"United we stand"

[jianantonic]

Ok, I have something to say about all those flagwavers out there. Actually, I have a lot to say. I'll probably say more later than I do now. Anyway, I hate those bumper stickers, shirts, pins and whatnot that say things like "God bless America" and "United we stand." First of all, why just America? I think the rest of the world could use some blessings, too. Besides, isn't America perfect already? I mean, hot damn, another tax refund is on the way and our economy is still in the shitter. Sorry Dubya, I still haven't forgotten that you cheated your way into office, and I still plan to vote against you in 2004. Anyway, the "God Bless America" stickers don't actually bother me that much...it's a nice idea, I guess, I'm just saying, think about everyone else. Why do we always have to separate ourselves? That's why we have wars. That brings me to my next point. "United we stand?" Excuse me, did I get to vote on that one? Because I'm NOT standing for the Ameri-centric world that Bush wants to "bless" the rest of the world with. I'm NOT ok with people going off to other countries to kill complete strangers on my behalf. It's VERY nice of these soldiers to say that they'd die for me. That's touching, and I'm not sure I would have the courage to do the same. HOWEVER, boot camp does not train soldiers how to die, it trains them how to kill. I don't want anyone dying for me, and I certainly, CERTAINLY don't want anyone killing in my name. Is that freedom? Having said that, I don't think that people in the army are all jackasses that deserve to rot in hell - I don't even believe in hell, actually - I just don't agree with the idea. Some say, "but we have to have defense!" Why do we need that? Oh, yeah, because we piss other people off enough with our pushy world-dominance better-than-you-so-you-have-to-do-things-our-way attitude that lots of people want to bomb us! And I don't think the attacks in Iraq were all that defensive. "Shock and awe?!?!?!" That doesn't sound like the US bringing in freedom like the fucking messiah. Sounds more like Hitler to me. Those chemical weapons in Iraq? Weren't they originally supplied by the US? And if Iraq deserves to be destroyed because they have weapons, what about the US? We have more, and we're much more militant. Yes, Sadam Hussein is a terrible man who does not deserve power...but I don't think thousands of Iraqis deserved to die to get him out of power, and I also have similar feelings about Bush. No, he doesn't take a gun to a person's face - directly. But he does drain the funding for social welfare problems, robbing from the poor and giving to the rich. I know most people don't remember the Great Depression, but the lack of adequate social programs were a big part of it. Luckily for our generation, the credit system is a lot better than it was in 1929, so we can still charge our luxury items while we get poorer and poorer, and we can ignore it for now. Anyway that's a tangent. I was talking about how Bush, rather than killing people, just lets them die. Isn't he from Texas? The state that prides itself on leading the nation in executions? I'm sorry, is that reform? I'll bet Bush, in all his Christian glory, would say that they go straight to hell to suffer for the rest of eternity. How humane. Anyway I've made myself angry. I'm going to move to Southeast Asia now.
Peace.