Sorry Gato. I know a lot of folks who agree with you. Calling it a "police action" or and "interdiction" or whatever is just sugar coating in my opinion. It's a war no matter what you want to call it. Semantics, nothing more. It's the soldiers, sailors, marines etc. that matter.
And why can't we as a society set our petty political differences aside and see this? You and I sit on opposite sides of the aisle more often than not. These differences taint the ways we approach matters. But when the shit hits the fan, a tax bill or a spending cut pales in comparison to this. Now it's my opinion that one side of the political fiasco is less flexible in its willingness to do so than another; others will see it differently. I really don't care who is the bigger stick in the mud, I want ALL the sticks picked up and tossed into the burn pile if they cannot reconcile long enough to do right by these people who fight for our right to bicker.
Having said that, I will now say this. I have long voted a certain way because I felt and feel that at the end of the day they total more points than do the opposition. I was one of those geeks who was actually excited about turning 18 because it meant I could vote. Through all life's twists and turns, particularly over the last 5 years, I have yet to miss a single election, local State or fed, general, primary, referrendum, whathaveyou.
Unless and until one party or the other presents me with a candidate I can get behind in a significant way I will not be participating in future elections. The last few I have simply voted for the lesser of two evils; voting more against someone than for another. Unless one of the final two (realistic) choices is so mind bogglingly whacked out (Edwards, for instance, or Gulliani) I won't even do that much. To me the difference between Newt Gingrich and Nancy Pelosi is basically she has more balls than he does, and that ain't enough to get me out to the polls any longer.
W has disappointed me in all but two realms: his domestic tax breaks, and his steadfast refusal to abandon our deployed troops. That's all I can say for the man. His environmental policy is terrifying, save for the fact that he hasn't become a card carrying member of the global warming nut house just yet. Left to his own devices we wouldn't have so much as a tree protected on public lands by now, and that is unacceptable to me. His policy, or should I say NONpolicy on illegal immigration is shameful and dangerous, and runs directly contradictory to what he claims to stand for vis-a-vis Iraq. All the other stuff some folk like making sport of, like his public speaking prowess, is inconsequental to me; it just doesn't matter one way or the other. OK, so he can't speak as well as others; at least he's managed to keep his britches on while he's on the clock. It's a wash. Ain't nobody mistaken me for Rush Limbaugh yet, I don't wear a cheerleading outfit with a big W on the front, but I still say he beats any viable alternative the smuggies on the other side of the aisle have presented us. Al Friggin Gore??! C'mon, gimme a break already. People like to laugh about how stupid W is. Then the same people bitch about how he stole the election. Well, in my book, anybody that can steal an election with 47 major news networks watching, 46 of which are predisposed to hate him anyway, is pretty damn clever. So which is it? Is he stupid or did he steal an election? We'll never know, because by and large those slinging that bucket of mud never offer solutions to anything, just ceaseless whining.
So unless someone steps forward and changes my mind, good or bad, I'm out. Hell I live in militarily occupied territory anyway; nobody in Washington gives a damn about us nor have they for 150 years, right? I'll just vote a straight Confederate ticket from now on. Like I would have anyway.
Rambling post, I know. Just had a lot of this stuff on my mind for awhile, and once the cork came out it all just sorta spilled...
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