In this election year I have been wondering how to cast my vote. Not totally on board with Obama I am searching for a reason to support a candidate. I found this little ad that makes me rethink everything I have said so far. Take a look and see if it can help convince you to vote Republican as well.
Shell shock, now known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is claiming casualties all over our country. Soldiers come home not always able to make the distinction of being here or back under attack. Victims of the war even while back in peaceful surroundings.
I knew a Viet Nam veteran who was an officer in that conflict. Crazy George, as he was known by everyone, was a jumble of paranoid nerves that was always set to explode. His trips to the V A hospital to get his meds sometimes led to extended stays in the psych ward for a few months. I have seen him hide from “Charlie” when an Asian person walked by. He was always looking around sure someone was out to get him. Years after the conflict in Viet Nam was over he still lived in the jungle…in his mind.
In trying to help him they experimented with drugs and therapy to no avail. He couldn’t come home, always staying behind to be with his “brovets” (as Buzz calls them) that didn’t survive. He fought back against all those he felt were threats and was eventually shot to death by the Baton Rouge City Police while laying on his back, unarmed, in his own bedroom. (RIP my old friend)
Alicia at Last Left Turn Before Hooterville wrote about the hell that is coming back from war. Quite a disturbing post considering my old friend was just one victim of this horrible way of life returning vets face. So many new faces of this horrible condition are showing up in our hometowns as kids…yes kids…(I mean no disrespect at all as most of the soldiers fighting in Iraq weren’t even born by the time I finished college)…return home with fresh horror every day.
So they put them on new experimental drugs. Chantix is the popular one now. It, like so many other “anti-depressant” drugs is linked to violence and suicide. ABC’s Good Morning America did a story about this this morning. I haven’t figgered a way to embed the vids from there so I will post this link to ‘Disposable Heroes’: Veterans Used To Test Suicide-Linked Drugs. The story from this morning along with the vid clip I want you to see.
I guess there are many more casualties than the 4100 official KIA’s the DOD lets us know about.
Again I ask that everyone do whatever it takes to let the powers that be know we don’t want our fellow Americans over there anymore.
I have a friend….no…really…I do. She is a sweet caring thinking mother of three. All boys that are completely wonderful. Notice I said she is a thinking person. Not one to just fall into lockstep to the political dogma Faux News or Rush Limbaugh marching tunes. Not one to puke up the soundbites of the so called liberals either. A woman who I admire greatly because her views don’t line up with most of her friends opinion yet she stands fast with her beliefs.
While she by no means endorses John McSameolBushit she loaths Obama. In many of her onesided arguments she posts on her My Space page she berates Barack while saying she is not a Republican. I’m sure she is not. Like I said…she is a thinking person. I try to fancy myself as a thinker too.
So I have been doing some thinking about the effect slamming Obama has on the whole presidential race. While I know it is the stuff right wing folks seem to thrive on, you know, the problems with the preachers sermons, the flagpin issue, pics of Obama in the native clothes of a region he was visiting (which all political officeholders including Bush and McCain do) it doesn’t seem to be the norm with thinking folks. Thinkers want to deal with real issues. The things that affect the majority of Americans. Regular people like she and I are.
I believe that each slam against Obama (the presumed Demo candidate) is a homerun for McCain (the presumed Repube guy). Each time someone lashes out against Obama it a supportive lash for the same old stuff to continue in America. This isn’t to say that Barack is perfect just sayin’ that in our 2 party system he is the only choice to stop things from continuing down the same destructive path John wants to rush down.
Every time anyone puts Obama down they are in a sense supporting war. The already failing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as the one McCain supports against Iran. Supporting the reinstatement of the draft that will be the only way to restock the cannon fodder children of America. Supportive opinion for this war is negligable and if we start another unwinnable war with Iran all support will wane.
In my opinion, every time someone talks about Obama’s faults they are supporting at least 100 years of occupation in Iraq. John McSameolBushit has compared his dream of peacefully occupying the country similar to Korea and Japan. But both of those nations had to be brutally conquered before the peaceful occupation could begin.
The people of Korea and Japan were not as heavily influenced by religion as the people of the middle east are. The zealots there will not be so easily conquered. Even nuclear weapons, like the U.S. dropped on Japan, would not deter the defense of Iraq or Iran. They want to be left alone and will fight harder than the other countries our military occupies. So overcoming their will is a long and deadly process. That could be a verrrrrrrrrrry long time before the “Hundred years…maybe a thousand” desired by McCain could even begin.
Which all comes together to mean that not only will the American kids that are already alive today be forced to be put into harms way in the middle east so will those of generations to come. The human toll alone with McCains dreams will be incredible. The financial cost will be enough to destroy our country as we know it. And with our military fighting a losing war in the middle east who will be here to defend those who would invade us in our time of weakness and vulnerability?
I guess what I am saying is this. Every slam against the man who can defeat the same old Bush stuff is a voice supporting endless war and the devastation of America.
A 20 year old high school dropout I know was talking to his mom the other day discussing the one class he would need to graduate. A simple credit that would allow him to attend college and somehow through education be a more productive adult citizen. A person who may make a bigger difference in the world someday. If nothing else he would have the opportunity to make more money and live a more comfortable life. His response was heartbreaking and somewhat predictable. Made me think a little. Why would a bright kid ask, “Whats The Use?”
Besides the pat answers of “lazy, unmotivated or too dumb” there are a lot of reasons I could come up with that would make the kids of today want to give up. I mean, look at the shit they are facing here. An illegal war in Iraq. Threats of more war in Iran. At least 2 of the front runners in the presidential race bowing up to the rest of the world with threats of nuking or somehow else destroying their nations. Promises from the Republicans to stay in Iraq at least 50 more years. Democratic candidates who are so sidetracked attacking each other that they can’t answer the important questions of how they would deal with the war and other problems that have been brought on by the present administration.
The fact that so far the DOD has a casualty list of at least 4058 US soldiers. The horror of knowing their peers who have lost life or limb in Iraq. The realization that the failed lying policies that our country used destroyed an entire nations infrastructure with no progress in rebuilding it. Knowing that at least a million are dead and even more millions have been displaced from their homes all in our name. The utter sense of hopelessness.
I guess that makes sense. If I were still that age I may feel the same.
George McBush and Robert Gates have put together a plan to continue their “success” in the Middle East. Georgie has nominated General Petraeus for the position of commander of the American troops in the Middle East, replacing General Fallon who resigned in disgust just last month. I guess he wanted a man who will do his bidding without question, no matter the consequences. Petraeus is just that guy.
As we were reminded a couple of weeks ago the General sees things through rose colored glasses. Harry Ried has said the General will face tiugh questioning before his appointment. The Washington Post report.
Monkeyfister posted this a few days ago. Although I am not sure about his statement about church and state during his song Griffin House brings a strong message in “I Remember (it’s happening again)”.
Using Osama bin Laden and Pearl Harbor Hillary took the old Bush administration “scared yet?” tactic to try to show how she and Truman are the only two viable candidates in this race. Since ol’ Harry is long gone I guess she thinks she is the one for the job. Like the Bushit that comes from the current resident of the White House she also comes with world domination threats.
“I want the Iranians to know that if I’m the president, we will attack Iran,” Clinton said. “In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them.”
That came from a “Good Morning America” interview with Chris Cuomo this morning.
She scared me for sure. Scared me so badly that I ain’t gonna vote her way. I’ll just keep reminding folks how totally like the current administration she is. Very McCain like.
Happy Earth Day. If Clinton is elected how long will it be before we are recognizing Scorched Earth Day?
The travesty of this war in Iraq hit the senate floor as well as the news and blog world yesterday. I stumbled with my words and gave my opinion a bit in yesterdays posts. I was just one of many bloggers who had views about this whole thing. Many are more well spoken or have a higher sense of indignity than I. Todays post here includes video of highlights of the crazy shit that was said during testimony from Petraeus and Crocker. It also includes links to other bloggers who said things in words that I could never come close to. Their posts went from the crude truths to eloquence. I think each of the links I am posting have valuable messages and highly recommend you take the time to check each out.
Now while I am posting this youtube seems to be overwhelmed and I cant get any more of the video’s to load. I guess it must be time for me to take a nap and the internets know this and are dictating my sleep cycle. Check this stuff out, come to your own conclusion and let us know what you think.
Like the protester in that video yelled, “BRING THEM HOME”
Taken off of the internet. No informing the media. Making it hard to get the facts about the lack of any connection between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda. Just more of the stifling of truth in this WOT.
Following opinions from the White House the first military casualty of Bush’s threats of World War Three has happened. Admiral William Fallon, the top commander for Iraq and Afghanistan, has resigned. The step down comes just a week after Esquire magazine printed a profile of him saying he opposed the way G.W.Bush is pushing towards war with Iran.
The Admiral has been vocal in the past. Critical of the pentagons policies about Afghanistan and calling for a faster drawdown of troops from Iraq he has come under fire before. His differences with General Petraeus on strategy and deployment have been a thorn in both of their sides.
Esquire article titled “The Man Between War And Peace”, written by Thomas Barnett says,”So while Admiral Fallon’s boss, President George W. Bush, regularly trash-talks his way to World War III and his administration casually casts Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as this century’s Hitler….it’s left to Fallon–and apparently Fallon alone–to argue that, as he told Al Jazeera last fall: “This constant drumbeat of conflict…is not helpful and not useful. I expect that there will be no war, and that is what we ought to be working for. We ought to try to do our utmost to create different conditions”.
Neither our president or Defense Secretary Gates were fond of the article or Fallons outspokeness on what he sees as missteps by our military in this “war on terror”. They pressured him to resign so he did. It seems a shame they wouldn’t listen to him a lot more. If his policies would have been instituted there may be a lot of lives saved. Here’s a story.
With a firm shake of my head , clearing the cobwebs out I’m gonna try to get back behind the wheel of this big rig and head off in my quest for the road to insanity. I thought I had found it over the past few days but realize that I was only parked on the off ramp at a rest area. The break I needed to realize the road to our countries freedom from tyranny has just begun. I am now headed down that road and it seems scary. Twists and turns, slippery surfaces and road closures threaten our progress.
The lying political lot lizards have taken control of every rest stop along the way and it is time we quit prostituting our country in the name of patriotism. Our troops have been pimped out to the oil companies. Some returning soldiers who have been trained for nothing but war are turning tricks for Blackwater and Halliburton because thats what they know how to do. The Republican candidate for president has said it would be “fine with me” for our troops to spend hundreds of years in Iraq. The politician whores of the oil companies and the rest of the big businesses who make money supplying war tools are making loud noises about invading Iran.
With this war “hero” McCain clinching the Re-pube nomination yesterday the fight to keep our country free from the cloud of eternal war has just begun. Its time for the people of the thinking class to unite and put a viable candidate in the running. To quit letting Obama and Hillary’s barbs and comments divide the voters. Time for everyone to ignore Nader and Paul and unite against the evil that is McCain. Time to take our country back from the pimps and whores who have been “leading” our country. Take it back from the “John’s” who buy into the lies and support this horrible warmongering trade.
The cost of this war, and the impending war with Iran, goes far beyond lost lives and the billions spent on it. Our leaders need to look at the economic impact it has made in our nation With our president stupidly telling Ann Curry on NBC news last week that the war spending has helped our economy and blaming the economic downturn on the housing market the war hawks think they can dupe America even more.
Even though I really don’t like either Clinton or Obama a whole lot I feel that they are the only ones who can begin to bring our nation out of it’s decline. My political opinion leans a lot farther left than what they represent. But they are mainstream enough to be viable in this contest and are probably our only hope. They both seem about the same to me and like I have said before, whichever one of them that Bill Richardson endorses is the one I will support.
But support the Democratic candidate I will. It is important. Defeating the war machine and it’s whores is first and foremost. Defeating John McCain is the first mile on the road to freedom.
I’m dedicated to jamming those gears and turning them wheels towards freedom. Welcome aboard.
Our president “strongly disagreed” with presidential candidate Barak Obama yesterday about diplomatic meetings with Cuba and Iran.
“Just talking with them sends the wrong message, confuses U.S. allies and raises the international profile of regimes that suppress human rights”, Bush said responding to Obama’s statement he would try to negotiate with Iran if elected. More of the warmongers rhetoric to spur us into a war with the Iranian government.
Continuing he also said that negotiations with Raul Castro would just be more of the same. And we all know how well the United States policies with Cuba have worked. Almost 50 years after the sanctions went into effect Fidel finally was defeated…sorta.
Responding to Obama’s promise to start talks, and willingness to meet with, leaders from Iran, Cuba, Venezuala, Syria and North Korea, Georgie decried diplomacy by saying “… it’ll send the wrong message. It’ll send a discouraging message to those who wonder whether America will continue to work for the freedom of prisoners. It’ll give great status to those who have suppressed human rights and human dignity.”
With the United States just achieving the honored status of having the highest per capita population behind bars that is a ridiculous statement. While the Evil Bushman rallies for immunity for the telecoms domestic spying continues to grow. Using the human rights stance he continues to support taking them away from Americans while refusing to negotiate with those governments who also violate the basic rights of their citizens putting him in the same category as those he speaks against.
Invasion and stripping the rights of citizens of foreign lands is more his speed. Sending the army we have to to occupy other countries suppresses human rights much faster than diplomatic talks. Suppressing the dignity of the populace is evident here as well.
No country can hold their heads high if they neglect the fighting men and women they send into war without proper equipment. There is no dignity for a country that neglects the veterans after their return from fighting in a war. No honor in a country that spies on its citizens phone calls and e-mails. And I wonder how W can even think of talking about another nation’s status after the lies, deceit and manipulation our government used to start a war that has claimed over a million lives.
Obviously the present administrations lack of diplomacy hasn’t worked. They refuse to learn though. They keep rushing headlong into war talk while not even trying to negotiate policies that would bring better human rights and dignity to the people of other places.
I guess that they would rather kill them than try to negotiate for their rights.
Alien Trucker
June 18th, 2008 by Rocky 
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