Seeing that this is my first entry I must say what a weekend it was for a fledling democracy in the Middle East! I wathced as many hindreds of people risked their necks t vote in a country that had not had elections for some 50 years. Incredible as it may seem, we take such things for granted here in this country.
The media was not surprisingly largely silent on the issue, having made so much about the violence that might or might not happen. I am never surprise by their silence on good news and their obvious delight in reportung BAD news, like the tsunami. Here we have had two countries that have had elections, one for the first time EVER and the other is having them for the first time in 50 years. The media is largely silent on both issues mainly because they cannot believe tht both peoples have already already understood that nothing beats self-rule.
Democracy has taken it's maiden flight and landed safely in both countries despite the violence and lives squandered by attacks from these bullies. They are not insurgents they are terrorists. Insurgents at least would follow some of the rules of war. These punks are nothing more than schoolyard bullies who hide underneath the mantle of religion and use bombs to get what they want. And what they want is the vile fundamentalist theocracy. Throughout history we ave seen what theocracies bring us. Whether it is the Salem witch trials or the ayatollahs in Iran we have seen the results: no personal freedoms, all matters of "decency", "morality" subject to the whim of the prophets (or Allah or Christ or whatever deity that is in vogue) and no freedom of choice, no impulse or thought or work of art can escape scrutiny.
My whole point is that we should be pleased as punch that the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform have borne such incredible fruit. We have sacrificed so many of our finest people to this cause and to have them dish0nored by a media largely bent on undermining our current president. To put it bluntly, Bush won get over it.
The great tragedy of the Asian tsunami will forever change things. It was a classic demonstration of the price that we must pay fo living on a geolically active planet. But once again the goofballs come out of the wood works, running the gamut from Christian Fundamentalist apocalypse types to New Age nitwits. These people will sit there and tell you that these are all signs of the End Times, never minding te fact that they have been consistently WRONG every single time. But once again I would rather prefer to actually hear these nuts and expose their fuzzy thinking and debunk them than have their views supressed.
That is all for now. Leave me a note and tell me what you think.
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
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