I want to sincerely apologize on behalf of the people of the United States of America for not removing George W. Bush from power. I apologize to you because I am certain that the next four years will undoubtedly hold great suffering and injustice for many more parts of the world as a direct result of Bush's "foreign policy," aka using a war on terror as an excuse to seize as much of the dwindling fossil fuels as possible, which will only increase the amount of terrorists' complaints and rage against the United States. So I fear for your well-being, World.
I also fear for the United States, which, under Bush's "domestic policy," will continue on the path of regression in the areas of environmental protection, education, the welfare of the poor and elderly (both financially and medically), gainful employment, and civil rights/constitutional rights. Talk about shooting yourselves in the foot.
I'm seriously having trouble understanding the thought processes of half of America. There are actually people who think Bush is a good president. And they are the majority! What kind of country am I living in? I'll never leave the country soley because of the election of one person, but if those people being elected keep taking away more and more of my rights and keep degrading the society in which I need to survive in, destroying the "American Dream" they profess to live by, I may eventually be fleeing, not from a man, but from the tyranical state that man is leading. In that case, Sweden, here I come!
I would like to question Archbishop Burke's stand on voting for "pro-life" candidates. I understand that we should choose candidates by evaluating their positions through the lens of our beliefs. But lets honestly look at the significance of what we've done. We (er, you) voted for the "pro-life" candidate by reason of our religious beliefs. And when this candidate assumes power with a mandate based on those religious beliefs, he will go on to work on economic and political matters (not religious!) that will in fact lead to an increase in the problem of abortion (through the oppression of the poor (who receive the majority of abortions)) and the problem of capital punishment. And the problem of an unjust war. Just because war is supposedly justifible in some situations doesn't mean that we should disregard the fact that it is NOT JUSTIFIED in this situation. Bush may not be pro-choice, but he certainly isn't pro-life, either. And you put him back in office. So I fear for the Church as well.
Just a few notes on what I would like to see changed about the election process. Federal control of voting methods! It should be standardized throughout the country. Also a better voting method. I'm researching what that might be. Possibly ranked pairs. Possibly instant runoff voting. I still need to learn more. Get rid of the electoral college. My history teacher tried to explain its purpose/importance, but he failed to impress its importance on me. It is antiquated and needs to go. Feel free to enlighten me if you think otherwise. Or if for some reason we have to keep it, we can at least follow New Hampshire's lead (I think) and divide the electoral votes proportionally to the popular vote. Oh, and we could abolish the two party system while we're at it.
Dream ticket for '08 election: Obama McCain.
Pray for our troops, that they can stop dying for one man's mistake/personal agenda.
And God bless the WORLD, because America just cursed itself.
You are correct... you still have much to learn, the learnin' NEVER stops if we keep our eyes open.
ReplyDeleteOil? There's plenty of it worldwide. We'll never use it all, even if ALL of us drove SUVs. Natural supplies are always reported as 'known reserves', whose number goes down when exploration is low and up when exploration increases. There's even been a recent scientific discovery that's suggesting that oil is actually the natural lubricant of the earth's crust, like it lubricates pistons in an engine. An inexhaustable unknown reserve.
The environment? It's never been better in the US, never! Environmental regulations under President Clinton were so onerous that regular family farmers lost thousands of dollars each season (of which their profit would've been meager, but still "their" profit) due to the fact that large puddles of standing water from rain runoff caused the land it pooled on, and ajoining land, to be reclassified s 'wetlands'. "We're sorry Mr. Farmer, but a migratory bird might want a place to safely bathe." So much for helping the working poor, huh? Fortunately, President Bush has rolled back some of these sops to the radical environmentalists.
By the way, did you know that all those regulations imposed upon the national parks during the Clinton administration, supposedly to 'preserve the green' character of the park by limiting access to the national parks resulted in nothing more than making it impossible for regular citizens to have access to the beautiful areas of the parks, while preserving the access of the very wealthy people, who own land adjoining the parks and who own horses and helicopters, that aren't covered under the rules?
Did you know most environmental groups are run by these kind of people? Rich and connected.
Did you know that most social and revolutionary movements have been started not as the result of a bubbling up of popular resentment by those "oppressed" people at the bottom rung of the social ladder, but by spoiled malcontents of inherited wealth with more time on their hands than character? Marx, Lenin, bin Laden, Kerry? Those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them.
Archbishop Burke was right. And if one truly believes what your church teaches, higher value should be given to the counsel of a Bishop to lead the flock in discernment of the truth than many Catholics seem to give that counsel. Mr. Kerry revealed the true character of his "Catholicism" when saying he believed that life began at conception, but that he couldn't 'impose' his church's dogma on others who don't believe that. What he was really saying was, I believe life begins at conception, however, that life has no real value beyond that given to it by its owner (mother). Oh, by the way, did you know that the Paulist church in Boston that Mr. Kerry frequented (will he still fulfill his Sunday obligation, now that the cameras are off?) completely leaves out of the creed the entire section beginning with "We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ...". How the Divine Mercy Jesus must suffer through the sacrilegious communions received in that house.
You might reconsider going to Sweden. This socialist utopia seems quite "Republican" in it's approach to society; 28% corporate tax (quite low) while 59% income taxes on people making as little as $30,000 a year. They have had school choice for the last 10 years, though, something we'll never see with a Democrat in the White House.
The war, while sad, is justified. We might all lie down and offer our necks to radical Islamists who would martyr us all before raping and enslaving our women. That might be the Christian thing to do. But if someone's smashing in your door, which kind of man would your wife or mother wish to have as a husband? One who lets the attacker in or one who defends her to his death? And which kind of leader would you like to have leading you? One so naive as to believe that Stalinist-Nazi-loving Arabs (you DO know that Saddam's hero and model was Stalin--who killed 30 million of his own people--and that the Arabs were on the Nazis side in WWI--we MUST defend those who profess the goal to eliminate the people Israel) will be moved by his benificient gesture of friendship that they'll simply lay down their swords and sing kumbaya, or one who will chase down these filthy rats and smash them under foot before the dirty-nuke they'll inevitably use if given the chance (did you know that the US has thwarted an average of 1 terrorist plot --assassinate the pres, bomb the vatican, and the like--per DAY in the last year?) destroys one major city and our economy and life as we know it for the next 100 years?
Consider: World War II was won because of the courage exhibited, not primarily by the leaders but by the young men who mustered up the guts to move forward into the bullets. Whom does American history celebrate as the hero of that era? Lindbergh or Audie Murphy?
-Stan