war
i was thinking this morning that the prez's statement
about "smokin' 'em out of their holes" was a bit deeper than
it at first appeared. without really thinking about it i
presumed it was nothing more than the rhetoric to be
expected of an angry texan. but then i started listening
and reading news about what's happening in the streets of
countries other than afghanistan. hmmmm....
all over the world people willing to use or support
terrorism to promote their cause are making themselves
known... very interesting! what is also interesting is that
just like here in the west the east has cannon fodder... but
just like here the cannon fodder is generally poorly
educated and disadvantaged. ~sigh... it never changes. i
guess the principle difference is that the economic
advantages of the advantaged few enjoyed by the west
have, thus far, out weighed the economic advantages of the
advantaged few in the east. so the advantaged
few in the east are using their wealth and superior
intellect to convince those who are more easily led to commit
horrific acts in the name of god. do they really believe
this will bring equity? somehow i think they don't... i
think their motives have nothing to do with righting
wrongs... i think their goals are much simpler... they want
power and are willing to sacrifice anyone but themselves to
get it!
it's frightening to see the eastern cannon fodder saying
publicly that they want to kill people like me and what is
worse still is they've been convinced that god is
encouraging them to do so. lunacy.
on the other side of all of this it's been nice to see
some of the other responses from easterners. one of
the best examples was a young pakistani woman at a concert
making a few comments about how everyone in her society
wasn't a radical who hated the west. it made for a nice
contrast after being fed a steady diet of street violence
for 3 or 4 days. i already knew that the entire hemisphere
was not insane but it was nice to see it any way.
so what's it coming down to? is it east vs. west in a
global game of tag? will we spend the next 10 or 20 years
counting
coup? makes me wish i could find base and stay
there... but... like the man in the cowboy hat said...
"you're either with us or against us"
so what to do...? if it came down to simple mortality
i'd certainly choose life for me and mine... i don't want my
wife or my
10 year old son dead at the hands of some undereducated savage
grinding a rich asshole's axe (while said rich
asshole hides out in a cave
and makes maniacal videos). so... if i have to choose and
there's no safe place left because the combatants have made
it that way then i guess if it comes to it i will choose to
be a combatant as
well... at least that way i have a chance of influencing the
outcome for myself and my family. it's been a long time
since i've owned a gun... i guess it's time... better safe
than sorry. at least, in this country, i still have a right
to own a gun (for now) and just maybe the troubles won't
come down my street.
are these the kinds of thoughts the folks on flight 93
had before they made their decision to fight?
funny thing is... 10 years ago i was being shot at by
people who made the same kind of noise about jihad
for all the same reasons... it was all about power then too!
when it was just me i didn't much mind the danger... and
even though i thought we left the field too soon that was
okay at the time... but now it's not just me anymore... we
shouldn't leave so soon this time... we should finish it.
conclusion: they've miscalculated the breadth and depth
of western resolve. the west is not perfect but it's not
craven either. we have an old adage i've heard all my
life... "the squeaky wheel gets the grease".