Politics and Poetry 2

• The Cradle will fall: The mayhem in Syria reached epic heights over the weekend. A massacre in the town of Houla left 109 victims dead, mostly women and children - 49 under the age of 10 hacked to death with axes and knives. The men of the town were demonstrating at the town mosque and claim that while they were away, government forces ambushed the town, killing innocent civilians. The government has claimed that this is the act of rogue terrorists. Kofi Annan of the UN sat down with President al-Assad today to make clear the international weight of these decisions. Several countries, including the US, also expelled Syrian diplomats in protest to the weekends events. All this to say...well, just to say, really. According to Annan, he "appealed to him [Mr Assad] for bold steps now - not tomorrow, now - to create momentum for the implementation of the plan."
So he spoke to him sternly about having spoken to him about at some point doing what he had spoken to him about originally.
Meanwhile, people in Houla fear another attack: "Military reinforcements have been brought in, and artillery, and we are afraid that the massacre will happen again," Mahmoud Al Houli told CNN reporters. "Four checkpoints have been set up around the town, and nothing can enter -- no food or medical supplies can come in. The electricity has been cut off. Things are desperate."
He closed with this piercing remark: "You have seen the bodies on television, on the computer, but we see them in real life."
So true. And yet, we discuss these images, these lives as if no one had to see them in real life.
If we're going to take an interest in the slaughtering of humans in other countries, we have to take a real interest. Hanging a carrot in front of desperate people's eyes is cruel and superfluous.
If we are going to stay out of it, stay out of it. This half ass bullshit is about as useful and philanthropic as standing in front of a homeless man, waxing poetic about the ills of poverty while counting your money. Come the fuck on!

Fear, fear, fear: While many of us reflected on the meaning of Memorial Day, perhaps remembering family members or saying a silent thank you to those who felt our country was worth a fight...Mitt Romney was enjoying a heaping bowl of fear with his BBQ.
At a speech in San Diego, CA, his message was clear: "The world is not safe."
"We can follow in the footsteps of Europe and shrink our military smaller and smaller to pay for our social needs...and they of course rely on the strength of America and hope for the best. Were we to follow that kind of course, there would be no one that could stand to protect us. The other is to commit to preserve America as the strongest military in the world, second to none with no comparable power anywhere in the world. We choose that course - not so we just win wars but so we prevent wars, because a strong America is the biggest deterrent to war that has ever been invented."
Let me just attempt to wrap my head around this one...military is more important than our social needs? What is your damage?! I'd like to see him give this speech at the WTC memorial - or how about to a bunch of school kids who don't know how to read but already know to hate Muslims.
And Europe relies on us?! You've got to be fucking kidding me. Even with the teetering Eurozone, there are only 4 European countries that have worse national debt than the US...guess ole Mitt was too busy polishing his gun to study up on some fucking common sense and hard facts. Good lord.
I'm no fan of Obama, but the more I hear this jack noodle talk, the more I'd like to see him pushing pens at a dead end Pentagon job - love the military so much? Go serve 'em. They deserve it.
Meanwhile, this pro-military spending loony tune is the same guy who recently said:

"You have to have a government that doesn't get too big."

What's bigger than the biggest military in the world?...


Call or Draw:
 

We crawl here on our knees and fear

Gagged and tied

lady liberty has died

call or draw

And in this mess you

wave the flag and bless

all the ones who

rape your rights for fun

call or draw

coming round that roulette wheel

coming round that roulette wheel

kill your innocence and ignorance

you can’t use them now

build your common sense,

intelligence

they won’t show you how

give it up like

virgins in a truck

all your rights in your country’s name

call or draw

are you blind?!

freedom ain’t a right you know

and those who lead

spin these lies for bribes

call or draw

coming round that roulette wheel

coming round that roulette wheel

kill your innocence and ignorance

you can’t use them now

build your common sense,

intelligence

they won’t show you how

9/11 mosque

Some things just leave a bad taste in your mouth. Like the mystery jam at the back of the fridge that you swore was ok when your mom claimed the white stuff on top was crystallized sugar (yes, this actually happened to me). Yeah, like that. This is one of those instances.
Building a mosque and community center down the street from ground zero would be a great idea in a perfect world. But then again, in a perfect world, 9/11 would never have happened. I do not think this only on behalf of the victims of the terrorist attack, nor the residents of lower Manhattan who can still see the images of falling concrete and glass in their minds eye. No, I think this on behalf of ordinary Muslims as well. That's right.
Just as one can separate the logical distinction between members of the KKK and Christians who go to church every Sunday (and whose extracurricular activities don't include lynchings and burning crosses), we should be able to know the difference between Muslims and Islamist extremists. As I said in an earlier post, Islamist extremists are the furthest from the Muslim faith of any. If you research any extremist organization, that is usually the case. The loudest, most self righteous, extreme members of any creed are usually the ones who have mangled and raped the original message of that creed the most. Islamist extremists are no different.
What happened on 9/11 is and will always be a tragedy, a heart wrenching, mindless loss of human life. Those responsible should be severely punished...that's why we flew the Bin Ladens safely out of the country and have invaded almost every country in the Middle East other than Saudi Arabia where most of the terrorists were from...right.
One of our greatest faults is our mixed cocktail of arrogance and ignorance. This elixir can make the most affable American a real pain in the ass if he drunkenly walks into a Muslim right by ground zero.
I do of course see that there is always a possibility that the tables could turn but regardless of who strikes first, walking into a lions den wearing gazelle blood cologne is just a bad idea, no matter how good your intentions are. The spokesman for the Cordoba intitiative (the name of the community center project) said that the project would build bridges. I disagree.
Before you build bridges, you gotta test what you're building on. And right now, you're suspended in mid air over a swamp. Americans need to be educated on the Muslim culture before its shoved into their faces. The only thing that comes to mind in most people's heads when you say Muslim is 9/11, suicide bombings, terrorist. You'd be hard pressed to find someone talking about the incredible culture of a faith rooted in the cradle of civilization. And it's a two way street. Muslims also need to understand and accept that theirs is a sticky situation. I hate getting stopped at airports and groped by some overweight, underpaid security guard who smells of McDonalds and hairspray. However, if swedes and jews were responsible for terrorist attacks across the world, I would offer myself up for searches. Like Derek Jeter in line for drug testing, I would request that my bags be searched and my boobs groped. Why? Because I wouldn't be angry with those protecting themselves, I'd be damn pissed off at my countrymen or fellow jews for making my culture and my beliefs look like a bad slaughterhouse video game.
Until this mutual understanding of cultures and lifestyles happens, the only thing you're going to get from an initiative like this is a whole helluva lot of trouble.
You can't run before you crawl and you shouldn't act before you educate.