Posts Tagged ‘empire’
Our Silence is Betraying Humanity
More than half a year after Bush left office, our country still finds itself involved with two wars. Barack Obama flew into the White House with a message of change. So far he has kept Bush’s policies of bailing out failed companies with taxpayer money, continues to support State’s Secrets, has called for the creation of internment style prison systems, supports the denial of habeas corpus to prisoners in Bagram airbase, and has escalated Bush’s side-war in Afghanistan.
I am failing to see the change that Obama promised us. Turns out I’m not alone. There might be a few of us who remember Cindy Sheehan. She was the woman who courageously protested against the War in Iraq outside of Bush’s Texas ranch. Well unlike most people of today, she understands that there still is a war going on in the Middle East even though Obama has taken office. She is now protesting Obama’s wars in the Middle East, actually calling his policies “worse” than Bush’s. Not surprisingly, the Left who once supported her and her negativity toward Bush, are not so happy with her anti-Obama rhetoric. Go here to read her words on how quickly the Left has ‘left’ her side (pun intended).
I have been called a “racist” from the so-called left. In these people’s opinion, I was totally justified in protesting Bush, but I am a racist for protesting the same policies under Obama…There are many people in this country who oppose Obama because they’re racist, but I am not one of them. I oppose Obama’s policies because they are wrong…
Afghanistan: Graveyard of Empires
Victims of Politics
I have read several letters to the editor regarding the importance of honoring the victims of the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. I could not agree more, we need to view these fallen soldiers as human beings, not as casualties or statistics. However, the men and women who have died during the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, and during the brief overthrow of said governments, deserve more than just a brief “moment of silence” every day. They deserve more than words, flags, patriotism, memorials, and parades. They deserve our respect. There is a difference between “supporting the troops” and supporting the unethical, unconstitutional, and unwinnable foreign policy of our government. We ALL support the troops. The difference is between those who support the human beings in uniform and those who support the foreign policy of our government at the expense of those in uniform.
What we are subjecting our military personnel to is sickening. They deserve better. According to the Department of Defense, 35% of Iraq veterans seek psychological counseling within a year of coming home. While overseas, our soldiers are pressured to bottle up their psychological illnesses and fight their way through it. Upon their return to reality, the bottle explodes and many lose the ability to live life as a civilian without anti-depressants. The next time you find yourself saying, “someone has got to do it” or “they volunteered for the job”, take a moment to think about the damage being done to these young men and women, as well as their friends and families. Then take a moment to think about whether their lives, limbs, and mental health, are worth the continued occupation of nations that no longer desire our presence. Then write your State Representative and tell him or her your thoughts.
The New Volunteerism
Things could really start getting interesting in Washington with the passage of HR 1388 by the House of Representatives. If there ever was cause for alarm in the minds of young people, this should be it. The name alone is yet another misleading government acronym created specifically for the purpose of confusion on the bills actual implications. Deviously entitled the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education (GIVE) Act, this legislation vastly expands on AmeriCorps. It is estimated to cost $6 billion over 5 years and increase the current national volunteer program by 175,000.
Of course, to call this “volunteerism” is a misnomer. Current AmeriCorps volunteers typically receive college scholarships and stipends after completing one of the programs. This idea of government funding and rewarding acts of charity runs contrary to the idea of charity and places morality in the hands of government while taking away private incentives to give back to their communities. The government will pick which areas they believe are in need of the most help, and all “volunteers” will go to work. This, of course, feeds off the idea that government has a better understanding of what is best for a local community than the community itself. Not to mention, this is yet another form of criminality on the part of the American government. If you are in disagreement with this program, the government is politely saying, “Too bad.” This type of legislation reveals the underlying thought process abounding within the halls of big government and the citizens that support it. These are the people that believe they have the right to take your money by force and tell you how to live your life.
I Feel a Draft in Here
In a new report by the Center for National Policy, recommendations are laid out with mandatory national service as the key issue. Evidently, seven years of war have begun to strain the all-volunteer army. Also, it seems like the idea of going to war has made it harder to recruit. Who would have known?
The report suggests creating a mandatory national service program which would give young Americans the “choice” of joining the army as opposed to some other form of service. President-elect Obama has already proposed such an idea, yet he was forced to label it a voluntary service program so as to not lose votes. This begs the question, “Is this the new draft?” Obama should think about the evil he would unleash unto America by stating that our government own its citizens and can dispose of them at will. Would it not be one of America’s great ironies if the first black president violated the 13th Amendment?
“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States”
13th Amendment
Click here to read the full article on the new American draft.
