Over the past few days, as I've read the posts here, I've gone from
disbelief to rage to wonder and then, back to rage.
At first, there was rage. Someone wanted to 'give me a little
perspective'. Really? Seeing people, my countrymen, jump from a thousand
foot building to escape being burned alive was just about all the
perspective I needed. Erik Borälv said we've had enough 'hostile
things'. We hadn't begun to dig the bodies out of the rubble and we were
reading excuses for the terrorists. What could be more hostile than that?
After the rage...wonder. What could motivate people to say those things
about their country? Didn't they know their words were hurtful? Didn't
they care? Did they think we would admire them for their intellectual
capacity or their ability to understand all sides? To feel our pain? What?
And then a thought I can only barely believe. The terrorists that did
this have lived among us for many years. They lived in Florida and
attended our flight schools to learn to fly our airplanes that they then
made into their weapons. They have studied us and they know us. They are
sophisticated in the ways of espionage and terror. Is it such a stretch
to suspect that they also are sophisticated in the ways of
propaganda? Could these posts be a calculated effort to erode our
confidence in ourselves? Or the unwitting regurgitation of someone else's
agenda?
Consider the allegations. The posts and the articles have repeatedly
charged that the US has ignored the needs and feelings of the countries
supporting the terrorists. If you've read the articles referenced in the
posts you'll see that a common thread is the charge by the United Nations
that US policies have starved thousands of children in Iraq and other
Muslim countries.
Really???? Tell me, how many kids have we starved in Canada? In
Mexico? In France? In China? In any other country? If we're so
callous, how come we're the first ones, sometimes the only ones, to fill
the Red Cross box with food? How come we fall for every late night
commercial to sponser a starving child in ______ (fill in the blank). Name
me one natural tragedy in the world where we haven't contributed more than
the rest of the world combined. Just one!
So, if it isn't true that we're out to starve kids, then what is the
truth? I have a thought. Propaganda. Really. Hell, in this country,
you can justify drowning puppies if you can spin it so it looks like it
benefits the children. You think the propagandists don't know
that? Think they won't try to use it against us?
So, I have a different thought for you. A moral dilemma if you will....
Suppose you have a nice house in a nice neighborhood. You worked hard to
buy it and you work hard to keep it. Damned hard. Yours is the best
looking place on the block.
Unfortunately, your next door neighbor doesn't take so much pride in his
place. In fact, it's a junkyard. Worse, he's a drunk that beats his
wife. His kids are dressed like hobos and he hasn't mowed the weeds in
his front yard in years. Worst of all, your idiot kids think he's cool
just to piss you off. They don't understand why you dislike the guy and
constantly bitch that you should help the guy out.
So, to get your kids off your back, you give the guy a job mowing your
front yard. It isn't a great job maybe, but it's a chance for him to
prove himself and it gives you a rare chance to feel good about
yourself. You pay him way more than it's worth but figure maybe, just
maybe, if you give the guy a chance at respectability, he'll clean up his
act and quit beating his wife and neglecting his kids. After all, it's
worked before. Maybe this time......
Nope. Not a chance. The guy takes every paycheck and buys booze, gets
drunk and beats his wife and kids. After the binge, there's no money left
to buy food or clothes. You talk to the guy, "Clean it up! Join your
neighbors. You'll like what it does for you!". And he says you're
insensitive. You can't possibly know what it's like to be him. You're a
bigot and a racist.
Soon, he's telling all your neighbors, who're slightly jealous of you to
begin with, how unfeeling you are. You're a cheap SOB that doesn't care
about anything but your own bank account. And someone slashes the tires on
your Beemer. You can't prove it, but you have a pretty good idea who it
is. After all, it was lawn mowing day and he was the only one around. But
you can't prove it, so you take a wait and see approach.
Someone pours plant killer on your rose garden.
You find your dog dead. He laughs when you tell him about it.
What do you do? You fire the guy, of course! Enough is enough. Hell, he
only spends the money on booze anyway.
And what happens? Why, you're accused of starving his kids, that's
what. You're an insensitive, hardhearted bastard who deserves anything you
get. Yep, yer kids hate ya more than ever, ya prick! They buy the plant
killer.
Just a little perspective for you.
Jim, a card carrying, registered, pedigreed, patriotic, New Mexican
redneck. Flames cheerfully ignored.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Sat Sep 15 2001 - 10:53:57 CEST