The sky is falling
Published on August 11, 2004 By MichaelProteus In Politics
Once again our gracious government has issued that "Terrorist's may strike America at any time now", threat level "Paranoid" has just moved up to threat level "Too much Propaganda". As an American I really would like to know if the "Homeland Defense Circus Team" has really thought this out. There's orange, red, yellow, and so on. Next thing you know our leaders will be painting the threat levels in a paint by numbers book, and having the Christian Coalition handing them out on Saturday mornings at six a.m. I mean really people, I think the bulk of the damage has been done on 9/11, why must our government make everyone paranoid. As I write this I think back to the Mcarthy era, where anyone could be a "Communist", and was one if they said one little negative thing about the U.S. government.

I just want you all to remember that our talented government had all the information about who was coming and going prior to the 9/11 attacks, in fact the F.B.I. sent the C.I.A. a memo stating that "Persons on the Terrorist watch list" had entered the United States. Unfortunately for the families of the 9/11 attacks, our government either ignored the warnings, underestimated the resolve of the terrorists, or let it happen. I believe the latter happened, the 9/11 attack was the catalyst in which the U.S. could use to go into Iraq. Once again, I would like to remind you that Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with the attacks on the twin towers. Everyone who died on 9/11 were expendible, for the greater cause of the United States and its quest for world domination--or a New World Order.

So I watch the nightly news and I see Bush Jr. and then I see Mr. Kerry: What a choice we Americans have! So it comes down to the lesser of the two evils, some choice. Of course there will be independents running, but come on...most of these guys are still in the stages of setting up their Grassroots campaign. Oh, as I shake my head in disgust I wonder why I complain, when I could be trying to make a difference. It seems that my lackluster attempts at acting like a citizen are not forthcoming, therefore I can only consider myself a resident of the United States. Sure I'll vote, but really people, do our votes really count? With the fiasco in Florida, it makes it seem like the president has already been picked. How long will this go on? Who knows, but I can tell you this: nothing last's forever.

As I close today, I look outside and see the sun shining brightly, I wonder if the American people are aware that they are being led into storm of great proportions. I'm hoping that some of "You" the Citizens, will wake up and see bright shining truth...that the United States is founded on lies, slave trade, opium trade, and piracy. We indeed live in a "Free" world, unfortunately "Free" has a different meaning to our leaders.

Comments (Page 3)
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on Aug 13, 2004
Messy Buu,

your Cro-Magnon


Then don't comment on my blogs...simple as that. One more thing, I would never curse to make a point.
on Aug 13, 2004
Texas Wahine


You don't have to comment on my blogs either, remember it was you that first commented, personally I really don't care what you think anymore, I have nothing to prove to you. You've shown that you cannot think, like i've commented earlier...stay off my blog, please.
Thank you!
on Aug 13, 2004
Then don't comment on my blogs...simple as that. One more thing, I would never curse to make a point.


Is it only considered condescending, childish, and immature if you include cursing?
on Aug 13, 2004
Then don't comment on my blogs...simple as that. One more thing, I would never curse to make a point.


But you do tell people to "shove it." (See "Greatest Show on Earth"). So maybe it's time to soften the rhetoric all around, at least as regards personal attacks, name-calling, genealogy and what have you. Distracts one from the topic under discussion.

Cheers,
Daiwa
on Aug 14, 2004
Ok so we all have problems with the government. Now I want to hear some solutions! Any ideas at all. If you were President, what would you do?
on Aug 14, 2004
Name one, and which from which church.


Levi Coffin, a Quaker, who assisted more than 3,000 slaves.
on Aug 14, 2004
I have a simple way to solve your problem Michael. Move. Go to another country where you think the government is more honorable and stands for something better than we do. Go to Holland or another western european nation where they have become socialist and marching down a trail to communism. Go to a european nation where your basic rights are restricted. I know go to Iran or Saudi Arabia and abide by there rules? No well how about going to live in Africa under a dictator? Hmmmm No also. Lets see a country in South America? Too underdeveloped eh? Well we are running out of places that could be better than the United States to live. Never, Never in the history of the world has there been a country who has done so much good and asked so little in return. Truly Colin Powell said it best, all we ask for is land to bury our dead. Do we colonize nations we take over? No we rebuild them and make them stronger, then hand them the controls back. Do we terrorize the world? No. I have an idea on how we can see the impact on the good the US does in the world. Lets recall our troops from everywhere and not give another single penny to another country for anything. Lets pull the funding from the UN and pull out of it altogether. Then lets see how long it takes the world to go to heck in a hand basket. How has people been brought up in the greatest nation on the face of the planet, and truly of anytime period, come to hate the country? It is beyond me.
on Aug 16, 2004
Jaynik,

Ok so we all have problems with the government. Now I want to hear some solutions! Any ideas at all. If you were President, what would you do?


First off, I would remove All American troops from Iraq and Afganistan. I would also remove troops from Germany, S. Korea, Holland, Japan, and the Phillipines. I would stop foreign aid to all third world countries including the Middle East, Africa, all of Asia. I would concentrate on the domestic problems here at home.

Second, Senior Citizens would get free healthcare...I don't really care if the pharmacutical companies liked it or not. I would create more jobs for the poverty-stricken areas of the nation. How would I do that? I would bring jobs back to the states, I would nullify NAFTA, tax the hell out of any American based company that had factories anywhere but here. There would be incentives and tax breaks for companies who hired a certain amount of people who fell into the bracket of being in poverty. My Vice president would oversee that the bill called "Working America" would ensure that all Americans who wanted to would have work. Government contracts would not go to those who were friends of the government, they would go to those smaller companies so they could grow in size, thus bringing new work to their area. With more people working, I would hope to get the nation's unemployment rate down to 3%, with new jobs brings income, income that could still be taxed to pay for the healthcare for the Senior Citizens.

Third, the U.S. military would have a drastic change, instead of policing the world, they would be for the defense of US, not for the defense of our interests in Oil, land, natural resources, etc. The military would also do more domestic in house "Community Service", such as teaming with Habitat for Humanity to build homes for needy families, visit schools, mentoring programs, outreach programs. I would only allot a certain amount of troops for intervention in certain hotspots if they arose. I would put them with the NATO peacekeeping force. The military would only go to war IF there was a direct threat to the United States, not on any assumptions, and not for things that we had brought onto ourselves.

Look, I don't have all the answers, but I do know this...No more U.S. servicemen should die! Today two more Americans were killed, I really don't know about you...but that's two too many, what have we accomplished? Osama Bin Laden is still running free if he even exists.
on Aug 16, 2004
Little_Whip,

LoL @ the praise of Singapore. Yeah, they have a handle on the drug problem, and you can also be jailed and beaten for failing to flush a public toilet, or even possessing a stick of chewing gum.


Okay and your point is? You should have no worries...you don't live in Singapore. Anything else?

If you look up to a totalitarian government like that as something we should emulate, then id consider you too far over the edge of sensibility to be reasoned with.


I don't believe I ever said that. Maybe you're just used to all the garbage that goes on around here and independent thinking is black void you don't care to look into. Maybe if I'm too "Over the edge" you should read a book on what a "Totalitarian" government really is...then get back to me. , you first need to know what you're saying, and not just try to jump onto the bandwagon and disagree just to agree.
on Aug 16, 2004
zbuck,


*Yawn* I read your comments over a steaming cup of coffee. As I sip on my black coffee, I put my feet up and smile. At least however misguided you are on your perceptions of the United States, I will give you credit...you are brave enough to spout that propaganda, and sound like a brocure for the Republican Reform Committee. Look, I'm not going to argue with you. Like I told someone else in another post, this country has asked much from my family, and my family being very PATRIOTIC to a fault, has never let this country down. So what you have to say is like beating a dead horse. I will continue to say what I want, and when. Not you or anyone will TELL me or my family what to do, nor can you fool us by sugar-coating everything. Everything you read in the history books isn't always true.
on Aug 16, 2004
zbuck,

Go to Holland or another western european nation where they have become socialist and marching down a trail to communism. Go to a european nation where your basic rights are restricted. I know go to Iran or Saudi Arabia and abide by there rules?


Socialist? Huh? So what is DSHS? I guess that's a free handout right? Gee could that be a form of Socialism? The very things you're talking about we have right here in the states! What are you still doing here? Uh oh, the Patriotic Act? Aren't your basic rights restricted? Can't talk to anyone on a LAN line or on a Cellular phone without electronic ears listening for code words. Gee, the United States embodies some of the very things you talk against, but wait...you didn't even know. Who's the fool now? "A Fool and his freedom, are soon departed."
on Aug 16, 2004
Michael,
Regarding reply #39: I agree that we need to reevaluate our role in the world. The war in Iraq is a boondoggle, and acting as policeman to the world is expensive and creating enemies. However, we simply can't "remove all American troops from Iraq and Afghanistan," as this would not solve anything abroad. We can't just bomb a country and say "that'll learn ya!" As trite as it sounds, we have to leave Iraq "better than we found it." But make no mistake, we should leave Iraq.
We can't stop foreign aid to "third world" countries (incidently, they are "lesser developed nations" as there are no "second world" countries anymore). Stopping important aid would worsen matters abroad. We should, however, strike a more appropriate balance between isolationism and internationalism. To withdraw all support for needy countries would not win us any friends with those who help us (and yes we do get a lot of help abroad--we are one of the largest debtor nations).
Absolutely give health care to seniors. Not just seniors, but all Americans. And make sure it's health care and not health insurance, as insurance is not a guarantee of adequate services or affordablity.
Kill NAFTA and throw in the WTO while you're at it. It costs Americans jobs and it impoverishes nations that it's supposed to benefit.
I too agree that we need to put people to work, but your idea is drifting toward Communist ideals, for better or worse. Moscow used to have a telephone box type building at intersections--it housed the person responsible for changing the traffic signal from red to green. This job was created just to give somebody work. I don't think we need that type of system in this country. A better idea might be to reduce the work week to 30 hours. This enables more people to work as there are more work-hours available. It has been shown that people who work less make better use of their free time--volunteerism would increase, income from travel and tourism would rise, and there may be a decrease in things such as stress-related crime, obesity and other problems found in an overworked population. Production would also decrease, but we make too many things we don't need in this country.
Your last point about the military is a fine one. Your "community service" plan sounds like the Peace Corps, a fine organization that could use more support and volunteers. I'm not a fan of the draft, but I would favor some sort of mandatory civil service, whether that be in the military, Peace Corps, Habitat for Humanity, mentoring, or any other number of programs nationwide or worldwide. I also favor Kucinich's idea of renaming the Department of Defense to the Department of Peace. A little hokey? Yes. But it sends a better message.
Thanks for letting me rant and I look forward to some constructive criticism
on Aug 16, 2004
jdjefferson,

Do you see the problem...these hypothetical ideas are only a drop in the bucket. With every action, there is a reaction. I feel that to have a government system that works we'll need to: Get this...have a hybrid government. Capitalistic, with undercurrents of Socialism, and maybe a sprinkle Democracy. Each of these standing alone does not work, together maybe they'll fill in the gaps of what's needed. No, not everyone will like it...but then again not everyone likes how things are now.
on Aug 16, 2004
I think we need to cut our oil use. We are dependant of countries like Saudi Arabia and Iraq and thats how we get into shit like this. We should offer big incentives to companies developing hydrogen powered cars. The only reason we still have gas powered cars everywhere is because of rich oil companies calling the shots.
on Aug 16, 2004
Jaynik-
Yes, curtailing oil use is key. Keep in mind that hydrogen-powered cars are not necessarily the greatest solution. I agree that they are cleaner vehicles (zero emissions), but remember that the key way to extract hydrogen is by breaking it off of water (H2O)--how do you do that? By using oil- and coal-consuming energy. Electric-hybrid vehicles are a better starting point, as well as alternative energies like solar, wind, and water for larger consumer uses (electricity). But back to the point--we need to wean ourselves from the teats of the oil producing nations so we can reduce our desire to protect oil assets.

MichaelProteus-
Are you suggesting a utopia? Actually, I think our current system has all those things you want (careful about wanting too much Capitalism, as that is what got you started on this whole thread to begin with)--the problem is that our system is too easy to corrupt and manipulate.
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