Monday, April 09, 2007

The pendulum swings…

UPDATE(4/12/07): Upon reflecting on this posting, I realized that my interpretation of the physics of a pendulum is completely wrong. Therefore my analogy is a bit off. As you can tell, a poet I am not. Sorry.

Its kinetic energy increasing then decreasing as it swings from left to right. Life is a lot like that these days. It seems like people subscribe to one philosophy or its antithesis, all the while getting caught up in the kinetic energy from each side. However, as a pendulum only stops when it reaches the middle, it is only when we as a society reach the middle that we can truly address our issues. Hence the theme of this blog.

What the heck am I talking about? Whenever I debate an issue with a friend or family member, it seems that if I do not agree with them, I must therefore agree with the exact opposite. For the life of me, I cannot figure out the logic behind this. Here are a couple of examples:

Global warming: It seems that if I do not subscribe to the “We are all going to die” theory, then I must have my head in the sand or be in bed with big oil. The truth is I am some where in the middle. I do acknowledge the earth is getting warmer and that we do have a negative effect. However, I am smart enough to realize that other factors like THE SUN also play a role. In addition the fact that I do not think we are all doomed does not means I think we ought not to take precautions like recycling among others.

Iraq: If you do not think President Bush lied or that the United States is evil, then you must be a warmonger. Again, I am somewhere in the middle. I think we had noble intentions, but seriously underestimated the resistance we were to face. I think it is important to win this war, but realize we should not have to baby sit a civil war.

Now I could go on and on with both topics, but that is for another time. My only intent here is to try and pull people to the middle and get away from the absolutely insane logic that is you either believe A or B, and nothing else. There is a middle ground folks, let’s meet there.

Thursday, April 05, 2007

Special dual title:
For conservatives: Stickin it to the Dems

For liberals: There goes Bush again

Forgive me for being partisan here, but I can hear all my liberal friends now: “Look at what Bush did”, “Bush is again abusing his power by disregarding congress and giving his friends a job”, “Bush is evil!!!” Me, I am laughing my butt off. Let’s face it; the liberals in congress are bitter. They’re mad Gore lost, they’re mad Kerry lost, they’re mad they cannot get their way, so they are trying to take their toys and run home crying to their mommies. They complain when the Bush administration fires 8 political appointees for (gasp!) political reasons, despite the Clinton administration firing 93 for similar political reasons. So they run to the media and cry that Bush is making them feel bad. And of course, the media is more than happy to supply the comfort: “There there, we will make sure everyone sees how much of a bully Bush is by blowing every infinitesimal detail out of proportion.

Let’s get real. Let’s act like adults. Sam Fox donated money to an advertising campaign that made Senator Kerry look bad, and that hurt their feelings. Now they are bitter and wish to make sure Fox/Bush do not get what they want, so they attempt to block his nomination for the position of ambassador to Belgium. Their protest has nothing to do with his qualifications, or how he would even perform at the position, but rather because he donated money that in turn made John Kerry look bad. Not that the junior senator has any trouble making his own self look bad.

Blocking Sam Fox’s nomination has nothing to do with making America better which, I remind both parties, is what we actually elect you to do. By blocking the nomination they are in a sense saying “You made us feel bad, and now we are going to make your life miserable”.

So how does President Bush respond? He waited until congress was in recess and made the appointment anyways. Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. I admit it is a very dirty trick. But politics is a messy business, and sometimes you have to get your hands dirty. I would prefer that all my elected officials did things honest and open, but that is asking for a lot. So since the Democrats in congress wish to play petty politics (and yes the Republicans are equally as guilty), I respect the President for playing right back at them. I have a feeling my two readers are not going to agree with me.

So I say to you, relax, take a deep breath, it is only 19 months until the general election.

Until then, here are some data I have found concerning recess appointments:

Carter- 68 (1 term)
Regan- 243 (2 terms)
H.W. Bush- 77 (1 term)
Clinton- 143 (2 terms)
W. Bush- 167 (1.5 terms)

Monday, April 02, 2007

The war in Iraq gets personal

Those who know me know that I have supported the war in Iraq since the beginning. I support it because I honestly feel Islamic extremism is going to be the greatest challenge my generation will face and that removing evil regimes in that area is one of the many steps we need to take.

However, not much has gone right in conducting this war. Not only did we underestimate the resistance we would encounter, we severely underestimated the amount of casualties and wounded we would incur. This has lead not only to a war lasting over four years, but to inadequate care our veterans received when they returned. Our military is over extended, exhausted, and over taxed. This has led to a virtual loss in confidence and lack of will to continue by the American people. To be honest, I do not fault anyone for feeling this way.

Despite all this I remain, for lack of a better term, cautiously optimistic that something good can come out of this. Exactly what, I do not know.

Throughout this entire ordeal, my viewpoints have come from not having any personal connections to the war. Yeah, people I knew in college are serving, but no one I considered a close friend, and I had no family members until now.

My sister’s future husband is a U.S. Marine and has already been to Iraq, I think twice. He had served four years and has been out for a year or two. He is a great guy, wonderful to my sister and a terrific father figure for her son. Recently he found out that the military is considering reactivating him and send him back to Iraq. He is proud to have served his country and never spoke ill of his previous tours, but since his last tour ended, he purposed to my sister, bought a condo, and is planning their wedding. Needless to say, this news has not been well received. That’s all I will say, as the rest goes too far into the personal realm.

So I am left wondering what to do now. On the one hand, if I continue to support the war, one that I acknowledge is not going well, I do so knowing my future brother-in-law is putting his life on the line. On the other hand, if I suddenly change positions, simply because the war has become personal, I become a hypocrite.

I just do not know what to do anymore. Life is hard and all the only thing I can say is that I wish all our military a safe return, and continue to express my gratitude for all they have sacrificed on my behalf.