Let's Talk Seriously Now.

I have friends from all spectrums of the political rainbow. From liberals who scream incomprehensible slogans like "US is a terrorist state" to blind faith "stay the course" neo-cons. Now, the reason I can stomach either of these is that they both have valid points. The U.S. has engaged in terrorist acts across the globe that have resulted in the deaths of probably hundreds of thousands of innocent people. Pinochet, Angola, Indonesia and Cuba; the list is endless. And, "stay the course" is not, on the surface, a terrible strategy since if we pull out Iraq essentially becomes Iran's Canada. Which is why, when it comes to the Middle East, I like to turn to Plato.

Plato has a wonderful parable about a cave in which shadows keep a group of people from ever leaving. Too terrified to get up and exit the cave the viewers sit and passively watch the mindless dumbshow. One day, someone does and sees that the shadows are merely puppets being operated by two people who want to keep the people in the dark cave and, presumably away from their resources. This parable is the basic foundation of any government from Lycurges to Napoleon to Stalin to Bush. If people are afraid, they are pliant. They look for leadership. It's a typical herding mentality that arises when danger threatens the pack. Therefore, if you present the pack with danger, you solidify your power. Leadership 101. A slam-dunk. But this isn't just an American policy, it's a policy that every government employs and some of the most effective are located in the Middle East.

Since 1948 we've heard about Israel and how unjust their statehood was/is. There is a case to be made for this and since then Israel has committed a lot of terrible acts in the name of self-defense; some deserved, some maybe less so. Regardless, every monarchy or theocratic institution rose in anger and demanded the Jewish state be destroyed. It had no right to exist. They were a threat to their people. Sound familiar? Now, imagine tomorrow Israel decides to pack up and all move to Miami for early retirement. What would happen when the greatest Arab shadow no longer exists?

Let's talk seriously now. Any one prince of Saudi Arabia, any one nation in the region, any one person or company who reaps the untold oil profits in the Middle East can decide tomorrow to build a Palestinian state. The Arab nations, with their vast amounts of money and land, could provide food, shelter and even a provisional nation to the Palestinians until a peaceful settlement were brokered. Yet for nearly sixty years, they have done nothing except point to Israel and say "that is the problem". I understand that it's not their original land and that many have been thrown out of their homes. The Palestinians have had a terrible injustice to swallow and it has been bitter. But what is more bitter is to watch as their Arab neighbors use this situation to maintain their unchecked power and wealth from their own citizens while fostering hate and violence in the name of self preservation.

When it comes to pointing to America's failures, I think it's important that it be done frequently and hold us to the same standard as all other nations. Let's not forget, however, that we are just one nation among the world's population of nations and even though we are enduring one of the worst presidents in our short history we have had our share who've desired peace in the Middle East. One of which walked away with a Noble Peace Prize. So before you burn that American flag outside your embassy or plan an attack on foriegn soil, look to your own government and see what shadows they are casting.

Democrats Refuse to Pull Out Until Climax

Ha! Ha! Ha America. You thought that by electing the other party you'd be able to effectively change your nation's policy. It's touching, really. Like watching a mouse in a maze who keeps expecting to somehow get to the end by smashing its head against the wall. Adorable. Okaaaaay, let me just reach over here and turn down the glibometer. It was set to an eight, it's down to a two now.

In November, Americans went to their polls and swept from office the party that lied to us, killed thousands of our troops, stole billions of our dollars and then said they wanted to keep on doing it for as long as they could - stay the course - I believe was the term. So, after six years, which is another story, we said no to that program. Not by a lot, mind you, but enough to change the policy makers. Or so we thought. But what we failed to ask ourselves was "What are we voting for?" It's not enough to simply say to the people in charge: "Stop robbing and killing us!" We need a plan people and when you vote for a Democrat, you rarely get that. What you do get is a nice message and a sort of vague idea of what not to do. Like ending the war.

We were all behind that idea. Sure. We get out of Iraq, a country we should never have stepped foot in, and let the Iranians and Syrians take over, which they will. Anyone who has picked up a newspaper (I don't mean USA Today - a real newspaper) for the past ... oh, I don't know ... year and a half, should have known that. Unfortunately, no one told the Democrats until after they were elected which means we now get to watch as the party with no spine flops around and becomes, in essence, not an opposition party, but a slower rubber stamp congress. In today's New York Times the headline says it all: "Idea of Rapid Withdrawal From Iraq Seems to Fade". Wasn't that the whole campaign strategy? To end the war in Iraq? Wasn't that what over 50 percent of voters wanted when they went to the polls? Isn't that what Congresswoman Pelosi meant when she said "We're united around a proposal for responsible redeployment, and we want it to begin before December..."? Well, we still have a day left.

Bottom line: If anyone is reading this please realize that politics is about politics. It's about getting what you want and in the case of politics, it's being elected. So you say anything to get elected, but that doesn't change the reality of the situation. The war in Iraq is not going to change anytime soon. The time to do something about this war was in 2003 when, with the minimal amount of research and a seventh grade intelligence level and a working news media, we could have stopped this illegal, immoral and ultimately failed war policy. But since we didn't, we're stuck with the ugly, brutal money shot that will end only in a sticky mess on America's face. Wait, let me turn down the porn-o-meter. It was set to a nine ...