Alternatives
As Americans we pride ourselves on the ability to make choices. When we say that we are fighting for freedom, we are implying that we are fighting for the right to make our own choices. As Americans we do not like the idea of being told what to do. Even if we know what the “right” thing is we often choose to ignore the “right” thing “just this once.
During the Carter administration back in the late 1970s Jimmy Carter gave us a famous “energy conservation” speech. We were told how dangerous it was for the OPEC nations to have control over our lives. We collectively laughed at Jimmy Carter and determined that it was our right as an American to pay the OPEC cartel a little more money so that we could drive our big American cars. No one was going to tell us what we could or could not do. If we wanted to send a little extra money to the Middle East that was our business and not the government’s business.
Maybe Jimmy Carter didn’t want to frighten us, because he didn’t tell us the whole story. He didn’t tell us that some of the extra money that we were sending to the Middle East was going to people who didn’t like the United States. In fact, he didn’t tell us that there were people in the Middle East that didn’t like us because of the things our government had done in the past. He didn’t tell us that the Iranians still remembered that the US had overthrown their Democratically elected leader because we wanted to help the British protect the oil that they had stolen during the building of their empire. Americans were under the false impression that we were loved by all through out the world because of our enormous wealth that we flaunted everywhere we went. Who could hate us for having money?
So, when the Iranian students took revenge by capturing our Embassy in Tehran we ignored their grievances and shouted at their government for not enforcing the International laws. We wouldn’t even acknowledge that we had broken any international laws when we overthrew their government. We, as Americans, don’t like to be told what we don’t already know is a fact. We were innocent and the students had no legitimate reason for doing what they did. That’s the fact!
Some Americans believe that their country has never been wrong. Many Americans believe that their country has only been wrong on one or two occasions. And, many Americans believe that if you believe that your country is wrong, then you are not an American patriot; you may even be a traitor. But, the truth is that there are always alternatives to every choice and we have human beings choosing between these alternatives. The president of the United States is a human being and he makes mistakes. His advisors are human beings and they make mistakes. And, if we don’t point out those mistakes before they are made we may suffer even worse disasters in the future. The secret plan to overthrow the democratically elected Iranian government resulted in the student uprising in 1979 which brought religious fundamentalist into power. These religious fundamentalists have played their cards right and have begun to spread their influence through out the Middle East. They have used the chaos in Iraq to spread their influence there as well. In fact, the biggest winner from the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 has been the Iranian religious fundamentalists. And, the longer we stay there the greater their power will become.
We have had alternatives all along. We didn’t have to overthrow the Iranians in 1953, just like we didn’t need to attack Iraq in 2003. We always have alternatives to our actions.
The fact that we always have alternatives isn’t always the fact that our leaders would like us to see. It doesn’t matter who the leader is, the leader always wants us to believe that he knows the one and only path we should follow into history. But, our leaders have been wrong and they will always continue to be wrong occasionally no matter who that leader happens to be. A good leader needs to admit when they are wrong, take responsibility, ask for advice and make the right choices as we go forward. It is only prudent!
But, we are not always blessed with leaders that know how to lead. And, of course, George W Bush is an example of a leader who has failed to lead and continues to drag us down the wrong road. George W Bush has alternatives, but he chooses to ignore this fact. In fact, he plays the bully, taunting the opposition as if he knows the truth and everyone else is just to stupid to see it. I am sorry that I am this harsh here, but sometimes a stubborn ass needs to be pushed down the road, because he doesn’t know the danger if he stays put.
I would like to make one point here. WE HAVE ALTERNATIVES! Sorry for the shouting, but sometimes it is appropriate. George W Bush gave his “Stay the Course and Kill Some More” speech last week. He proposed that 145K troops isn’t enough, so we should send some more. He also said we should ask the Iraqis if they didn’t mind pitching in a little. Like we hadn’t done that before. Then, the next day George W Bush got upset that people were criticizing him on this plan. He said that we shouldn’t criticize him with offering an alternative plan. What? What!? What planet is this guy from? He even commented on the Iraq Study Group’s plan in his speech. Wasn’t that an alternative plan? What about Jack Murtha’s plan? There have been at least four separate plans that I am aware of, and I am sure that there must be more. Does George W Bush have some type of disease that makes him deaf to other people’s ideas? There have been many alternatives offered, but just because he refuses to acknowledge them they suddenly don’t count. And, even the ISG’s plan was acknowledged, or didn’t he realize that it was a comprehensive bipartisan plan?
George W Bush seems to be playing that children’s game where the child puts his fingers in his ears and yells “I can’t hear you” repeatedly because he doesn’t want to know the truth. Maybe while he isn’t listening to the alternatives on Iraq he will miss his opportunity to truly mess up our domestic issues in the mean time. At least one can only hope.
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Don't forget what Stephen Colbert said, "Reality has a well-known liberal bias."
Cross Posted @ Bring It On, tblog, Blogger and BlogSpirit
Reflection
