Obama and the Pastor
I'm torn. While I appreciate that 24 hour news stations exist when I feel like watching one at a strange hour of the day, I'm also disgusted that I can turn MSNBC or CNN on 8 hours later and they are STILL discussing the same damn thing. There are many people that keep it on all day, either in the background or devotedly glued to it. This is how news is created, not reported. Can you imagine if a brief synopsis of political events was made once at the end of every day or week? How much weight would the public give to "important" things? When MSNBC begins it's 20th hour of how Spitzer used a prostitute or how Obama's sometime-pastor (Yeah, I highly doubt, especially now, that he's in church every Sunday morning in the same location), the average Hank and Esther in Kansas are going to think it MUST be ground shaking if the news keeps telling them it is. The pastor who married Michael and I is a dear friend and adviser to us, but guess what, we don't agree with everything he says. It's really common .
The sad thing is, I love what this pastor said. Can someone please explain to me why it's wrong to say that America shouldn't act shocked when we get bombed/attacked because we've bombed/attacked others? It is being sold as borderline treason. It's also the truth. When I found out that we nuked (NUKED!!!) Japan, I always wondered why it was taught as "But it's okay, because Yay America!" or "Well, the ends justified the means." I knew when I was young it was wrong. It's like we're the popular jock of a bad 80s movie who after 89 minutes of abusing his peers, finally gets hit with food in the face in the cafeteria with a shocked, "ME?? But I'M the awesome popular jock?!?" look on his face.
After what happened on September 11th, I was both amused and angry when I saw American flags going up everywhere and pseudo-political concerns coming out of the mouths of people such as my tanning/makeup/nailpolish obsessed roommates. I wondered how soon an American flag would show up on our front door (the horrors of sharing a home with random people). It took a week. So I printed out a flyer displaying the flags of a selection of countries (of course there are too many to fit on a simple 8x11 sheet) who had ALREADY been bombed or plagued by terrorism and none of these people cared about. I also threw in the Afghani flag, not that any of them would recognize it. Guess whose flyer was ripped off the door when she got home, only to be greeted by that American flag flying solo again. There's that freedom of speech again.
I know, I know. I "hate my country." Everything is, "if not this, than that." Personal philosophies can never be gray anymore. This is exactly why holidays like the 4th of July make me upset because I feel the confusion of wanting to celebrate but also not at the same time. There's nothing wrong with being an American. The political philosophies that went into creating our government were so advanced for their time and exciting. The "founding fathers" really meant well and painstakingly researched the good and bad points of every government in recorded history (which is an amazing thing to say about the creation of any government). This country could be great. All the potential is there. And I'm not completely anti-nationalism either. I'm against it being used in war, propaganda, or to oppress others. It's all right to be proud of your customs. I adore other countries displays too when it is done in a positive or cultural way. Maybe that's why so many of those post 9-11 American flags bothered me so much. I never got angry when I saw people flying flags outside of their houses before then. It's because they weren't about "pride" after all. They were a "we'll put a boot in your ass" threat against random brown people. I still want to vomit when I see those little American flag pins that politicians are "required" to wear on their lapels. I love that Obama refuses to wear one. I hate that his refusal (and logical explanation) are fodder for right-wing hate groups.
I will say Obama is not ideal and he doesn't puppet my beliefs, but he's my choice as the best running. However, it makes my skin crawl when he has to defend himself against these attacks (getting back to the pastor issue). My skin crawls a little for the fact that he has to apologize for someone else's comments or his career is ruined. My skin crawls more because I wish we had someone running for president (a mainstream candidate- of course people who would get less than 1% of the vote could run) who could simply agree.
The sad thing is, I love what this pastor said. Can someone please explain to me why it's wrong to say that America shouldn't act shocked when we get bombed/attacked because we've bombed/attacked others? It is being sold as borderline treason. It's also the truth. When I found out that we nuked (NUKED!!!) Japan, I always wondered why it was taught as "But it's okay, because Yay America!" or "Well, the ends justified the means." I knew when I was young it was wrong. It's like we're the popular jock of a bad 80s movie who after 89 minutes of abusing his peers, finally gets hit with food in the face in the cafeteria with a shocked, "ME?? But I'M the awesome popular jock?!?" look on his face.
After what happened on September 11th, I was both amused and angry when I saw American flags going up everywhere and pseudo-political concerns coming out of the mouths of people such as my tanning/makeup/nailpolish obsessed roommates. I wondered how soon an American flag would show up on our front door (the horrors of sharing a home with random people). It took a week. So I printed out a flyer displaying the flags of a selection of countries (of course there are too many to fit on a simple 8x11 sheet) who had ALREADY been bombed or plagued by terrorism and none of these people cared about. I also threw in the Afghani flag, not that any of them would recognize it. Guess whose flyer was ripped off the door when she got home, only to be greeted by that American flag flying solo again. There's that freedom of speech again.
I know, I know. I "hate my country." Everything is, "if not this, than that." Personal philosophies can never be gray anymore. This is exactly why holidays like the 4th of July make me upset because I feel the confusion of wanting to celebrate but also not at the same time. There's nothing wrong with being an American. The political philosophies that went into creating our government were so advanced for their time and exciting. The "founding fathers" really meant well and painstakingly researched the good and bad points of every government in recorded history (which is an amazing thing to say about the creation of any government). This country could be great. All the potential is there. And I'm not completely anti-nationalism either. I'm against it being used in war, propaganda, or to oppress others. It's all right to be proud of your customs. I adore other countries displays too when it is done in a positive or cultural way. Maybe that's why so many of those post 9-11 American flags bothered me so much. I never got angry when I saw people flying flags outside of their houses before then. It's because they weren't about "pride" after all. They were a "we'll put a boot in your ass" threat against random brown people. I still want to vomit when I see those little American flag pins that politicians are "required" to wear on their lapels. I love that Obama refuses to wear one. I hate that his refusal (and logical explanation) are fodder for right-wing hate groups.
I will say Obama is not ideal and he doesn't puppet my beliefs, but he's my choice as the best running. However, it makes my skin crawl when he has to defend himself against these attacks (getting back to the pastor issue). My skin crawls a little for the fact that he has to apologize for someone else's comments or his career is ruined. My skin crawls more because I wish we had someone running for president (a mainstream candidate- of course people who would get less than 1% of the vote could run) who could simply agree.