Name:

Scott

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Commentary

Joined:

February 09, 2007

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3 days ago

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Country:

United States

Occupation:

I install and inspect burglar and fire alarm systems as well as home theater systems.

Companies:

I'd rather not divulge that information.

Hobbies:

Progressive/Liberal Politics, my Family, Defeating Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Bill O'Reilly, Making YouTube videos, Playing Video Games, Answering Comments, Giving Advice (when asked to give it), Technology, Internet Radio, Sculpting, Drawing, Karaoke, Cooking, Movies, My Cat, Making My Country and the World a Better Place, Stopping Global Warming, Getting The Troops Out Of Iraq and Afghanistan, Fixing The Damage From 8 Years Of Rape-publi-con Rule.

Movies:

The only thing that I'm certain of when it comes to President Obama; is that I am confused. I think that it's too soon to tell if this President is going to hold to his word and be the person that we elected, or if the office of the Presidency will change him. On one hand President Obama did sign the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law, which goes a long way toward mandating equality in the workplace for women, the economy hasn't completely melted down, and we're better off diplomatically without President Bush with his lies and deceit. Blah, blah, blah, right? If and when I make a video on this, I'll make a complete list of all President Obama's accomplishments, suffice to say; he's done some good things and brought a quiet thoughtfulness back to the Whitehouse. I don't cringe anymore when I hear my President speak at a press conference or give a speech. On the other hand, candidate Obama started off being for a Single Payer system and universal healthcare during the primaries, but now... it's like pulling teeth just to get him to hold the line on a watered down version of the Public Option. He repudiated the Wall Street Banksters and the Corporations who have sold our manufacturing sectors off to China, but now it's business as usual and it seems like the only jobs that our kids can look forward to is flipping burgers or joining the military, etc. etc. (Insert my long list of dire concerns here). I saw President Obama's Afghanistan speech last night and it was of course a great speech, but I'm still unclear as to "the mission" and "a clear exit strategy". How can we prop up a corrupt and illegitimate President in Afghanistan like Hamid Karzai? If Pakistan's loose nukes are the real problem and the reason for our extended stay in the region, then does that mean that Pakistan is next? The CIA is already fighting a covert war in Pakistan with predator drones, so has the Pakistan phase already started? The bottom line is, we don't know what the President knows, we haven't seen the intelligence reports he's being fed, not yet anyway. I don't know if this President will turn out to be a liar, or if the intelligence he's receiving will turn out to be wrong; but at some point we will find out. While I'm still a big fan of President Obama, I fear that he will turn out to be another melbatoast, middle of the road, corporate-democrat like President Clinton; when what we need is a lion tamer like President Eisenhower or President Roosevelt (either Teddy OR Franklin would do). So far, when it comes to President Obama, my dreams have not been crushed, but my hope is fading, sorry to say.

Music:

I was talking with a good friend of mine named Spentastic on YouTube about the prosecution of former President Bush for war crimes and he reminded me about the genocide in Rwanda that then President Clinton and Secretary of State Madeline Albright ignored and enabled. Albright dragged her feet when it came to restoring UNAMIR's forces in Rwanda and simply calling genocide, genocide. I also blame the media for not adequately covering the Rwandan genocide and ultimately I blame myself and my fellow citizens for just not caring enough about what was going on. I remember at that time, over here in the States, we were all so incredibly distracted by our own issues of race (the O.J. Simpson trial) that the Rwandan genocide just didn't make it unto our 'personal radar'. Another reason that we Americans turned a blind eye to the killing was that (I believe) we'd had our fill of military expeditions in Africa after the 'Black Hawk Down' incident in Somalia. I remember thinking, 'Oh well, more civil strife in Africa, what else is new?' I feel terrible about it now, but I was distracted and complacent back then too; and totally focused on the Simpson trial. I have the feeling that at the time, Bill Clinton was too afraid and timid, after the backlash over 'Gays in the Military', the defeat in Somalia, the fiasco of appointing his wife to overhaul our medical system (even though her plans were sound) to act decisively. President Clinton was looking at a potential huge midterm defeat coming up in November of 94. If fact President Clinton did get his ass handed to him in those midterm elections, and that was without having a military quagmire in Africa dragging down his poll numbers. In the end, all of it was just excuses for our own complicity and guilt. I used to wonder why it was that the world stood by as Germany conducted wholesale genocide during the late 30's and WW2. I used to wonder why it was that so many Americans stood by and did nothing as that Native Americans were slaughtered. It all comes back to Edmund Burke's famous quote, 'All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing'. I don't know who wrote it or where I read it but one of my other personal favorite sayings about this goes like this- 'Perpetrators, collaborators, bystanders, victims: we can be clear about three of these categories. The bystander, however, is the fulcrum. If there are enough notable exceptions, then protest reaches a critical mass.' Right now, we all know about what is going on in Darfur and we know that something has got to be done, but where else is genocide happening right now? It's like we get so used to the killing and the slaughter, that it then takes something geometrically more shocking to slap us out of our complacency and despair. We have to resist the urge to bar the door and block out all the bad news, that just perpetuates the cycle. There are days when I wonder if we humans deserve to live on this Earth. Why it is that we (as a species) believe that we deserve some exalted, self-appointed role over all dominion on this planet? Yeah I know, it says so in the Bible, but in reality, we are no better than the rest of the animals when it comes to controlling our own blood-lust and self destructive tendencies. Right now, our technology only serves to magnify our killing capacity, when will we use our incredible intelligence to heal our wounded souls and redeem ourselves? The Earth will eventually regenerate and heal from the wounds that we have inflicted, the Sun will continue to shine ( for another 5 billion years), life will go on with or without human beings.