Sole Patriotic Following

Patriotism is dead. The President has seen to that.
The most asked question in the past four years has been : "Why do they hate us so much?"
If an American hasn't asked themselves that since the Iraq fiasco had begun, then they need to jump back into reality before they face a surprisingly rude awakening.

President Bush united the country under the circumstances that foreign powers want to hurt the democracy, freedom, and way of life for all American people. The flag was flapping behind him when he gave the speeches that sent thousands of men and women to a desert to fight for the so-called "American Right".....where did it take patriotism ?
Americans are now looked upon with even less respect than when they started off - and I know fans of Ann Coulter will say some unintelligent babble sounding along the lines of : "We don't care what other people think ! We're Americans ! We gave you guys the Ipod, McDonalds, and NBC....We have provided the most for the world because we own the most ! - but this statement only applies to the American population who have only seen the world as far as their land reaches....the rest of the world matters. In fact, if these Americans don't care what others think, then why are so many asking the above question ? If the rest of the world didn't matter, why is it that the international economy for the US took a deep hit after the invasion ? Why is that the dollar value of the American Dollar (which was the most powerful at the time) take a huge cut since Bush sat in the chair ? (And no, Ann Coulter fans - do not compare Dubya with Reagan; he may not have had the political background as most did, but he single-handedly raised the economy level in the 80's and stopped Communism....if anything, Bush is trying to be Reagan - trying being the operative word and failing being the correct one...)

This is the problem with patriotism as a means of waging war - it only goes so far as an ideology.
With the war on terror being so close to the Iraq invasion, it was easy to see where the overlapping could pass off as one war leading to another, with the same values and principles as the previous one. But it can only stand on its own for so long. The people need to see positive results about where their patriotism is being put to good use. If not, then it splinters and cracks on all sides, eventually falling apart.
WMD's ?
None.
So where did the nation come off as being threatened ? The state was under attack, right ? So where are the weapons that would've destroyed us ?
How is our freedom affected at all? And what was the point of rallying all of us under the flag ?
What were we after in the first place ?
When can we stop so that our people won't have to die anymore ?

Patriotism is unification built under trust. To unify people from all over under one flag, requires a reason to see what needs to be done to keep these people safe. It requires trust in the leaders to have a plan, to have a cause, to have a reason.
What Bush and Cheney (can't forget old "Big Time") don't understand is that isolation of a nation costs the people, not the government. Presidents and Prime Ministers come and go with the times, and a new person leads the country with new policies. But the stain stays with the people.

Octavian

Heil Big Brother !

The winner of the heated UK version of Big Brother was just revealed to be Shilpa Shetty, the Indian woman who had been the target of alleged racial slurs on the live show.
Now, the reason why I say alleged, is that there seems to be a discretion as to how much racism there was in the show, and how much prejudice and ignorance existed.

There were words used by the white folk in the house, but being racist and prejudiced are two separate things.
Everyone can agree that both come from the same tree - racism comes from not liking or admitting to another race other than your own, while prejudiced means you acknowledge other races but you only tolerate them because society says to do so.
Everybody is prejudiced inside, it is a given fact. We all know the stereotypes for every race, and we all say a joke or two, or stare too long. Lets just all admit it and be done with it. But it takes a special few to really be racist - we're talking about generating hate against a race of people.

In the show, I seriously doubt that the women who were involved with the incident had any inkling towards killing their housemate (at least I hope so....) They were just totally ignorant about the world around them. They aren't exactly the shining examples themselves of "best people on television" - one is an ex-overweight (but it still shows), backwards, dumb-as-a-box-of-crayons, regular on Big Brother (and when you're a regular on the show, you know you have nothing to contribute anywhere else...oh, wait she has her "beauty salon" named Ugly's - so how much do you expect from a beauty salon with a name like that ? You should see her website, it actually displays all of the stupid things she's said over the years like a medal.....at least she won't be alone, she has her high-school drop-out boyfriend/electrician/model to keep her company....), and the other is a washed up pop singer-turned dog breeder, who found her way onto a show that parallels the Surreal Life (and if you've ever noticed, all the "celebrities" in that show are second stringers who don't have anything left, and need to pay the bills with the cash they earn from the show....maybe that's why S-Club 7 broke up, Jo spent all their money...)

It was a much bigger and classier action taken by Ms.Shetty to not take the low road like the other castmates, and by telling everybody she doesn't take it personally.
Why should she ?
She has earned an estimated $16 million in magazines and appearances, and stands to earn another $2 million from new contracts. On top of that, she beat them all in the game !
Beats running an Ugly beauty salon and breeding bitches, doesn't it ?


Octavian

Let the Garbage Man deal with it.....

Is it just me, or are the smear campaigns against the current President starting early this year ?
Hillary Clinton has come out ahead by stating that President Bush should be the one cleaning up Iraq before he leaves office, mocking the President's dumb-ass comments that it will be for the next President to handle (Does he even have a Press Secretary anymore ? Isn't someone there to handle his slap-you-in-the-face-remarks anymore ? I guess even his own people are sick of hearing his Bushisms...)

Where is the logic in telling everybody Iraq won't be his problem anymore ?
Simple.
He can't run for President again.
President Bush will only accept responsibility when he's liable for it, and since everybody knows Iraq is his responsibility now, he has to live up to his decisions. But since he's already been elected on his last term (way to go everybody....), he doesn't care. And this was something everybody should have foresaw.
What, did you think he was going to have a solution ? I mean, this is the same Commander in Chief that told us that Osama Bin Laden was a priority target a few years back, and then leaves him alone when he focuses on a country with more oil than the other. (Compare this to O.J. Simpson - he's said time and again after he was acquitted that he would do everything in his power to find the killer...I don't see him moving or taking action, do you ?)

The GOP is estimating that the vote will be against the Bush Administration in sending the 21,500 troops, but Haliburton Oil Magnate Dick Cheney says they'll send them anyway. Once you lose the support of the people and your generals, your war is over. No confidence means no support. And with this war, we're looking at the 21st Century's version of Vietnam.
Do we all really want to see another repeat ? Do we really want to support that ?
Mrs.Clinton has a damn good point - if you make a mess, clean it up yourself.

Octavian