments?
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Ranting is good. .
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I left a note earlier in a similar frame. As a pacifist I am tired of being told I am against the military. I feel for everyone, I feel everyone has the right to make their choice and if that was to join the military I am now thinking of them, hoping they will be okay. I don’t know anyone over there (to my knowledge) but it doesn’t mean they’re just ‘a bunch of soldiers’. I really hate (cont)
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the attitude that ‘if you’re not with us you’re against us’. If only life really was that black and white. I am a pacifist and that means I care and hope that no-one suffers at the hands of violence, whether they be civilains or in the military.
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On another post-entry stroll. I’ve been on a roll. With a smile…
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whoooo whooooo! i dont think i mentioned it in my diary but someone did call me a traitor at work last week. . .
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Certain types of right-wingers also like to call King a ‘communist.’ :-/
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>>>Lacking any real unformation to back up their opinions in honest debate, they simply start calling names. Media coverage of the war follows this same pattern — lacking real evidence to back up accusations, they relentlessly demonize the ‘enemy,’ which in this case seems to include the entire Muslim community. Tragic and insane…
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sane rants are hard to come by these days… congrats on being sane! hehe 🙂 have my own opinion on all this but do respect differing ones. wish there were more who did but some people (on either end of the spectrum) are extremely extreme. i was repulsed when, in my city, a marine wife got spat upon and called names as her husband was on the battlefield.
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also, am tired of the extreme media coverage on it, and it seems everywhere one looks there can be found an argument suppoting either side. one loss of life is too much (except saddam and his entourage 🙂 let’s continue to hope and pray this all ends soon~
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