Listening to: Travel Channel and chattering children
President Obama, we need to talk. I don’t know if you’ve notice this, but they’re crucifying you out here. I know you are just a mere mortal man, in spite of all the hoopla doopla about you saving America during the election. I also understand that most of this criticism is misplaced, since no one man can turn the direction of the ship on the turn of a dime. Still, you have to do something. Anything. I understand that you were smart enough to capitalize on the average American’s need for hope and change, but you gotta keep the ball rolling here. We need you to be the one who makes a stand on things that matter to the American people. I’ve heard of you changing your stance on a few things that you were pretty firm on, like Palestine. Please, please, please, don’t be that guy. We would much rather have a leader that takes a (educated, classy) stand on issues than pick one side and changes his mind later. Don’t.Be.That . President. I think most of us took a running leap onto the Obama bandwagon because you seemed to embody all of the things that Americans prize most in leaders. Things that your predecessor sorely lacked. Americans want, desperately, to believe that you will deliver on at least some of the promises that you made campaigning. Redeem at least some of the respect that America had dealing with other countries. We are sitting here waiting for you to step up again. You have the foundation to be one of the epic presidents that last in our folklore, you just have to reach out and grab it by the horns, and be that guy.
Becky
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
The Corruption of Karzai
Listening to: Olivia
Mood: Blah
I haven’t really been keeping right up on top of politics as of late, but I have been trying to hit up the BBC for my daily dose of what’s happening in the world. One of the major stories that my favorite news network has been covering is the elections in Afghanistan, and how president Karzai fixed the election and is now insisting that everyone just move on with life as they knew it.
For some odd reason, this really disappoints me. I couldn’t tell you why. After all, this is Afghanistan, great granddaddy of Pakistan’s craziness. I guess it’s just a little disappointing to see everything revert to craziness in spite of everything that has been done to try and counteract it. In a country famous for nuttiness, disorder, and rampant corruption, is it really so much of a surprise that a US backed leader would be true to his roots and revert back to running things in a way that benefits him. This all lies on the assumption that the charges are true. Anyone really want to dispute this? Didn’t think so. I think the really tragic thing is that no one will do anything about this. In all reality, what can be done? Even so, this sends the unfortunate message to both the Afghani people and others around the world that if you are backed by the most powerful people, corruption is sanctioned. This directly counteracts the message of democracy that we are trying to beat into others, and last time I checked, corruption was distinctly undemocratic.
Becky
Mood: Blah
I haven’t really been keeping right up on top of politics as of late, but I have been trying to hit up the BBC for my daily dose of what’s happening in the world. One of the major stories that my favorite news network has been covering is the elections in Afghanistan, and how president Karzai fixed the election and is now insisting that everyone just move on with life as they knew it.
For some odd reason, this really disappoints me. I couldn’t tell you why. After all, this is Afghanistan, great granddaddy of Pakistan’s craziness. I guess it’s just a little disappointing to see everything revert to craziness in spite of everything that has been done to try and counteract it. In a country famous for nuttiness, disorder, and rampant corruption, is it really so much of a surprise that a US backed leader would be true to his roots and revert back to running things in a way that benefits him. This all lies on the assumption that the charges are true. Anyone really want to dispute this? Didn’t think so. I think the really tragic thing is that no one will do anything about this. In all reality, what can be done? Even so, this sends the unfortunate message to both the Afghani people and others around the world that if you are backed by the most powerful people, corruption is sanctioned. This directly counteracts the message of democracy that we are trying to beat into others, and last time I checked, corruption was distinctly undemocratic.
Becky
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Anticlimax
Listening to: One hit Wonders of the 80’s on VH1 classic
Mood: Crack head type awake
Apparently it’s been a LOOOONNNNGG time since I’ve been round to blog. Sorry about that! Life has been keeping me busy.
So. Let’s review the obvious. Obama won. By a landslide. He has hit the ground running.
Is it just me or has the whole process been totally anticlimactic? I mean, it really had to be the way he was tearing up the campaign, but still. To be fair, as I mentioned, he has hit the ground running and has been working hard to repair world relations. They have been working round the clock to manage the economic situation too. (if I hear one more person, doesn’t even have to be a talking head, calling it an economic recession, I will personally rip his or her head off)
So what now? Miracles aren’t worked overnight. Unless you’re Jesus or Sai Baba, which Obama is not. So now we have a rockstar in the office, how do we judge his success? I didn’t really want to put failure there also because I think it’s rather hard for us to head downwards from where we were. I still hold out hope that people wouldn’t make a worse choice than the previous one. So how do we judge his success? He promised tons of stuff, some of which he will be able to accomplish. So far, he’s been holding his own with class and good judgment. The issue in my mind is how to know if he’s really a rockstar, or just appears as one compared with his predecessor. President Bush was not a rock star. To call him competent at the office of president would be kind. So compared with such an example, is Obama really that wonderful? I guess, as President Bush was so fond of reiterating, history will be the judge. It’s kind of hard to judge his success so early on in his term.
I know one thing I don’t want to hear anymore about. Their dog. For the love of everything holy. The family has a dog. So frickin what? How many million families in the us have a dog? I also don’t really care if Obama takes off his shirt and goes swimming on vacation with his kids. People do that. After all, he is still a person. I don’t really care much about what Michelle is wearing either. They’re clothes people. She’s not a fashion plate, she’s part of the governing team of the US. If she’s well dressed and makes a good impression, fantastic. Beyond that, let it go.
Becky
Mood: Crack head type awake
Apparently it’s been a LOOOONNNNGG time since I’ve been round to blog. Sorry about that! Life has been keeping me busy.
So. Let’s review the obvious. Obama won. By a landslide. He has hit the ground running.
Is it just me or has the whole process been totally anticlimactic? I mean, it really had to be the way he was tearing up the campaign, but still. To be fair, as I mentioned, he has hit the ground running and has been working hard to repair world relations. They have been working round the clock to manage the economic situation too. (if I hear one more person, doesn’t even have to be a talking head, calling it an economic recession, I will personally rip his or her head off)
So what now? Miracles aren’t worked overnight. Unless you’re Jesus or Sai Baba, which Obama is not. So now we have a rockstar in the office, how do we judge his success? I didn’t really want to put failure there also because I think it’s rather hard for us to head downwards from where we were. I still hold out hope that people wouldn’t make a worse choice than the previous one. So how do we judge his success? He promised tons of stuff, some of which he will be able to accomplish. So far, he’s been holding his own with class and good judgment. The issue in my mind is how to know if he’s really a rockstar, or just appears as one compared with his predecessor. President Bush was not a rock star. To call him competent at the office of president would be kind. So compared with such an example, is Obama really that wonderful? I guess, as President Bush was so fond of reiterating, history will be the judge. It’s kind of hard to judge his success so early on in his term.
I know one thing I don’t want to hear anymore about. Their dog. For the love of everything holy. The family has a dog. So frickin what? How many million families in the us have a dog? I also don’t really care if Obama takes off his shirt and goes swimming on vacation with his kids. People do that. After all, he is still a person. I don’t really care much about what Michelle is wearing either. They’re clothes people. She’s not a fashion plate, she’s part of the governing team of the US. If she’s well dressed and makes a good impression, fantastic. Beyond that, let it go.
Becky
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Obama and his "Liberal Allies"
Listening to: Peter Pan
Mood: Happy with a little quiet time
Overall, this political season has been surprisingly benign. Really, there hasn’t been much mudslinging or personal attacks. Surprising, I know. Unfortunately, that has changed a bit. I heard an ad recently from John McCain. I have never been a huge fan of John McCain. Obama has been such a breath of fresh air from politics as usual, it’s disappointing to hear a candidate resorting to smearing the other. John McCain released an ad about Obama and his “liberal allies” being more of the same. Ahem. Well. What? Liberal allies? I thought allies were supposed to be a good thing. Why in the world would McCain use such a charged word, reinforcing the fact that he’s quite militarily minded when most of the country has had enough to war talk for a while. It just seems very poorly done. Anyway, how exactly would liberal leadership be more of the same? What? At least McCain seems to have given up the tack that Obama doesn’t have enough experience. Especially after he chose a VP candidate with, you guessed it, literally no experience in big government.
Mood: Happy with a little quiet time
Overall, this political season has been surprisingly benign. Really, there hasn’t been much mudslinging or personal attacks. Surprising, I know. Unfortunately, that has changed a bit. I heard an ad recently from John McCain. I have never been a huge fan of John McCain. Obama has been such a breath of fresh air from politics as usual, it’s disappointing to hear a candidate resorting to smearing the other. John McCain released an ad about Obama and his “liberal allies” being more of the same. Ahem. Well. What? Liberal allies? I thought allies were supposed to be a good thing. Why in the world would McCain use such a charged word, reinforcing the fact that he’s quite militarily minded when most of the country has had enough to war talk for a while. It just seems very poorly done. Anyway, how exactly would liberal leadership be more of the same? What? At least McCain seems to have given up the tack that Obama doesn’t have enough experience. Especially after he chose a VP candidate with, you guessed it, literally no experience in big government.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
The Art of Winning or Losing a War
Listening to: The noisy, yet appreciated, air conditioner.
Mood: Mellow
I was reading Time magazine (I know, another blog inspired by Time) recently and happened to catch an article about the presidential candidate’s views on the war on terror. More specifically the problems we are having in Iraq and Afghanistan along with a schedule for leaving. Now I like Time magazine. It’s one of the bazillion magazines I read every month along with numerous books. It just so happens to feature things that get my dander up. Me being a raging liberal and all. Anyhow, I was reading about how both contenders for the presidential title would be judged for winning or losing the war. Ehm, what?
First of all, are have we advanced beyond the bullshit to call it a real “war” now rather than just using the justification of a war on terror? (God I hate that term!)If we are still hiding behind that, we need to be waging war on humanity. Mankind has, and continues to be, incredibly stupid and brutal. Most if not all civilizations have engaged in terror (state sponsored in most cases!) at one time or other. Let’s call a blunder a blunder and recognize the war for what it is. A drain on human capital and money. As a species, we should have advanced way beyond the need for taking what we want by force. Since certain parties did not take history lessons and did not bother to think about the Vietnam war before they instigated this mess, it would probably be a good idea to remember next time that the world has evolved beyond war being an effective means of getting what you want.
Second, and mainly, how in the world do you judge either a win or a loss in war? I’d venture to say that since we are a country with a ginormous army, plenty of money and resources, and a huge amount of control in the world, we have probably won in Iraq and Afghanistan. Well, we’ve won in a war sense. We’ve devastated both countries and area not getting resistance per say from the countries themselves. Yes, we are still encountering resistance, but from non state sanctioned entities, which is a whole other matter and blog. We have completely ruined what was a semblance of order and control and have destroyed their economic system along with blowing away a shameful number of civilians. So what’s the problem? We won. It’s just not that easy. We still have not gotten what it was that we started the war for. Yes, Saddam Hussein was definitely way up there on the list of brutal rulers who need to be disposed of. Yes, Osama bin Laden and the Taliban are evil entities that really had no business ruling a country or running around free. But folks, that is not why we went to war with either place. What the US really wanted when we went in was to gain some control. You see, we are control freaks. At one point, we supported Saddam and the Taliban in the form of Mujahidin. We seem to think that we can control a lot of things in the world through swaggering and threats. In the realm of control of the country and region, we have definitely lost. I think this is a major reason that we have been so reluctant to leave. There are still insurgents, and while the countries have changed, we still control them no more than before we invaded. If we leave now, or before the next 100 years are up Senator McCaine, we will have to come to terms with the purpose of the invasion and the countless lives and resources that have been misused and wasted. We hid behind the moral ground going in. We fancied it up to make it look like a defense of our own soil. Admittedly, that was a catalyst, but in terms of Iraq, it was an empty justification that was just below the surface. If we do the mature, responsible, ethical thing and do what we can to help both countries while we’re leaving, we may gain back some of the respect that was lost when we invaded.
There is no winning at this point. It’s my personal opinion that no one “wins” wars. If we struggle on and deny dealing with the problem, we will only lose more lives, resources, and respect in the eyes of the world. I sincerely hope that both candidates have used their heads in thinking of a strategy for dealing with this problem. Arrogance and stupidity never had a place in the leadership of the United States.
Becky
Mood: Mellow
I was reading Time magazine (I know, another blog inspired by Time) recently and happened to catch an article about the presidential candidate’s views on the war on terror. More specifically the problems we are having in Iraq and Afghanistan along with a schedule for leaving. Now I like Time magazine. It’s one of the bazillion magazines I read every month along with numerous books. It just so happens to feature things that get my dander up. Me being a raging liberal and all. Anyhow, I was reading about how both contenders for the presidential title would be judged for winning or losing the war. Ehm, what?
First of all, are have we advanced beyond the bullshit to call it a real “war” now rather than just using the justification of a war on terror? (God I hate that term!)If we are still hiding behind that, we need to be waging war on humanity. Mankind has, and continues to be, incredibly stupid and brutal. Most if not all civilizations have engaged in terror (state sponsored in most cases!) at one time or other. Let’s call a blunder a blunder and recognize the war for what it is. A drain on human capital and money. As a species, we should have advanced way beyond the need for taking what we want by force. Since certain parties did not take history lessons and did not bother to think about the Vietnam war before they instigated this mess, it would probably be a good idea to remember next time that the world has evolved beyond war being an effective means of getting what you want.
Second, and mainly, how in the world do you judge either a win or a loss in war? I’d venture to say that since we are a country with a ginormous army, plenty of money and resources, and a huge amount of control in the world, we have probably won in Iraq and Afghanistan. Well, we’ve won in a war sense. We’ve devastated both countries and area not getting resistance per say from the countries themselves. Yes, we are still encountering resistance, but from non state sanctioned entities, which is a whole other matter and blog. We have completely ruined what was a semblance of order and control and have destroyed their economic system along with blowing away a shameful number of civilians. So what’s the problem? We won. It’s just not that easy. We still have not gotten what it was that we started the war for. Yes, Saddam Hussein was definitely way up there on the list of brutal rulers who need to be disposed of. Yes, Osama bin Laden and the Taliban are evil entities that really had no business ruling a country or running around free. But folks, that is not why we went to war with either place. What the US really wanted when we went in was to gain some control. You see, we are control freaks. At one point, we supported Saddam and the Taliban in the form of Mujahidin. We seem to think that we can control a lot of things in the world through swaggering and threats. In the realm of control of the country and region, we have definitely lost. I think this is a major reason that we have been so reluctant to leave. There are still insurgents, and while the countries have changed, we still control them no more than before we invaded. If we leave now, or before the next 100 years are up Senator McCaine, we will have to come to terms with the purpose of the invasion and the countless lives and resources that have been misused and wasted. We hid behind the moral ground going in. We fancied it up to make it look like a defense of our own soil. Admittedly, that was a catalyst, but in terms of Iraq, it was an empty justification that was just below the surface. If we do the mature, responsible, ethical thing and do what we can to help both countries while we’re leaving, we may gain back some of the respect that was lost when we invaded.
There is no winning at this point. It’s my personal opinion that no one “wins” wars. If we struggle on and deny dealing with the problem, we will only lose more lives, resources, and respect in the eyes of the world. I sincerely hope that both candidates have used their heads in thinking of a strategy for dealing with this problem. Arrogance and stupidity never had a place in the leadership of the United States.
Becky
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
So You Wanna Be a Martyr
Listening to: Hercules
Mood: Content and calm
I just saw on the news today that Kahlid Sheik Mohammad’s trial is finally under way at Gitmo. It seems that our friendly neighborhood 9/11 terrorist would like to receive the death sentence and become a martyr. Keep in mind that this is a man who freely admits to orchestrating the suffering and death of thousands of innocent civilians. Enthusiastically. Is there any reason that anyone should care what this man wants, nonetheless give him what he wants?
So. Now that he was stupid enough to make his preference known, why in the world should we not do everything humanly possible to avoid turning this man into a martyr? Wouldn’t a miserable life in prison be much better of a punishment? The whole idea of justice and punishment is to keep society in line and discourage others from following the same path. Why should we encourage individuals to plan massive pain and suffering because of ideological differences only to have the consequences amount to becoming a hero in death? It makes no sense.
I generally hold this person in very low regard. He has proven himself to be arrogant, cruel, and stupid. I mean seriously. If you wanted to be a martyr, the best strategy when being judged by a country with a score to settle would probably have been to keep your mouth shut. You probably would have gotten your wish without much ado. I’m sure your lawyer would have explained this to you, had you not been arrogant enough to appoint yourself as your council. However, now that you have once again selfishly made your preferences known, I’m sure most Americans would much rather keep you alive just on principal rather than let you further your ideological religious heroism.
I’m not even going to get into how I feel about people who have no respect for the differences of others, not to mention causing intentional pain and suffering. I would be up on my soap box for hours.
So seriously, dude. Just shut up and think about what you’ll do about your trial. I hope you’re prepared to become someone’s bitch in jail for a long, long time. In fact, let’s just pipe in Eric Cartman’s “Kyle’s mom is a bitch” song just for good measure. I personally would find that to be fantastic poetic justice. Is that vengeful? Well, yes. In other circumstances, I would find it to be too severe. But bombing two huge buildings full of innocent people for religious reasons seems a bit vengeful too. Someone who has no respect for human life or differences really doesn’t deserve too much respect in return either.
Becky
Mood: Content and calm
I just saw on the news today that Kahlid Sheik Mohammad’s trial is finally under way at Gitmo. It seems that our friendly neighborhood 9/11 terrorist would like to receive the death sentence and become a martyr. Keep in mind that this is a man who freely admits to orchestrating the suffering and death of thousands of innocent civilians. Enthusiastically. Is there any reason that anyone should care what this man wants, nonetheless give him what he wants?
So. Now that he was stupid enough to make his preference known, why in the world should we not do everything humanly possible to avoid turning this man into a martyr? Wouldn’t a miserable life in prison be much better of a punishment? The whole idea of justice and punishment is to keep society in line and discourage others from following the same path. Why should we encourage individuals to plan massive pain and suffering because of ideological differences only to have the consequences amount to becoming a hero in death? It makes no sense.
I generally hold this person in very low regard. He has proven himself to be arrogant, cruel, and stupid. I mean seriously. If you wanted to be a martyr, the best strategy when being judged by a country with a score to settle would probably have been to keep your mouth shut. You probably would have gotten your wish without much ado. I’m sure your lawyer would have explained this to you, had you not been arrogant enough to appoint yourself as your council. However, now that you have once again selfishly made your preferences known, I’m sure most Americans would much rather keep you alive just on principal rather than let you further your ideological religious heroism.
I’m not even going to get into how I feel about people who have no respect for the differences of others, not to mention causing intentional pain and suffering. I would be up on my soap box for hours.
So seriously, dude. Just shut up and think about what you’ll do about your trial. I hope you’re prepared to become someone’s bitch in jail for a long, long time. In fact, let’s just pipe in Eric Cartman’s “Kyle’s mom is a bitch” song just for good measure. I personally would find that to be fantastic poetic justice. Is that vengeful? Well, yes. In other circumstances, I would find it to be too severe. But bombing two huge buildings full of innocent people for religious reasons seems a bit vengeful too. Someone who has no respect for human life or differences really doesn’t deserve too much respect in return either.
Becky
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