I imagine I'm not the only one who is furious with the current state of things. But it is my own fault. I will take my share of the blame for having put him in office (at least the first time). Of course, I'd like to chalk the whole thing up to shenanigans... which obviously did occur... but many of us still voted for him. I'm embarrassed and I sincerely apologize.
You know how the stereotypical description of store sales go. It isn't usually like this of course, but the tale goes that the store first jacks the prices and then announces a big sale. The thought is that the consumer will believe they're getting a great deal when in reality the price paid changes very little. Well, last night's speech reminded me of that. You take the already inflated number of American soldiers and Marines in Iraq... 130,000... add another 30k as part of the necessary plan to make progress (since the 130k wasn't quite accomplishing the mission). Leave them all there for a few months, then have some lackeys with stars on their collars make an assessment and declare that we can now start to remove troops. Back to the level they were at before. Where is the progress?
Wouldn't it be nice if we, as a whole... the collective United States of America... could truly learn from our mistakes? It occurs to me that people of my parents generation must have had many of the same thoughts and feelings during the Vietnam war. I suppose one could argue that we have evolved in some ways. MOST of us do not hold the typical American warriors responsible for the bone-headed decisions of our Chief Executive. (Granted, there are a handful of despicable people who do... but you'll always find nut-cases and assholes wherever you go). So these days we are inclined to thank our war fighters. And this feels good and seems the better thing to do. As a veteran myself, it surely seems preferable to what occurred in the 1970s. But we also feel conflicted. Supporting the warriors and not supporting the war is something of an awkward position. Members of Congress must feel similarly because despite the promises of change, no one is willing to take the drastic step of removing the war funding. No one is brave enough to put their own career on the line in order to truly bring about a policy change.
Put their "career" on the line. Yeah, serving in Congress has become a career. Perhaps if that were not possible, our elected officials would be more bold. If they weren't more worried about their own political longevity than the issues at hand. Limit Senators to two terms. Limit Congress(wo)men to 5 terms. We already have an 8 year cap on our Chief Executive. I think a 10-year stay for our legislators would be prudent. But clearly I digress...
Anyhow, thanks for more Bushit last night, George.
You know how the stereotypical description of store sales go. It isn't usually like this of course, but the tale goes that the store first jacks the prices and then announces a big sale. The thought is that the consumer will believe they're getting a great deal when in reality the price paid changes very little. Well, last night's speech reminded me of that. You take the already inflated number of American soldiers and Marines in Iraq... 130,000... add another 30k as part of the necessary plan to make progress (since the 130k wasn't quite accomplishing the mission). Leave them all there for a few months, then have some lackeys with stars on their collars make an assessment and declare that we can now start to remove troops. Back to the level they were at before. Where is the progress?
Wouldn't it be nice if we, as a whole... the collective United States of America... could truly learn from our mistakes? It occurs to me that people of my parents generation must have had many of the same thoughts and feelings during the Vietnam war. I suppose one could argue that we have evolved in some ways. MOST of us do not hold the typical American warriors responsible for the bone-headed decisions of our Chief Executive. (Granted, there are a handful of despicable people who do... but you'll always find nut-cases and assholes wherever you go). So these days we are inclined to thank our war fighters. And this feels good and seems the better thing to do. As a veteran myself, it surely seems preferable to what occurred in the 1970s. But we also feel conflicted. Supporting the warriors and not supporting the war is something of an awkward position. Members of Congress must feel similarly because despite the promises of change, no one is willing to take the drastic step of removing the war funding. No one is brave enough to put their own career on the line in order to truly bring about a policy change.
Put their "career" on the line. Yeah, serving in Congress has become a career. Perhaps if that were not possible, our elected officials would be more bold. If they weren't more worried about their own political longevity than the issues at hand. Limit Senators to two terms. Limit Congress(wo)men to 5 terms. We already have an 8 year cap on our Chief Executive. I think a 10-year stay for our legislators would be prudent. But clearly I digress...
Anyhow, thanks for more Bushit last night, George.
This is my new folding bicycle stored for traveling safety. Well... as best as I could manage.