Americanpolitics

Moammar Gadhafi’s visit to the United States demonstrated, to many, America’s attitude of superiority as some members of the audience rudely got up and walked out. I must be a true militant/revolutionary at heart because even though I viewed Gadhafi as somewhat erratic, as well as a bit comical, in his performance at the U.N. General Assembly meeting, I could not discount all of his words.

I do however put him on the same level I put Charles Manson – a person who rants about injustices for justifications of wrongs he has committed but inside the rants are truly words of wisdom as well. Color me crazy right along with the two of them but there is truth in their madness, however just when they are beginning to make sense they both take wide turns and go off the deep end before coming back to a reality that I can relate to.

Now truth be told, I was at work during most of his tirade but when I got home and turned on the television Gadhafi was at the point of tossing some book over his shoulder for emphasis and drama. He went on to discuss the situation between Israel and Gaza saying that the two state idea was in essence, a ridiculous idea. He cites that there is a large population of Israelis living in Gaza and goes on to say that Israelis and Palestinians are the same people and should learn to get along as such.

Never were there truer words spoken regarding the situation in that region, as right now the United States is attempting to force Israel out of Gaza, prohibiting the building of settlements, by Israel, in Gaza. This is not happening nor is Israel viewing this as something they want to do; it is time to stop the childishness over there and accept the fact that a true change of attitude is what is needed to the tune of “Can’t we all just get along.”

Though Gadhafi may have been a bit offensive in some of his rants as well as a little paranoid in his conspiracy theories, some of the conspiracy theories were relevant as far as I am concerned only to the extent that they are all possibilities that I have heard discussed in earnest by otherwise intelligent people.

Since I did not watch all of his speech, the speech loses something in the translation and the news media simply plays portions that show most clearly Gadhafi’s erratic behavior so as to solidify the assumption that he is crazy, I can only make comments on what I saw for myself.

Fareed Zakaria, from CNN interviewed Gadhafi regarding the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. While Gadhafi did not claim ownership of that disaster nor in simple words say he was sorry, he did allude to the feeling that this was a tragedy and that anyone hearing such a story could not help but to be affected by what had happened.

The outrage that Rick Sanchez showed – righteous indignation is a better word - was a bit over the top. War is hell, innocent people die, revenge is sought and things happen. The Bible states “let he who is without sin, cast the first stone” – I say America has been a terrorist in more than one instance and lives were lost. I say America is still in Afghanistan, as well as Iraq – they were not invited, innocent people are dying and both wars continue.

I say if the women who lost a brother on Pan Am flight 103 can forgive the situation and come on CNN to talk to Rick Sanchez about her role in dealing with the Libyan people in an effort to bridge attitudes regarding this incident, who are we to continue to pass negativity around regarding this incident and the freeing of the one person convicted of the crime.

I say righteous indignation, arrogance and the bully mentality need to stop with the people of America for we are, in some cases, just as guilty of the crimes we accuse others of. I say claim your own mistakes before you attempt to make others claim theirs.

Following this Rick Sanchez segment on Gadhafi’s refusal to say simply “I’m sorry” was a segment that showed Marines who are suffering and dying from breast cancer because of a situation they encountered while living on Camp Lejeune military base.

Even though the toxins were known to exist in the water, even though people are suffering from this exposure to the toxins these military/former military personnel are being denied treatment from the VA.

No one has told them they are sorry, no one has even claimed the possibility that the water could have done this; no one is showing support to men who have fought for this country and are now suffering as a result of extreme negligence.

I say practice what you preach. Act in ways that you would have others act towards you. I say end the righteous indignation, for you are neither righteous nor without guilt of being, yourself, terrorist on some levels.

And that’s the way I see it!!!!

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Like the sheep in a flock, how easily are you lead - the time of testing is drawing closer. Blurring the lines between politics and religion is taking another step as NIV seeks to change some gender terms in the Bible in order to become more “politically correct.”

While NIV claims these revisions to the Bible will be made to reflect changes in English usage and advances in Biblical scholarship, making the Bible accurate, accessible and creating a Bible that speaks to its readers in a language they can understand, I say that when you begin changing the words to suit individual needs the original message is lost.

The King James Version of the Bible, for me, moves the spirit in a way that the NIV Bible does not and this is primarily because of the word choices NIV has incorporated into their Bible.

Words have spirit. Words can touch your soul in unbelievable ways and they can have different meanings for different people. At one point when I went through my journey through the Bible and expressed my lack of comprehension to the flow of the words in the King James Version, I was directed to the NIV version of the Bible.

What I found, paragraph for paragraph, is that the NIV version did not have the same impact on me as the King James Version had, based on the chosen words of NIV. In the King James Version of the Bible, there are implicit instructions not to alter the wording but for me, this is exactly what the NIV version has done and intends further, to alter the wording, therefore the meaning, with its gender-inclusive changes.

Critics make the argument that changing the Bible to be gender-inclusive twists meaning and lends to political correctness while supporters say gender-inclusiveness are more accurate and makes the Bible more accessible.

For me personally, the words written in the Bible are not up for changing to meet the needs of the people because the Bible is about meeting the requirements of God. Changing the words to go with the times is changing the impact of God’s words and is morally wrong.

Through my difficulties of understanding the King James Version, I prayed to God to give me understanding and eventually I got through the King James Version with a pretty good understanding of words that touched my heart and stirred my spirit and therefore the King James Version is my personal preference.

While all you Bible thumping, judgmental, anti-Christ fearing people, with hate ruling your very existence, are running around accusing Obama of being the anti-Christ or conversely the second coming of Christ, by showing how easily you are manipulated and allowing the words of the Bible to be altered to fit your needs, you are opening the door wide and welcoming, with open arms the personification of the “anti-Christ” of your fears.

Originally published in 1978, the NIV Bible, with its changes to scripture, has since sold more than 300 million copies. Now 26 years later, with a publishing date of 2011, they again want to make changes to the wording in the Bible for the sake of the people.

Gradually, they will have you believing what they want you to believe about the creation of mankind and God’s law, setting the stage for the true anti-Christ to enter and wreak havoc unto your lives. But I guess you can look at this as “so it is written, so shall it be” there is no escaping what is to come.

And that’s the way I see it!!!!

There is so much beauty in the world, be it manmade like the above picture or natural like the sight of a sunrise, isn’t it time to enjoy the beauty and forget the war. Vietnam should have been a major lesson learned for America, yet 40 years later we are in another war, in a foreign country with the same prospect of “losing” this war.

What is the “main objective” of the war in Afghanistan? Is our arrogance the only thing holding us to a war that has been going on for eight years without even coming close to the objective of catching Osama bin Laden – if that is the objective?

Billions of dollars, thousands of lives later and what have we accomplished. Even General Stanley McChrystal, after his recent evaluation of the war in Afghanistan, has said the situation is deteriorating but says we can win this if we change directions.

What would be considered a “win” and what will eventually be the cost in lives and dollars? Each month the death toll reaches a new level. What this says to me is that the more troops we send over there the more lives we lose.

The Taliban seems to be getting stronger even though, at one point, there was a running tally of how many of the Taliban had been killed. Yet, we have not put a dent in their numbers or hampered their aggression.

Arrogance, conceit, egotism, superiority, pride, overconfidence, self-importance, are these the only things keeping us fighting a war that has no real benefit other than the fact that if we walk away now, the greatest military in the world, these adjectives will take a hit. Have we convinced ourselves that pride is more important than human lives?

Are we so blinded by our arrogance, our egos, our view of America and Americans self-importance in the world that we fail to recognize that we have been here before and what costs where incurred then, in Vietnam?

There are, at the present time, 62,000 American troops in Afghanistan. Sometime later this month it is expected that General McChrystal will ask for between 21,000 and 45,000 more troops to assist in the “new direction” of the war. What kind of new direction would require more troops armed and ready to fight and die unless the war was going to continue as is – a war, a battle, lost lives, more aggression?

Wouldn’t defense spending be better served protecting America on American soil? Wouldn’t defense spending be cut drastically, with the availability of more money going to “Intelligence” if we were not attempting to assert our arrogance in a country that is divided, on the whole as well as within each individual, on what they really feel about America’s intervention?

What exactly has Intelligence, Homeland Security and the likes been able to garner regarding plots to attack America on American soil and is this not the best defense against future terrorist attacks?

While we spend billions of dollars on a war that just does not seem to be serving a purpose nor drawing to an end after eight years of engagement, here at home we have people who are unemployed, people including children, with no medical coverage, people living below the poverty level and those who live on the streets.

Schools in disarray as programs, for the betterment of our children, discontinued because of budget cuts, police officers and firefighters getting laid off. My question becomes what are the priorities of the American people and how do we best serve the needs of the people.

While it is ok to send our kids off to die in lands far from home, it is not ok to provide medical coverage for every individual and child in America. While it is ok to show indignation over the release of the Lockerbie bomber as he lies dying in a hospital bed, it is not ok to stop the terroristic acts of war in another country – the same level of terroristic acts that created people like the Lockerbie bomber, the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

I don’t know, for me there is something definitely wrong with this picture, as well as our collective priorities. I strongly believe that war is not the answer – when you change minds, you change hearts. When hearts are changed, more is accomplished – the key is in finding ways to change the minds. Neither brute force nor legislation has proved a means to this end of changing minds, so where do we go from here.

And that’s the way I see it!!!!!

Eight of the bailed out banks are beginning to repay their obligations to the tune of $4 billion in profits to the U.S. government according to a report in the New York Times on Sunday.

That brings the total from $700 billion to $696 billion. Although there is still a long way to go, progress is being made even from the smaller banks, which, in addition to the $4 billion collected from the larger banks, $35 million has been collected from the smaller banks.

This is a hopeful sign that at least some of the money the government invested will eventually see its way back to the rightful owners. Will this revelation have a positive impact on the prospect of health care/insurance reform? Hardly!!

Republican Senator Michael Enzi, which echoes the sentiment of many opponents to the reform, has said that the Democratic proposal will restrict medical choices and affect the country’s finances. Like many who oppose the legislation, he is harping on the “possibility” that the bill will increase deficits and the national debt. A bi-partisan agreement will never happen with this proposed legislation.

As news of the contributions made by pharmaceutical, health care and health insurance industries to the Democratic Blue Dog Coalition to the tune of over half a million dollars, I can better understand why they have been successful in delaying the vote on health care overhaul proposals. Will this delay eventually cause the push for health care/insurance reform to buckle and fail?

Obviously, the cause of the Blue Dogs’ decision was encouraged by the donations received from the health care organizations contributions. These revelations of contributions received by the Blue Dogs is, according to a watchdog organization called the Center for Public Integrity, were more than contributions to other congressional political action committees during the same period. Thus making their effective delay a conflict of interest as far as I can see.

There is so much “self-interest” in the “debate” over health care/insurance reform that I believe the only way to pass this legislation is by an enactment by the President himself. Bi-partisanship will never happen because the desire is not there and not for the reasons given by those who oppose the legislation but because of the shear money involved that is greasing the palms of those who are in the position of passing the legislation – hypocrisy and greed at its best.

Even Canadians are beginning to scoff at the rhetoric of Americans regarding health care as the lies increase and the violence is displayed for the world to see.

While there are pros and cons regarding the health care system in Canada, the fact is that treatment is available for all. Although tweaking of the system could be made, there are other countries with universal health care that are more effective – American could take a page from the most successful and write its own book.

The point being that a plan needs to be decided here in America which could be tweaked at a later date but instead of considering this concept, the “debate” goes on. When will the debate end and the concept be put into motion? I say the time is now!!

And that’s the way I see it!!!!