That Burning Smell is Me Thinking…

I know many people in the rest of the world are baffled by what the United States has been doing for the past 6 years, many of us in the United States are baffled too. It has been difficult to get to the truth of what has happened, because our news media has been effectively muzzled by our government and special interests. Up until recently, the foreign press has reported important stories that either didn’t show up in the mainstream American press, or were buried when they did. Now the American news media, emboldened by the recent shift in the political landscape, has finally started to directly challenge the president’s policies; some of us feel like it may be too little, too late.

Americans have become better informed because of “fake news” comedy television shows, like The Daily Show, that report the news more accurately than real news programs. As a result they have become increasingly disgusted with the country they have inherited, and turned out in force to the polls during an “off year” election to return control of congress to the Democratic party. The next generation of Americans is starting to take control of their country now and are not waiting for their parents to give it to them.

It will be only a matter of time until the current fragile economic system, being desperately propped up by sleight of hand, will come crashing down. Our manufacturing jobs are mostly gone; most of the goods we buy are manufactured in another country. For 70 years, GM sold the most cars; Toyota just surpassed GM in number of cars sold worldwide. The United States has been a technological leader for many decades; but that is now slipping due to climbing high school drop out rates, and universities turning out fewer mathematicians and scientists. Right now the only thing propping up the U.S. economy is the fact that oil is traded in U.S. dollars. The rest of the world can easily decide to trade oil in Euros (like Iran and Russia want to do) within the next 5 years, and the subsequent collapse of the US economy may be a just small speed bump to the rest of the world.

Many of us want to salvage what we can to keep our country united. We are hoping that the current congress will reign in the president long enough for us to elect a new president; one who will guide us wisely and soberly into the future. But many of us are resigned to the fact that we may have to wait and build something new from the ruins of a collapsed empire.

Gosh, Mr. Bush, I am a little confused here. On the one hand you have been saying that we have been making progress in Iraq and the recent troop surge has been going great. Then you are faced with a bill from congress that has a timeline for troop withdrawal, on the condition that you determine that progress is being made, and you are promising to veto it.

I don’t get it. Why do you want to prolong this war? We are tired of it, we want it to end, and most of us aren’t even directly fighting it. We are tired of hearing about our men and women getting killed because of your bungled war plans. Mr. Bush, end this war, admit your mistake, repent and be saved.

You said this new military spending bill, “…would say to the Iraqis, ‘Don’t do hard things necessary to achieve our objectives,’ and it would be discouraging for our troops.”

When you say “our objectives,” exactly who’s objectives are you talking about? Iraq’s? Yours? I think you are not listening to the Iraqi people, they want us out. They don’t care about your objectives.

Right now they are in the midst of a civil war, and we are only making it worse by prolonging it with our current occupation. Many folks I talk to agree that as soon as we pull out, the place is going to explode in a bloody power struggle, so let’s stop postponing the inevitable. Let’s stop getting our soldiers killed and wounded in someone else’s war.

Also, the discouraging thing for our troops is extending their tours and not providing them with adequate support in a war without end. I believe that if our troops are given a timeline for withdrawl, it would boost morale.

Another thing you said, “An artificial timetable of withdrawal would say to an enemy, ‘Just wait them out.’ ” That is precisely what we are doing with you, Mr. Bush.

I would like to announce that the “political fast” I have been observing for the past year and a half is now officially over.

When I started the political purge, I went so far as to get rid of all the political books and videos I had; I even deleted all of the political posts on my blog (see August 6, 2005).

I gave up on politics because I was saddened by how much my country became polarized politically. It clouded my thinking. I realized that I had to set aside my interest in politics, at least for a while, to concentrate on personal growth. For a while I even toyed with the idea of becoming politically neutral and not sharing with anyone, except those close to me, how I voted in elections.

I decided recently that I want to study History and Political Science. There’s no denying that I am a political junkie and a history buff. That’s the way God made me and I will stop trying to go against my nature.

So I will again, from time to time, freely post about political things. Also remember, dear reader, this blog is for me. If I make you think, that is a bonus.

I remember when I was young and we would tape songs off of each other’s records. Often, though, I would end up taping the whole album. My friends and I would buy albums that the other didn’t have and we would make tapes for each other. If I really liked the albim, I would go and buy my own copy of the album after wearing out the tape. Then I would tape it for another friend and the cycle would start over again. A lot of the stuff I listened to wasn’t played on the radio at the time so sharing music was the way for more obscure artists to get heard.

Today, technology has made it much easier for independent or obscure artists to be heard, but the state of music is even worse than it was when I was making mix tapes at home on the HiFi. I know in my case file sharing has helped me find great artists I would have never heard of on the radio. I have bought albums based on songs I have copied from friends, much like I did back when I was young.

So the mix tape was the old school analog version of file sharing and record sales were doing just fine.

If you have fond memories of cassette tapes, check out http://www.tapedeck.org .