On Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 5:53 PM, Robert Munn wrote: .... > Perception is reality, right? So why does the Left (and I'm not > talking about you, Maureen) continue to drive the perception that > Gitmo is a den of horrors? The answer goes back to why we are debating > this election - it is a partisan political maneuver designed to put > America in as bad a light as possible overseas, to put pressure on the > President to change policy. Well, they have changed the policy, but > they have managed to put America in as bad a light as possible.
There are certain kinds of moral relativity that I'm cool with. Saying torture is o.k. is not one of them. You are right that these events are related tao who we elect, but incorrect in rationalizing that they are all about political pressure. This is serious stuff, Rob, and saying "the guy had it coming" or "they don't deserve fairness(justice, if you will)" is pretty lame. That's like cave-man shit, you know? :) Rationalizing that there is some kind of cold war principal of mutual destruction in regards to the economy, is a similar rationalization that belies the facts. We were pretty much in heated battle during the cold war. Games of strategy are fun and all... these are people's lives... rationalization is cool and all, but... It seems like it's pretty convenient to say it's "all cyclical" and write it off. Torture, bad leadership, horrible fiscal policy... I mean, sure, we can chalk it up to "the luck of the draw", or "nature" (it's natural to not feel bad about killing people you don't like-- it still kills you a little too, inside, sorta) ... however, I think we can do better. We've got these big 'ol powerful brains, and amazing communication ability... we can do better. Part of doing better is acknowledging where you're not doing well, as un-fuzzy as that sounds. We cannot start addressing the problems if people will not even admit that there is a problem, or "relativate" it by saying, "all the other kids are doing it", "we need it to be safe", etc.. I don't care if emotionally it gives satisfaction, if it goes against the tenets of what we are. We are not freaking animals! At least we don't have to be. (I do love animals. I also love whatever we are, and can be.) The sad thing is that it's not this two party system holding us down, or "those people", it's us, and that's about it. Some law of philosophy or something, relates to slaves and masters and whathaveyou-- we're all connected little islands. Duality!, oh no, everything is relative, yin and yang! The compass spins aimlessly! SIKE! At least not for me, however lost I may appear. Pretty much. I won't forget what's happened, good or bad, or rationalize that the bad isn't *that* bad. I mean, it is all relative, and good comes from bad, and all that, but, at the same time, it ain't. Ha! Wrap your head around that, neh? I'm not down on America, you know, I love her. Nothing wrong with saying something's wrong, my man. There really is some serious shit going down, it's not all relative, and it's not some conspiracy by the rest of the world. This is common sense, I feel. -- The human is indissolubly linked with imitation: a human being only becomes human at all by imitating other human beings. Theodor Adorno ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;203748912;27390454;j Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:269858 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
