Tuesday, November 18, 2008

The Madness of Presidency

There are so many soaring expressions that exist regarding what it takes to be president, one does not know where to begin.

Fortunately for you, dear reader, I do! There are so many that I will narrow them all down to one sweet, fuzzy, warm, paternal word: strength.

What a curious word when taken beyond the surface. More than just brute, muscle bound burliness, the word in a social sense implies a compelling phrase: tough choices.

Ah, yes. The tough choices a politician must make require incredible strength. Decisions they make affect hundreds, thousands, millions of people. They decide who to give to, and who to take from. Examples of this include the ebb and flow of state social programs. These programs help some groups, and are all too easily taken away, much to the collective groaning of the very same groups, now harmed by such coercive action.

Sometimes, if one is a really REALLY powerful politician, they decide who lives, and who DIES! Whoa! I bet THAT'S a rush.

Imagine looking at a map, advisers whispering in your ear, and making a decision that you know will kill innocent people: perhaps a man walking to a store with his wife, maybe some children at recess, maybe a fucking WEDDING, for chrissakes. Now imagine going to sleep, your nightmares populated by the souls you've murdered.

Or maybe you sleep like a cloistered child, the decisions you make possessing an unreality to you, as if nothing more than abstraction; the innocents who perish do so for the common good, even though they don't know it, and you tell yourself they will not die in vain, and you tell this to the public...and they believe you. At least enough of them to get you reelected.

But I, as usual, digress.

The president must make decisions that get innocent people killed. They KNOW this going into the job. And they still apply for it. Last time I checked, if you are willing to swallow enough of what makes you human to do such a thing, you're a sociopath.

Being president requires not strength, but madness.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Obama and the Left's War

Over the course of the passed 8 years we've witnessed the train wreck awfulness that is the Bush regime. It's been pretty bad. Seriously. The most horrifying of it all has been the war. So many dead or maimed people. Dead by our government's guns, and funded by us.

But we've come up with a wicked AWESOME plan! Electing someone else!!!

Now I won't deny that Obama's election is historic, important, etcetera. Socially, it's awesome.

Politically...it's the same shit.

The state will continue to bomb, or fund the bombing of, poor countries. The difference now, though, is that it will be done by the left. Rather than act like hardass, right wing war-hawks, the left presents a fuzzier kind of interventionist foreign policy.

The moralizing has already begun. "Obama may authorize the bombing of other countries, yes, but he won't WANT to." Is that all it takes for the lefty to give a resounding "meh" against war these days? As long as it's a democrat it's a softer kind of murder? Does it smell like roses and bubble-gum too?

More like burning flesh and blood, but why quibble about WORDS?

Some of Obama's more inspirational war rhetoric has been "...the surge succeeded beyond our wildest dreams," and "...I believe this has to be our central focus [Afghanistan], the central front, on our battle against terrorism."

Whew, glad I don't live THERE.

I can already hear it, "Well, you don't have to agree with ALL of his policies. He wants to improve our schools! He LOVES puppies!"

I know there are many who are still opposed to war and voted for him in hopes that he will end the war in Iraq. Maybe he will. However, we will always have a military presence there. Having a new president does not mean the American empire will cease to expand, and that military action against other nations will cease. Not to mention imposing economic sanctions which do immense harm to the citizens of sanctioned countries.

Time for tough love: war is the biggest evil ever created by humans. We have perpetuated it with ALL of our institutions, whether it be theocracy, communism, or democracy. And when we are willing to look the other way because he/she is the "lesser" of two evils then maybe we deserve to devour each other like jackals.

Source:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/20/obama.afghanistan/

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Obama_stays_cool_during_OReilly_questions_0904.html