I pledge allegiance to freedom in America

 


The current administration is butting into private industry and our personal freedoms.
In a democracy, aside from the laws that we have created through our elected representatives, government does not tell us how to think and how to express our beliefs. That's why we have a constitution, to protect us against government dictates and fiats.
If a person wants to stand during the national anthem, so be it. If they don't, so be it. Our flag is supposed to be a symbol of our democracy, the right of freedom of expression, press, religion, and freedom from oppression. If an individual feels that the flag does not currently stand for those ideals, then expressing discontent by kneeling is a right guaranteed to all. To say otherwise is to say that the flag no longer represents our ideals, but rather stands for demagogery. That is not America.
Respect must be deserved. When it wasn't there was the American Revolution. There were the suffragettes. There were civil rights and war protests.
That is America, people standing up to be free. Or kneeling when those freedoms are abridged.
So yes, I pledge my allegiance to freedom. I will stand when my country is right, and kneel when it's wrong.
If this is not the way you think, I won't ask you to leave this country. You have to right to believe what you want. However, you don't have the right to force your views and beliefs on me. That's what democracy requires.

A Frightening Trend in Thought

 

Article Six of the United States Constitution  forbids a religious test as a requirement for holding a governmental position.

Adolf Hitler blamed for Germany's problems on Jews, Communists, Freemasons, Socialists, Liberals, Pacifists, Gays, Czechs, anyone who was believed to not be Aryan.

Throughout history there are those who have risen to power by blaming societal problems on others. They create what has become known as "scapegoats." When we here rhetoric claiming that Muslims, Mexicans, Syrians, those from South America or the Middle East are responsible for our ills, beware. Remember Senator McCarthy and the "Red Scare?"

Unthinking masses are prone to accept the premise that they are not the cause problems. It lets them off the hook, relieves them from responsibility, and places blame squarely on the shoulder of "them." The them being those who think, look, dress and talk differently. This is dangerous and frightening thinking. It gives rise to dictators, atrocities, genocide, and the loss of freedom.

When election time comes around, a clear message needs to be sent to the hate mongers that No, this is not the way we think. No, we will not fall prey to hate. No, we will not blame others as we are all responsible for our actions, our successes and our failures. No, we will not build ourselves up on the fall of others.

HERE'S MY PROBLEM WITH AFGHANISTAN

Aside from the money and the deaths, I have a fundamental issue with what is happening in Afghanistan. When colonial America took on the British, it was a battle of farmers against the best trained army in the world. When the French rebelled against the king, it was peasants against a strong army. Today, the Arab Spring puts clerks and everyday people against highly trained military establishments. These people want their freedom from oppressive regimes and they are winning.

But in Afghanistan, it doesn't seem like the people really want their freedom. It is a matter of who can offer the most in terms of cash and security. If it's the Alliance, so be it. If it is the Taliban, so be it. There appears to be no basic desire to rid themselves of the shackles of the extremist Muslim views of a few, if those few make the better deal. I say, leave it to them to sort it all out and let's leave. Neither Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Syria, et al began with the help of the west. Yes, are are now giving support, but the impetus came from the grassroots. This is just not the case in Afghanistan, nor was it in Iraq.

Secondly, how long can it possibly take to train an Afghan army? My God, we send our soldiers to boot camp for six months and then some desert training and off to war they go. We have been 'training' in Afghanistan for 10 freaking years. Are they stupid people? I doubt it.

So it's time to come and let them sort it out. We need the money and it seems like they don't want the freedom!