Sensationalism

This is something that has been on my mind…and so…of course…I feel the need to blog about it.

The far right, which I am proud to call myself a part of, need to be very careful of something that some of us are doing.  Sensationalism.  I have seen many tweets, blogs, and comments claiming certain things that are just not fair, right or good. When we sensationalize the events that are going on right now…we take our credibility and minimize it to just claims of unsubstantiated craziness.  We are all angry and outraged at the direction our country is headed in.  We are scared, shocked and feeling helpless at the sheer rate of changes being implemented daily.  But when we say things that are sensationalized then we take our outrage and make it something that the left cannot understand.

I in no way think we should bend our beliefs to appease the left.  But if we construct our arguments in an educated and fair way…they have so much more of an impact.  Do we need to vent?  Sure!  Do we need to get our frustrations out?  Of course!  Do we need to call our Country’s President the Anti-Christ?  No.

Let me show your examples of things we do not need to say.

Ali Bama is a Muslim Marxist.  Soon stoning women will be legal and they’ll be taxed if they scream.

Charles Manson Joins Team Obama to head up door-2-door census Will work with ACORN Criminals.

The easy part is getting Obama to Africa. The hard part is figuring out how to keep him there where he belongs.

Obama speaks in Eqypt.  Wonder if he invited his real father, although Satans schedule is quite busy.

Obama’s father didn’t abandon him, we killed him in WWII, just amazing Ava Braun and Hitler gave birth to a black man.

Are we sure Obama doesn’t agree with gay marriage? Oh, that’s a woman he’s married to?  Hard to tell.

Obama believes in partial birth abortion because he wished the option was available for the kids he has but doesn’t want.

Wow people, some of those are so mean, unfair, and just not right.  I believe Obama is ruining our country.  I think he doesn’t love America the way I do.  I think we are headed towards socialism and away from capitalism.  But saying we are going to stone women soon, he is hiring serial killers, attacking his wife and children…makes us just as bad as the people who did it to Sarah Palin.  Just not right.  Yes, speak your frustrations, get outraged, get angry….but don’t make claims that make us look like crazy people.

This is just my personal opinion….probably an unpopular one.

GROW A BACKBONE!

When I was in high school, I was one of those strange kids who listened to Limbaugh and worried about grades. I was politically involved at a very young age. In the eighth grade, I was snapped in a picture on Bill Clinton’s Inauguration Day wearing all black with a Clinton/Gore button with an “x” over it. Everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE, knew my political stance years before I could vote. Even back in those days, my views were the unpopular opinion. People ridiculed me…called me names…and said mean things to my face. Funny, but now when I look back on those days I remember thinking, I will pray for them. They’re so blind. I know they don’t know what they are doing. Prayer is powerful and I remember thinking “I give this burden to you God, take it out of my life”. The people who mattered, my family and friends, knew who I was and loved me. That is all that matters in this world. Pleasing God and making the people who believe in you proud of your actions.

Now, I look at our leader. Yes, the unpopular opinion might be to speak out against the injustice currently taking place in Iran. Its going to make people angry. It might even make you seem like you’re sticking your nose in where it doesn’t belong. If your friend was standing on a railroad track, a racing train headed straight for them, you would yell. You would scream. You would wave your hands. You’d run flailing towards them. You’d do this to prevent something you care about from ceasing to exist. So, Mr. President, I ask you. Who are you trying to please? Whose opinion matters to you? What do you stand for?

Mr. President, you are never going to be liked by everyone. The only people you should be trying to please are the people who believe in you. I am trying to believe in you. But obviously, my opinion is not one of the opinions you are trying to please. You do not have impress the leaders of foreign countries. People are going to dislike you when you do the right thing. Its hard to rely on the God you claim to serve. Leaders are often criticized when they take a stand. Remember Lincoln? The President you aspire to be? Lincoln was WILDLY unpopular. He stood up for freedom for all. He was only concerned with serving his God and his belief in the freedom all Americans deserve. Freedom is something that we should aspire to spread through the planet. Its a human right. STAND UP! TAKE A STAND! DON’T BE AFRAID TO LEAN ON GOD! God works miracles…and He will work them in the lives of those that serve him.

It is not a compliment Mr. President, that in the eighth grade, I had more of a backbone than you. A thirteen year old girl. You are the leader of the free world. Listen to those words. THE LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD. It does not say the leader of the free Gitmo Detainees. It is not the leader of the free universal healthcare. Those things are minute, and pale in comparison to the right that everyone has to freedom.

Mr. President, I will pray for you. I will pray for you to realize that we will stand beside you if you stand up against tyranny. We will stand beside you when you stand for the rights of human beings. We will stand beside you if you stand up for God’s chosen people in Israel. STAND UP MR. PRESIDENT. Be a Leader. Be a strong force for good in this world.

Mr. President, when you stand for nothing we cannot stand beside you. This pains us. You are not only letting down your country, you are letting down the people who thought America would stand behind them as they fight for freedom. Do not say that “world is watching and inspired by their participation regardless of what the ultimate outcome of the election was.” Don’t demean their plight like that. Don’t “watch” from the sidelines, be the coach teaching them how freedom is not free. Don’t be “inspired by their participation” but yet be the inspiration for a free world and YOU participate in their fight.

Be a President, be a Leader, be someone who makes us proud to be Americans. Grow a backbone, Mr. President. Grow a backbone made of God, your fellow Americans, and of the freedom that should bind us all together.

I’m no Jim Treacher but….

This is an original post by The Washinton Monthly by Steve Benen featuring Hilzoy.

‘IT IS WAY WORSE THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE’…. I’m generally inclined to ignore publicity stunts, but this one might serve a greater goal.

Chicago radio talk-show host Erich Muller, aka “Mancow,” apparently decided he’d subject himself to waterboarding. His admitted goal, which Mancow conceded on the air, was to prove that waterboarding was not, in fact, torture.

This morning, Mancow, who is nationally syndicated, went into a storage room next to his radio studio. The results were predictable.

“The average person can take this for 14 seconds,” Marine Sergeant Clay South answered, adding, “He’s going to wiggle, he’s going to scream, he’s going to wish he never did this.”

With a Chicago Fire Department paramedic on hand, Mancow was placed on a 7-foot long table, his legs were elevated, and his feet were tied up.

Turns out the stunt wasn’t so funny. Witnesses said Muller thrashed on the table, and even instantly threw the toy cow he was holding as his emergency tool to signify when he wanted the experiment to stop. He only lasted 6 or 7 seconds.

“I wanted to prove it wasn’t torture,” Mancow said. “They cut off our heads, we put water on their face … I got voted to do this [by his listening audience] but I really thought, ‘I’m going to laugh this off.’”

He didn’t. In fact, he explained afterwards, “It is way worse than I thought it would be, and that’s no joke.” (Christopher Hitchens had a similar reaction last year.)

I mention this, not to give a radio host more publicity, but because it’s common to hear torture apologists insist that waterboarding is “no big deal.” This is not only absurd, it defies common sense: if this wasn’t torture, we wouldn’t have done it. The whole point is to do something so horrific that the detainee would feel compelled to give up information. If it were merely a “splash in the face,” as some on the right have argued, why would Bush administration officials think it might be effective?

What’s more, also note the circumstances/context here. Mancow was in a familiar setting; he knew his life was not being threatened; and he know he could stop the procedure at any time. Despite all of this, he still recognized this as torture, despite wanting to prove the opposite.

I am just going to say this first and foremost.  I would suck as a political analyst…..because things like these actually hurt my feelings.  Here is the comment I posted in reply to all the mean nasty things that people commented afterwards….

My husband has been drowned by the military, and brought back to life since “dying requires too much paperwork” He has been put in a gas chamber and removed his mask. He has been put through physical and psychological tests than many of you would wimp out on.
My husband is an American Citizen.
He is also a United States Navy Sailor.
None of you care what happens in training. Maybe its because we should feel sorry for terrorists and hate the military. That is your mantra, right?

Mancow couldn’t handle waterboarding….given. I also bet he couldn’t handle killing 3,000 people and spending his entire life training people to hate and kill heroes like my husband. Obviously, he does not have the constitution (sorry to use that word, I know how much you hate it) to be a hero or a terrorist.

Maybe instead of saving American lives we should just tell people where to bomb to specifically hit the Vice President in his “secret bunker”. Oh we already did?

Maybe instead of speaking the only language the terrorists understand which is fear, we should apologize for our actions and be ashamed of protecting our great Nation. Oh we already did that too?

Maybe instead of all you speaking about things you yourself would never have the guts to stop in the first place by placing your life on the line for America, we should instead ask Iran nicely to please not use nuclear weapons on us or our allies. Oh we did that as well?

I’m going to go to bed. Alone. Heartbroken and sad because my husband is away from me protecting people like you from the scum terrorists that you feel sorry for. Difference between you and me? I will sacrifice today, tomorrow, and every day after that because I believe YOUR American life is worth protecting.

You can read the entire post with all the nasty comments here.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_05/018309.php#1505600

As a side note, I consider myself pretty well informed on things.  I know that I am not the brightest lipstick in the metaphorical makeup case of the world. There are some people on twitter, @JTlol, @RoaringRepub, @JamieWalker725 who get it.  They give me the strength to get through and bless my life with laughter, compliments, kind words, and blog posts to help this blonde understand cap and trade.  You all hold a special place in my heart.