I'm about to post something that I've hesitated from posting for a long time... political thoughts. Normally, on my blogsite here, I shy away from too much political activism... it's not that I'm afraid to offend people, because when I talk politics, I make sure I'm right so I can win the argument before I even open my mouth, its more that that's not what this site is all about, and I don't want to be pigeonholed by some passersby who just happened to read one politically charged post.
At first, I was just going to post an article that I had heard about, all about the "White Guilt" that is sweeping this country... but then I started typing. And kept going. So I'll post "White Guilt" in a few days. So I'm going to give you a few thoughts...
1) There WERE weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. With 1.77 metric tons of uranium and over 1,000 radioactive sources found there, do you think that Saddam was looking for a low cost way to heat the homes of his loving people? How can anyone even dismiss the idea that there at least could have been, with the way the UN mucked up the whole process over the last 10 years with Iraq?
2) Bill Clinton ruined this country's future and its security, beginning with the Somalian snafu that he didn't deal with (which bin Laden has been quoted as saying was the event which made him realize that the US was a "paper tiger"). Sitting here, I just heard the 2002 soundbite of Bill Clinton saying that when Osama bin Laden had been offered to us by Sudan in 1996, who was holding him at the time, we would not take him... only to hear another soundbite, this time from former Sect. of State Madeline Albright on Hannity & Colmes this week, say that bin Laden had never really been offered. Who's lying?
3) As much as I like W, he needs to get his backbone back, as does most of the Republicans when it comes to domestic policies, including social security, gas prices (which I get into heavily here) and immigration (which I refrain from discussing, yet, because I'm still undecided how I feel about it)
4) Gas prices? First of all, I'm not in the business of defending Big Oil, but despite what the media tells you, the oil companies DO NOT set market price. That is determined by the exchanges across the globe. Yes, Exxon made something like 8 billion dollars last year. Do you know how much Exxon, the biggest company in the world, spent on everything from payrolls to technologies? At least 3 to 4 billion. You do know that Big Oil makes approxametly 8 to 10 cents on a gallon of gas currently, right? If it cost you $55 to fill up your tank, if Big Oil made NO profit whatsoever... it would cost you around $50 to fill up your tank. Did you also know that only 2.3 billion was made in this country? Over 70% of Oil proifts are made overseas.
5) Gas prices?? Don't blame big oil. Blame the government, present and past. Present, because as much as "oil company price gouging" is on the minds of everyone, realize that at least we're getting something, gas, for our high price. The taxes that are placed on every gallon of gas both by local, state and national government are simply ridiculous. Past, because our country hasn't built a refinary in 30 years? Why? We gotta save the spotted owl, or the wood crested dolphin beaver or whatever. Democrats and environmentalists WILL not let the country build a refinary in the gulf, or drill in ANWR (Alaskan National Wildlife Reserve) or seek out other sources of oil in this country.
6) Gas prices??? Do you realize had we begun building a refinary in ANWR 11 years ago, as the country was about to when Clinton vetoed the idea, plus the Republicans wouldn't stand up for it, the refinary would have been operational sometime in late 2005, pumping out about a million or so barrels of oil per day? Will that stop our dependance on Saudi Arabia, Iraq or other countries for oil? Not at all. Not even close. But its a start.
7) Gas Prices???? If you are a Democrat, you should be overjoyed!! If I'm paying $40 to fill up my tank in my reasonably gas-efficient Mercury Sable, then heck, I should be driving a small hybrid. For you SUV owners, you are ruining the environment anyway, so high gas prices should give you another reason to get a small Honda and help slow global warming. Plus, Big Oil is now in the news, and we gotta get them! They make too much money! Its like Wal-Mart, or Microsoft! These companies make too much money! They are too successful! We have to take their money that those companies earned and give them to poor people! Capitalism be darned! Even better, this proves the point that we shouldnt go to war for oil! Its not worth fighting for anyway! No blood for oil, remember? I mean, that is what this war is all about, right?
8) Gas prices????? Let's talk about oil one more time. Of the top 14 oil exporters, only one is a well established democracy at this point, Norway, and two others have recently made a solid transition to democratic government, that being Nigeria and Mexico. Iraq is working on following in the footsteps. Thats it. The other 9? Controlled by dictators. The rising price of oil has been a huge profit for those countries, so saith the LA Times. If oil prices stay at around $71 per barrel this year, TEN dictatorships stand to rake in about 500 billion dollars more this year than in 2003, when oil was around $27 per barrel. Russia could make 115 billion more than in 2003, Venezuala making 36 billion, the Sudan 4.7 billion, Iran 45 billion, Saudi Arabia will make 149 more this year than in 2003. Even allies like Kuwait will make 35 billion and the United Arab Emerites 36 billion. No doubt some of this money will find its way into terrorist hands, and for Iran, probably will continue to fund their nuclear ambitions. Rush Limbaugh made the point that if we seized the oil fields in Kuwait, Iraq and the Sudan (which I'm not saying we should...) the price would plummet and we'd be paying about $1.33 a gallon... of course, we'd be called imperialists and warmongers. And in this top 14 list, these 14 countries that will make a windfall this year, where are we? We are keeping our drills out of our American soil, because oil is dirty, oil is filthy, oil is creating global warming.
9) I have yet to find anything that makes me belive that global warming even exists. Hurricanes? Rising summer temperatures? Melting ice caps? Aren't these things cyclical? Are we on Earth really so cocky that we think our efforts, good or bad, can increase the sun's temperature?
10) Whether they like Bush or not, liberal women should be thrilled that the US has liberated Iraq. This is a country led by a regime that opressed women, kept them as third and fourth class citizens and violated them constantly, old and young, in the infamous rape rooms--which are exactly what they sound like. And W is the monster and tyrant. Hmm.
11) In a recent report listed, 510 people interviewed in January... For all the talk about FEMA and how horrible Katrina was, and how Bush killed black people and blah blah blah, 1/3 of the 510 responants could not locate Louisiana on a map... 48% didn't know where Mississippi was, fewer than 3 in 10 think its important to know the location of a country thats in the news, and just 14% think speaking another language is even important. Then, when shown a map of the Middle East (not asking "where is it?" but "point to it"), 6 in 10 could NOT find Iraq on a map of the Middle East (oh, you don't have to know where it is to know we shouldn't be there!). A whopping 47% could not find India, and 75% had no idea where Israel was. In the meantime, all these college professors and liberal teachers discuss how stupid our administration is. And of course, as a result of these findings, they'll begin new programs to help teach more geography methods... and you know where its coming from? Thaaaaat's right... yours and my paychecks. Yippee.
12) Those terrorists imprisoned at Abu Graib and Gitmo in Cuba cannot be tortured, cannot be overly questioned, must be given prayer rugs and meals based on their religious beliefs and despite the fact that they do not fall under the Geneva Convention, the Republicans have bent over backwards (or perhaps forwards, grbbing their ankles?) to please France, Russia, Germany and mainly the Dems who were whining "oh no, you can't hurt them... they are misunderstood and we must find out why they hate us so...). And yet, when PMSNBC's Chris Matthews asked Senator Joe Biden, D-Delaware, about newly convicted Moussaoui's (the guy who admitted to helping plan 9/11 who was sentenced to life, not death) upcoming life in prison, he said this:
I don't want to be that sucker in prison. I don't want to be that guy in an American prison. If you want to say how to punish somebody, put Zarqawi in a prison with a bunch of red-blooded American criminals. Criminals. Put him in there for life -- and guarantee under no circumstances, no circumstances, could he get out of prison. I think that boy is about to have, as we Catholics say, an epiphany. I think he's about to find out (laughing) that he may not have gotten the better end of the deal. (then he and Matthews both laughed a bit)
Don't get me wrong... I think Zarqawi is in for a fun time, because I don't know if he ever met Sea Bass over in Afghanistan... but I find it funny that Biden is amused about the idea of Zarqawi's possible torture in prison at the hands of other inmates, yet condemn Bush on possible "torture", which doesn't happen on the level you might be led to believe from the NYTimes.
13) Mayor Ray Nagin is a total idiot... and yet, he finally made some sense. He just laid out the new New Orleans evacuation plan for this year, in case of another Katrina type storm. Essentially, you are responsible for getting your own happy tails out of the city. Wouldn't common sense tell you this is what it should have been to begin with?
14) Finally, I'm going to see "Flight 93", probably Wednesday or Thursday of next week. I need to see it. I think YOU need to see it. Because the media refuses to show those horrible pictures of people falling out of the towers, or the towers falling, or the smoke drifting from the Pentagon, or the heroics of the NYFD or the NYPD or the NYPA, we have begun to forget. We don't forget that it happened, mind you, I think everyone will remember where they were.... no, I think people are beginning to forget how we felt that day. I think we are beginning to forget the rage, the horror, the emotions we felt, the tears we cried, and how our hearts broke that day. I think we are forgetting how the world changed that day. And because we are forgetting, we are beginning to question why we went to war. We can debate as to how successful the effort has been, we can talk about the leadership, its mistakes and victories, we can banter back and forth about policy... remember, terrorists hate us. Terrorists hate me. They hate you. They hate Joe Biden as much as they hate Matt Latta, simply because we are Americans. We fight them theree. Or we fight them here. Dont forget that.
Alright, now that I've got that off my chest, I can breathe. So, now I can say Go McPhee!
PS... I just figured out what I think about immigration. I'll post it this weekend.
amen
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