Let me ask you this, do you get offended if people criticize Bush?
I don't hate America, I don't hate anything really.. I am concerned about America and have concerns about many things the US is doing.
Should people not express their opinions of this?
Thor,
There are many answers to all these questions and I am going to answer them all in an effort to explain myself and Americans.
The answer to the first questions is, depends. It depends upon who is doing the criticizing. Whether our President is right or wrong about an issue is really secondary to how I react to statements about him. Is the criticizer Osama Bin Ladin or someone who supported the President when he ran for office. Maybe that's being narrow-minded but if it is then I stand guilty as charged.
I am a member of several communtities, the world, America, my blood relatives, and lately the Shroomery.
I think you already have an idea about all this because of the way Senor Doobie explained it to you. I may complain to my buddy about my wife but if he begins to criticize her day in and day out sooner or later he will have lost my friendship and if he persists after that he may lose some teeth.
Everyone is entitled to express their opinions but a constant barrage of criticism about anything gets old which either leads to boredom or defensiveness.
What do I think about our President? I know you didn't ask but since it has great bearing on what we are talking about I'll explain my view.
What most people fail to consider is that our President is just a man, no greater and no less than many men. He has feelings and loyalities that are the result of the way he was raised and the environment he grew up in. I think that this business of war with Iraq has more to do with those things than it has do with oil. Oil is such an easy answer. Why do you think the press promotes it? They ardently wish to turn public opinion away from him because they despise him, O'Reilly, Limbaugh, et al excepted.
His feelings and loyalities play out like this. He was a middle aged man who watched his father struggle through the Gulf War and then lose an election after "winning" it. Then he was elected and lived through the nightmare of September 11th, 2001. Like most of us he was affected by that in a very deep way. I would say perhaps even more affected since his hand was at the helm.
Make no mistake about it. Our President, regardless of what he says or what others say about him, wants revenge. With the military might at his disposal I cannot think of a more dangerous situation for our world.
I am of high enough ranking politically that I had tea with his mother shortly before 9/11 and though I am not a personal friend of the family I am close enough to the situation to offer a unique insight into the man.
What specifically in that article upsets you?
Nothing. The article was the ramblings of a person who sees life on the surface of things without the requisite motivation or equipment to look deeper into the issue. This is why his solutions are, though probably well-meant, have little substance. I do not know his true motivation for writing it. Perhaps his record sales are slow and so his agent thought of a clever way to boost sales by having him climb on this issue. Who knows? Who cares? Certainly not me.
Don't assume because I feel America does many things wrong in my opinion that I hate Americans or something that extreme.
Don't take it so personally, its the government that I have my biggest issues with because ultimately they have led America down a path that I think is pretty bad.
I just wish we could look past the reactionary attitude of "how dare they insult us" when its just criticisms of how America is today...
Ah American Patriotic hubris. I thought you'd never ask. People feel allegiance to their country much in the same way they feel allegiance to a sports team and with about as much sense attached to it. They wave a flag like so many idiots at a ball game without thinking or knowing what they are doing. They are, as many have pointed out, sheep. When they turn vicious, watch out. For now I'd say keep your eye on the Shepherd, W.
The American government has led its people down many wrong paths and is dangerous. But how or in what way is it dangerous is another matter entirely.
I do not take most comments personally. But enough whining either becomes boring or makes me unsympathetic to the world's problems. At the moment I would close our doors and let the world fix itself without our aid. Perhaps then we'd all be happier.
Is America perfect? Is it wrong to say that America is doing some things wrong?
That article is very indicitive of how people outside America feel, so should the US just get mad and ignore those feelings or should we try to deal with the issues that are leading America down a path that harms their place in this world.
I think its pride in ones country that hurts people the most when people criticise their country, I certainly have a hard time dealing with people saying bad things about Iceland, but I understand Iceland has problems and criticisms are part of any country in this world.
America is far less than perfect. How many other countries have murdered college students with their military? I can only think of two offhand. China, Bejing Square and America, Kent State University. I was a teenager when the military in our country murdered them. I was one of the pot smoking hippies. I do not think I'll ever forget that. Kent State is less than 1 hour from my home and where I was living at the time. My memories are still filled with anguish and hatred over it.
from http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0005/filo.htm
If you have time:
Kent State, May 4, 1970: America Kills Its Children
Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young: Four Dead in Ohio (Lyrics by Neil Young, the Canadian)
Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio.
Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are gunning us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?
Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are gunning us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?
Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead, four dead, four dead
In Ohio
Good Republicans were in office then too. Rhodes, our Republican Governor and Nixon, our Republican President.
So, what do Americans think of all this? As in most countries Americans are a nation of sheep. It only matters what they think because they elect their leader which at this time commands more fire power than any other country in the world. Aside from that their opinions, like the opinions of sheep, matter not.
We are a divided country. Most of this is the result of the power-brokers. If they keep us at each other's throats they get to reap a bunch of goodies from us. Pandering and exploitation are American traditions just like they are everywhere else.
Here, in the heartland of America, where I live, they elected President Bush in an overwhelming majority. In the cities, where socialism is rife, they elected President elect Gore. Our choices were Bush or Gore. Here, in the heartland, you get to hear the cries of "Glass Parking Lot! Fuck them towel head sums a bitches!" In the cities you get to hear people opine about the plight of the Iraqi people.
In both cases the people parrot out the pet phrases given to them by people that wish to use them for their own ends. I find that far more chilling than any national war. When a person lacks the ability to think clearly about an issue they give power to people that can and will think for them.
Let's all try to avoid that. Elsewise, if you live in America, you might just vote for the person I think you should. After all, it's what I do for a living.
And for the four dead students of Kent State University, Ohio
Bang the drum slowly.......
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