My Quest for Truth and Liberty
Posts tagged War in Iraq
For Liberty: Ron Paul Presidential Campaign Documentary on Public TV
Jun 23rd
Thanks to this, I got a heads-up about this film being aired on Wisconsin Public Television tomorrow night. Although we don’t live in Wisconsin, we’re close enough that we get WPT anyways. I usually watch their “Sherlock Holmes” episodes on Thursday nights, but tomorrow night, I won’t turn it off at 9pm, but will stay up and watch “For Liberty: How the Ron Paul Revolution Watered the Withered Tree of Liberty.” I’ve been very excited about seeing this, but didn’t have the money to buy it…now, thanks to our wonderful government (isn’t that ironic?) I can watch it for free! Here’s the movie website and more details.
To Die is Gain…?
Jun 21st
This was first published in the fall of 2009 at Northern Illinois Liberty
This has been my first Veterans Day as an outspoken and staunch non-interventionist. I would conclude that this is not our favorite holiday. Non-interventionists are just not popular on Veterans Day, for obvious reasons. We are different, we stick out, we look just a bit crazy, maybe a little selfish, unpatriotic, oh well, I won’t go on. So what exactly is it about us? Why are we so dogmatic, and almost Scrooge-ish about Veterans Day?
I could say a lot to answer that, but I won’t. I just had a few thoughts on the subject, and thought I’d write it down.
All over the news day they are talking about the men and women who have given up their lives for America.
That sounds very good, sounds almost like something the Ministry of Peace might put out…okay, I’ll refrain from going there. I always end up quoting 1984, wonder why.
We are gravely told that these men and women have sacrificed their lives for our freedom, for our country.
Well, theoretically, if we wanted to be logically consistent,we should have a Jihadist Day too. I mean, there are men and women around the world who have given up their lives for their country, for their religion. What is the difference?
Yes, the Jihadists come over here and bomb our buildings and kill our citizens.
But do you think we don’t do that over in Iraq and Afghanistan? Let’s not be naive, of course we do.
Pardon me, if I am missing some crucial detail, but um…what is the difference between our troops over there, and the Muslims radicals over here?
And um, I hate to bring this up, but what happened to being a city on the hill? Setting an example for the world? As one author aptly put it, instead of being a city on a hill, we’re trying to “hillify” the world.
One more tiny objection…am I the only one in America with qualms about the current wars being unconstitutional? Does that not concern anyone else? The Constitution says that Congress must declare war, but in these cases, the president just did it.
So that’s why I am a non-interventionist, and while I admire those who give their lives, I admire the American military as much as any other group of people through out history who sacrificed their lives for something that they believed in.
That’s why I think we should go back to celebrating Armistice Day, and celebrate the end of war and the renewal of peace.
Who’s Really Conservative?
Jun 15th
Published earlier this year at Northern Illinois Liberty
The political world, or at least the right (as in right vs. left, not right vs. wrong) part of the political spectrum is all abuzz with news about the “Mt. Vernon Statement.” I guess it doesn’t occur to some people that even non-politicians don’t always do as they say, and simply signing a “statement” is not going to change anything.
But, that’s not what I meant to say…I intended to point out some anomalies in the Mt. Vernon Statement. I found out about this from Fox News, not always a libertarian’s best friend (I suspect that a dog could easily be a libertarian’s best friend over Fox)…but I digress. Here’s the link for yourself, so you can read the article, and send me raging emails about how wrong I am, or, if you prefer, you may email me with letters extolling my clarity, honestly, and ability to see through facetious scams put on by the neo-cons.
So, by now you’re wondering if I have a point, and frankly, I am wondering too. So I’ll try to get down to business. The Mt. Vernon Statement is suppose to determine “Who’s Who” in the conservative circle. I think they could more truthfully say the Mt. Vernon Statement is supposed to determine Who’s Who in the neo-con circle.
From the Mt. Vernon Statement, “The conservatism of the Declaration asserts self-evident truths based on the laws of nature and nature’s God. It defends life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It traces authority to the consent of the governed. It recognizes man’s self-interest but also his capacity for virtue.”
I apologize, but I didn’t realize they had conservatives back in the 1770’s, I thought they had the Patriots and the Tories, and of course, the undecided. But that’s rather irrelevant, so I’ll move on.
Conservatism asserts life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, according to the Mt. Vernon Statement. How nice, (I really am serious here), that conservatives are always defending life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Then perhaps it was a malicious hacker who added these words, “It supports America’s national interest in advancing freedom and opposing tyranny in the world and prudently considers what we can and should do to that end.”
“Advancing freedom?”
Do you know what that means?
The War in Iraq and Afghanistan.
We’re advancing freedom by fighting two unnecessary wars in the Mideast.
We’re asserting life by killing innocent civilians.
We’re defending liberty by taking away our own freedoms to fight these wars that will take away their freedom as well.
We’re protecting the pursuit of happiness by helping to embroil the Mideast in long, bloody, violent, and unhappy conflicts.
Uh-huh…or should I say, “yeah right”?
