With regard to current events.
I finally found something to rant about. Something that matters.
I've always been a pretty strong supporter of the death penalty. Yes, I know I'm a dirty hippie and I should fall in with the typical liberal platform, but this is one of the few times I disagree. Maybe growing up with the story of Rex Krebs looming in the background made me believe that some people are just too evil to live. More recently I decided the death penalty sounded like a simpler idea than keeping murderers and rapists alive in the often comfortable lifestyle found in some prisons (say what you will, but the truth is we spend more on our prisoners than we do on public education, and if anything is sinful, that is.) If I had my way, we'd torture those kinds of despicable bastards, but that's unconstitutional, and since I'm a patriotic American, I respect that. So I just think we should kill them so they can't hurt anyone else.
But I'm starting to change my mind, and this is why. What happened today shocked and disgusted me on a deep and fundamental level. It's no secret that I'm angry and bitter over the continuing war in Iraq. We shouldn't be there in the first place, for reasons that have become all too abundantly clear, and I honestly don't understand how anyone could continue to deny them. There were no clear links between the Iraqi government and Al Qaida, and there were no WMDs, or even a program to develop them, in Iraq. I can't believe I'm fucking reiterating this, but for some reason people still seem to think we're getting our "revenge" for the September 11 terrorist attacks. (If you want revenge, try the administration who at the very least allowed it to happen, or the American policies that forced this kind of blowback, but no one will ever listen to me on this, and I've accepted that.)
No conspiracy theories, and no emotional bitterness. Just this. A man was legally assassinated by our country. Please understand, I have no sympathy for Saddam Hussein. He was a sick and twisted man who was clearly guilty of many crimes against humanity ten times over. But how does this justify the actions of the U.S. government in hanging his fucking head on a pike in front of the White House? I don't care what the media have to say; that's what fucking happened, and it's despicable. The Bush administration needs his body so they can look like some victory has come out of this interminable, unnecessary war. And goddamnit, I'm fucking angry about it! I'm disgusted with the actions of my country's government, and I am ashamed of my fellow Americans who support this.
And if one more asshole conservative fucking dares to question my patriotism.... Ibelieve in this country, and this is *not* how the Constitutional Convention was hoping to run things. Our Founding Fathers would be ashamed that we have become so barbaric and petty. They founded this nation on principles higher than this, this vulgar display of violence and cruelty. I am disgusted. This is embarrassing.
How dare we go around judging the rest of the world and forcing freedom and democracy down their throats if we can't practice some goddamn decency within our own fucking borders?
John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin: I'm sorry. I swear, there are still Americans who want to clear the name of this wonderful nation, but the real patriots are getting fewer and farther between. They're sliding into a world of Philistines and self-righteous hypocrites, obsessed with foisting responsibility on anyone but themselves. And I want to try. I want to make this nation, this world, what it has the potential to be. But I'm not sure I'm strong enough.
I've always been a pretty strong supporter of the death penalty. Yes, I know I'm a dirty hippie and I should fall in with the typical liberal platform, but this is one of the few times I disagree. Maybe growing up with the story of Rex Krebs looming in the background made me believe that some people are just too evil to live. More recently I decided the death penalty sounded like a simpler idea than keeping murderers and rapists alive in the often comfortable lifestyle found in some prisons (say what you will, but the truth is we spend more on our prisoners than we do on public education, and if anything is sinful, that is.) If I had my way, we'd torture those kinds of despicable bastards, but that's unconstitutional, and since I'm a patriotic American, I respect that. So I just think we should kill them so they can't hurt anyone else.
But I'm starting to change my mind, and this is why. What happened today shocked and disgusted me on a deep and fundamental level. It's no secret that I'm angry and bitter over the continuing war in Iraq. We shouldn't be there in the first place, for reasons that have become all too abundantly clear, and I honestly don't understand how anyone could continue to deny them. There were no clear links between the Iraqi government and Al Qaida, and there were no WMDs, or even a program to develop them, in Iraq. I can't believe I'm fucking reiterating this, but for some reason people still seem to think we're getting our "revenge" for the September 11 terrorist attacks. (If you want revenge, try the administration who at the very least allowed it to happen, or the American policies that forced this kind of blowback, but no one will ever listen to me on this, and I've accepted that.)
No conspiracy theories, and no emotional bitterness. Just this. A man was legally assassinated by our country. Please understand, I have no sympathy for Saddam Hussein. He was a sick and twisted man who was clearly guilty of many crimes against humanity ten times over. But how does this justify the actions of the U.S. government in hanging his fucking head on a pike in front of the White House? I don't care what the media have to say; that's what fucking happened, and it's despicable. The Bush administration needs his body so they can look like some victory has come out of this interminable, unnecessary war. And goddamnit, I'm fucking angry about it! I'm disgusted with the actions of my country's government, and I am ashamed of my fellow Americans who support this.
And if one more asshole conservative fucking dares to question my patriotism.... Ibelieve in this country, and this is *not* how the Constitutional Convention was hoping to run things. Our Founding Fathers would be ashamed that we have become so barbaric and petty. They founded this nation on principles higher than this, this vulgar display of violence and cruelty. I am disgusted. This is embarrassing.
How dare we go around judging the rest of the world and forcing freedom and democracy down their throats if we can't practice some goddamn decency within our own fucking borders?
John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin: I'm sorry. I swear, there are still Americans who want to clear the name of this wonderful nation, but the real patriots are getting fewer and farther between. They're sliding into a world of Philistines and self-righteous hypocrites, obsessed with foisting responsibility on anyone but themselves. And I want to try. I want to make this nation, this world, what it has the potential to be. But I'm not sure I'm strong enough.