Like most people, I get lots of unsolicited email – this one was forwarded to me by a member of my extended family. The title of the post was the subject line for the email.
While I don’t specifically agree with much of what is said…I can’t deny that in many ways it vents some of my frustrations and in a somewhat warped way contains some wisdom. I’ve been hestitating over posting this, but you know what? I think it represents the thoughts of an awful lot of Americans. I’ll put the text next and my thoughts on it after, and on this day that may make such an impact on the future of our country and the world, maybe a little reflection is in order.
WOULDN’T IT BE GREAT TO TURN ON THE TV AND HEAR ANY U.S. PRESIDENT, DEMOCRAT OR REPUBLICAN GIVE THE FOLLOWING SPEECH?
‘My Fellow Americans: As you all know, the defeat of the Iraq regime has been completed.Since congress does not want to spend any more money on this war, our mission in Iraq is complete.
This morning I gave the order for a complete removal of all American forces from Iraq This action will be complete within 30 days. It is now time to begin the reckoning.
Before me, I have two lists. One list contains the names of countries which have stood by our side during the Iraq conflict. This list is short . The United Kingdom , Spain , Bulgaria , Australia , and Poland are some of the countries listed there.
The other list contains every one not on the first list. Most of the world’s nations are on that list. My press secretary will be distributing copies of both lists later this evening.
Let me start by saying that effective immediately, foreign aid to those nations on List 2 ceases immediately and indefinitely. The money saved during the first year alone will pretty much pay for the costs of the Iraqi war. THEN EVERY YEAR THERE AFTER IT’ll GO TO OUR SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM SO IT WONT GO BROKE IN 20 YEARS.
The American people are no longer going to pour money into third world Hellholes and watch those government leaders grow fat on corruption.
Need help with a famine ? Wrestling with an epidemic? Call France .
In the future, together with Congress, I will work to redirect this money t oward solving the vexing social problems we still have at home . On that note, a word to terrorist organizations. Screw with us and we will hunt you down and eliminate you and all your friends from the face of the earth.
Thirsting for a gutsy country to terrorize? Try France or maybe China .
I am ordering the immediate severing of diplomatic relations with France , Germany , and Russia . Thanks for all your help, comrades. We are retiring from NATO as well. Bonne chance, mez amies.
I have instructed the Mayor of New York City to begin towing the many UN diplomatic vehicles located in Manhattan with more than two unpaid parking tickets to sites where those vehicles will be stripped, shredded and crushed. I don’t care about whatever treaty pertains to this. You creeps have tens of thousands of unpaid tickets. Pay those tickets tomorrow or watch your precious Benzes, Beamers and limos be turned over to some of the finest chop shops in the world. I love New York
A special note to our neighbors. Canada is on List 2. Since we are likely to be seeing a lot more of each other, you folks might want to try not pissing us off for a change.
Mexico is also on List 2 its president and his entire corrupt government really need an attitude adjustment. I will have a couple extra thousand tanks and infantry divisions sitting around. Guess where I am going to put ’em? Yep, border security.
Oh, by the way, the United States is abrogating the NAFTA treaty – starting now.
We are tired of the one-way highway. Immediately, we’ll be drilling for oil in Alaska – which will take care of this country’s oil needs for decades to come. If you’re an environmentalist who opposes this decision, I refer you to List 2 above: pick a country and move there.
It is time for America to focus on its own welfare and its own citizens. Some will accuse us of isolationism. I answer them by saying, ‘darn tootin.’
Nearly a century of trying to help folks live a decent life around the world has only earned us the undying enmity of just about everyone on the planet. It is time to eliminate hunger in America It is time to eliminate homelessness in America . To the nations on List 1, a final thought. Thank you guys. We owe you and we won’t forget.
To the nations on List 2, a final thought: You might want to learn to speak Arabic.
God bless America . Thank you and good night. ‘
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you are reading it in English, thank a soldier.
Can we ‘fix’ Iraq at this point? I don’t believe so. Would it be bad to just leave immediately? It seems the cowardly/wrong thing to do, yet…we may well just be drawing it out, putting off the inevitability of civil war. If we continue to stay, I think we should at least demand payment for our services – screw ’em if they don’t like it. Remember when the war effort was going to be funded by Iraq oil (or at least the rebuilding part)? Sure, we’ll be called every name in the book if we push it, but most of the world hates us anyway and I doubt anyone else would hesitate were they in our shoes, so who really cares? They can afford to pay, and while we probably should have left them alone in the first place, no other country on earth would be laying out what we are to stay where we are unwanted and failing at providing stabilization.
Should we hold back any type of dealings with those who refused to back our play in Iraq? I don’t think so – I think they were probably wiser than we were to stay out in the first place. Should we cut off aid, though – interesting. Not based on whether they stood by us in this disaster or not, no, but the thought of letting aid from our country be specifically funded by donation…I’m not sure how morally reprehensible that would be, but I know for sure that continuing to write rubber checks is going to cost this nation everything. It is important to help our fellow humans, but by doing it at the government level we force funding from those here at home who cannot afford it. Let the non-profits do it, and let the rest of the world pick up the rest of the slack. Go in and help when there is a UN mission, sure. Stop trying to control the whole fipping planet through money, political power, and military force – we can’t possibly keep up the pace we’ve had and we’ve never been able to control everything anyway. Accept the fact that other places in the world have other views and leave them alone.
Get out of NATO, the UN, international cooperatives? No. Get in, buy in, push your agenda within the strictures and play by the flipping rules of the organization. WE DO NOT HAVE TO BE IN CONTROL OF EVERYTHING, OUR NATIONALISTIC VIEWS ARE NOT A BLUEPRINT FOR THE REST OF THE WORLD. Get in line and tow the line just like everyone else. If others cheat/circumvent, call them on it, but take the high road and play by the rules as long as no one is actually invading.
Tow the Beamers, jail the Princes, etc.? You bet. Work to change the international courts if that is what we need to do, if we want to more closely align with our system of justice, then buy in and live with it. If we do that, we don’t have to extend diplomatic immunity to anyone, because we don’t need it ourselves. At the very least, we need to have something in place that will allow us to prosecute those who come to our country and commit felonies. They deserve their day in court, and their victims deserve to see them brought to justice.
Canada – real bummer about the drop in the value of the dollar, huh? All these years and yours is finally worth what ours is, and low and behold, that hurts you too. I don’t mind our neighbors to the north – just don’t be so stinking snide about things.
Mexico – I’m down with patrolling the border, I’d rather see our troops there than in Iraq. Realistically, we can’t truly seal the border, so lets try to make the changes necessary for people to want to stay in Mexico. And yes, it starts with straightening out a government that is actually more corrupt than ours, which is saying a lot.
Dump NAFTA? I don’t think so. We cannot stand as an island. Its a tough pill right now with everything else kicking us around, but over time NAFTA will do us good. You don’t like all those jobs going out of the country and all those cheap sweat-shop goods coming in? Then stop buying all that cheap stuff. Talk to your family, your nieghbors, everyone you meet, tell them to spend their money on goods made by workers who are treated humanely. You want to keep your job? Then suck it up and truly do your best, and tell the person next to you to do the same. There isn’t a whole lot of pride taken in the production of goods in this country any more.
Should we drill for oil in Alaska? Tough question. I’d sign on if we tied mandatory alternative fuel research to the extraction and imposed the strictest of rules on getting it out of the ground. In the end, its going to get pulled out – why not try to do it as eco-friendly as possible, with a plan in place to get us off the overseas oil and move toward other energy sources? Everyone is going to run out of it eventually – why not try to be smart about it?
I believe that we have bent over backwards in many ways to help the rest of the world, and I believe that by and large we are hated by the rest of the world. Why? Well, we not only did some wonderful things, we did some awful ones too. Guess what? It isn’t our job to play global police man, and while we still have the military to do it we already can’t afford too. In time we won’t have all that much military superiority, either. Time to suck it up and stop trying to control everything directly – work the angles in the various internationl organizations.
And yes, as always, we need to remember who stood with us in times of strife. But in the instance of Iraq this time around, we were stupid, and have been proven to be so. If Russia had invaded Iraq, would we have been there for them? Why do we want to punish those who showed more restraint?
Is all this overly simplistic? Tunnel-view thinking? Sure, I guess so. But we cannot continue to go down the path we are on, and we need to right our ship before we can sail over and pull others out of the water. If I were voting in Congress I do not believe that I would support anything done with deficit spending. Stop borrowing money, no matter how painful that is, and stop giving our money away to other countries until we have some to give. The private sector will step up and continue to provide at least some world wide relief, and you know what? Until we actually have money to spend as a country, we don’t have anything to give.
I can tell you, I understand why people write this stuff and pass it around. It is hard right now for the average American, hard for me and most everyone else. We MUST stop spending what we don’t have, and we must help ourselves before we can help others.
<<<<<<We MUST stop spending what we don’t have, and we must help ourselves before we can help others>>>>>>>>>>
That to me is the most truthful statement in the whole piece. We all must change to a more conservative way of living, if we are to stay on top of things as an individual/family. The days of frivolous spending is over and I am just as guilty as any one.
I am not driving my car as much as I used to. I am not spending as much on food as I used to. Everything is changing for me, in one way or the other.
As far as retirement, I can’t afford to retire. Sad isn’t it???!!!! At my age, it gets harder and harder for me to work at my job. But I will continue to do this and try to keep my head above water for a few years more and see what is going to happen. It is like going to Los Vegas and gambling you life away.
BTW, so good to see you here. Hope all is going well otherwise for you and your family. I have thought of you and yours often.
Thank you, very much, for the kind thoughts. I’m touched that you would remember me at all.
The blank check mentality of our government upsets me more than anything, from a fiscal point of view. I don’t get to pass on what I owe at the end of the month to someone else, and our nation shouldn’t be doing it either. I’m struggling enough – I don’t want to pass this on to my kids, grandkids, etc. Suck it up, stop blowing smoke, put the painful changes in place and lets start getting through them – right now. I don’t have enough to pay all my bills right now, but you know what? You can keep that money you’re sending me in May, don’t give it to anyone else, either. Borrowing money to give Americans to spend frivolously (that being the intent) – I’m sorry, I can’t accept that as being a responsible reaction on the part of our government. And let the housing market truly bottom out – sure, encourage lenders to restructure for people, absolutely. Encourage those who are financially strong to buy in for the long term upside. But don’t bail people/corporations out. Truth is I might lose my house too, hopefully not, but possible, but we can’t subsidize this. Let the people/banks/corporations take the fall. Many of the governments/people we lend from to finance this stuff are invested in the real estate market – how does it make sense to borrow money from them to prop up what they own and increase their profits?
I’ve concluded recently that I won’t be retiring either. Oh, well, if I can get the kids through school and out on their own, all will be well. If.
:o)…WW, I may be getting older but my mind is still sharp…..How could I forget someone with whom I can identify with. I too have had sadness like you in my life.
We all will go on to do what we must do to maintain a life that will be valuable to us all. I can attest to the failures of this government of ours….not just republican but democrat as well.
It is up to us the PEOPLE to make this change happen…this is why this independent will be voting for Obama. He may be profilatic; however, I am one who believes in his rhetoric. We will never know till we elect him and hold his feet to the fire, now will we. We all know what we will get with the other candidate. Anyhow, it is very good to have you here talking with the rest of us folks….hugs
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for the miseries and failures of our Administration, Congress and Judicial system. What makes the Japanese, SE Asia and China rise to economic wealth? Do we learn from our European friends who have turned around old enmity into an alliance based on economic ties, friendship and progress? Perhaps we are satisfied how the greatest nation runs its affairs: Katrina disaster, infrastructure collapse, joblessness, health care for the few and poverty for far too many. These are choices we do make bij our votes in an election for a democratic state- and federal government.
It now appears that many EU countries have created an environment in which it is significantly easier for the poor to climb the social ladder than it is in the US. Structural reforms will be necessary in the US if it wants to emulate the success of European countries in organising social mobility.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."I don’t blame the world. I blame us for the mess we are in. To quote Styx (which my kids are getting into of late):
We don’t take care of our own. You can’t adequately take care of anyone else if you don’t take care of yourself. I’m not preaching isolization, just taking responsibility for our own problems.