In honor of the one-year blog birthday, I'll be reposting some of my favorite blogs. I would've done this yesterday as well, but I was at trivia. Just like no one puts Baby in the corner, no one keeps me from trivia. The original date of this post was September 13, 2005. Enjoy!I'm a little belated, but I didn't forget. Actually, what happened was that my usual post of being a red, white, and blue screaming patriot for times like these is not going to happen today. Instead, I'm going to scold America.
Yes, I am.
I'm going to talk about what is our fault and our fault alone.
We tried to put aside our differences of race, religion, and sexual preference. We tried to be the best people we could be. However, it failed. Today we are not a stronger, safer nation. Technically we might appear to be that way, but we're imploding on the inside. There is a cancer eating at the heart of this country and it has jumped into the bloodstream, slowly filtering it's way into the moral fiber that consists of our nation.
I'm talking about the cancer of politics. See, most see politics as just another process that "comes with the territory" of being in public office. I see politics as the cold sore on the face of the girl you want to kiss. We have a beautiful country, only to be shamed, shunned, and pushed away by our allies because of our own arrogance and bickering with one another.
George Bush has, in my own opinion, dropped the ball lately. Ronald Reagan had the decency and fortitude to call a spade a spade and get in the face of oppressors and tell them of their lack in moral fiber. However, in foreign policy we must always "take the high road" and we're not even realizing that the air is running thin up here.
You see, 9/11 did something to this country that no one expected. Instead of uniting us, it has divided us. The terrorists haven't won, but they're slowly beginning to win. Not by killing us off, but instead having us point the finger at our brothers and sisters of this nation instead of pointing them at ourselves and those who oppress us.
I'm tired of political pundits putting blame somewhere else. I'm tired of being labeled a red-stater. I'm tired of being viewed as conservative and I'm damn tired of having to make excuses for those I look up to while damning those that I have little respect for.
Why Kit? Why now? Two words: Hurricane Katrina. I've seen so much of it that I'm sick already. No one that can help will help. It's those with the blue collar that are doing the most work in getting others like them back on their feet. In D.C. the only fingers that are being lifted are the ones pointing at others while screeching "It's HIS fault." I won't even pose the question of "who cares whose fault it is?" The truth is, we all care. We've done this to ourselves. We have used our moral compasses to lead us in directions that we were not intended to go. Check the ratings if you think blame isn't number one on television. Hell, it cleans up every night and especially during sweeps weeks.
When technology left New Orleans; anarchy, murder, and rape reigned supreme. That is not my country. We have become so dependant on others that we panic when finally called upon to do something for ourselves. Katrina is no one's fault. We could've always done a better job, but does that make it one political figurehead's fault? Does damning his job that YOU don't approve of while YOU were the one too tired to vote make you feel better? Do you sleep better at night thinking that it isn't your fault after all? I hope someone does because I haven't for two days and I don't see it getting better.
I watched a movie on the people on Flight 93 that crashed into Penn. on 9/11. It was awesome. Not awesome as in it should win awards, but awesome in that I believe I saw an interpretation of the first battle in the war on terror and even though people lost their lives, we won that battle. Now, it's four years later and have their memories been honored? Have the people who died in the other 3 planes been honored? I don't believe so. Once a year we all stand and remember, but what about the other 364 days? What happens then?
I'm fed up with the way things are now. I'm tired of being told what to think by Fox News, CNN, Newsradio, and the Internet. However, since no once source can be trusted, we have to watch them all and get our own viewpoits. I'm sick of Moveon.org and celebrities who spend half the time doing press junkets only to spend the other half telling me that I should think this certain way because they're famous. Fuck you, I have a brain, just not a million dollars.
I think it was my friend A.J. the Lib who made a good point when he said (and hopefully it was he that said it, I might be wrong) that Congress can fly back to D.C. in the middle of the night to try to reinsert a feeding tube into a starving woman, but they can't send a helicopter in with shit-tons of bottled water to people dying of thirst?
WHY ARE WE SO
REACTIVE?
WHY CAN'T WE BE
PROACTIVE?
I'm not changing my political affiliation or even my views on subjects. But I'm calling you out America. I will love you until the day I die and I believe you are the greatest country in the world filled with the greatest people. But we deserve better. We need to take personal responsibility for our actions as well as for those around us. Someone might litter, but aren't I also to blame if I let the wind blow it into a creek?
Wake up. Our country is calling. It wants it's spine back.
Until next time kids.
Be safe.