I’m not a political strategist, but the selection of Paul Ryan baffles me…..
Who did Romney pick up vote wise? The tea party crazies that were already on his side.
The more important question, who did he lose? Well I guess we’ll find out soon enough but I can’t imagine that the eldery population that makes up a big voter block, along with the soon to retire generation that doesn’t have their finances togther are jumping for joy at Medicare getting gutted.
A strange choice.
On the last couple of blogs I’ve had some negative feedback, no big deal, but I guess I should give some background on myself, I’ve had the advantage or disadvantage, as it may be, of the following. I was born and raised in a white middle class home, not a victim of any childhood abuses or trauma, I attended a state univeristy and got out with zero student loans, I majored in something I thought would be useful, (Education) instead of the more popular French Literature. I joined the military and have been to some of the best and worst places on the planet, I’ve seen acts of incredibly good and out of this world evil, I’ve worked with people that you would be proud to know and others that make your skin crawl, in both Afghanistan and Iraq I’ve seen treatment of women and minorities that would make you physically sick to your stomach. I’m sorry that when I talk about things that might happen in 50 years it’s not as big of concern as when I see kids starving on the street and people killed because of their faith, I don’t have the advantage of sitting in an apartment in American regurgitating the talking points of Moveon, NPR or whomever the flavor of the week is.
I have plenty to worry about throughout the day, job security, bill paying, saving for my daughters education all the way down to getting out of work before traffic gets bad, hoping they don’t run out of eclairs at the bakery and keeping my weight in check. I’d say I run the gauntlet of worries and think that I’m pretty average, some stuff is important some stuff not so much but it got me thinking about social issues in America, do people really worry about them?
For example, a lot of right wingers are fervently against gay marriage, you see them in TV interviews, protesting on the streets and talking to you about it whenever they get the chance. I’m curious as to whether or not John and Martha are in bed at night and John looks over and says “Martha I don’t think I can take another day if these fags can get married”. If that is the main worry that these people have then two things jump out at me, they must have their lives so sorted out that they don’t have real worries and secondly I’m jealous.
I’d like to be able to say that the left is better but of course we aren’t, I totally believe in climate change/global warming, it’s hard for me to get concerned though when they say the ocean is going to raise 1/40th of an inch in the next 25 years, it’s kind of a let down and doesn’t really endear you to main stream America. If you have “normal” worries, then the ocean raising tenths of inches doesn’t really jump into my Top 10.
I guess I can see why these worries would be number 1 if you were a gay couple trying to get married or a scientist whose job it was to deal with climate change, but for normal Americans who are struggling with high unemployment and home foreclosures it’s hard to imagine why these issues are such hot button.
My Christmas wish is to find a politician who deals with real US “day to day” worries and not one who panders to our political extremes. I know it makes good television and a lively debate, but I don’t think I’m alone when I say there are more important issues to worry about.
I consider Ted a friend and agree with a good portion of what he’s written, unfortunately for him and the rest of us, his case against Iran is useless. Ted wrote a informative, well researched and thought provoking paper, too bad he missed the majority of voters…..here is the reaction in Kansas and how the Republicans will get their war.
Reaction to Ted “Ugh this paper is nearly a page long and he’s from NY….yawn”
Romney-“9/11, Muslim, Terrorists, High gas prices”
Done and done.
The war personally (troops/veterans) make up less than 1% of the population, there will be no WWII style rationing, most people will never travel to Iran or meet an Iranian as well as never befriend a US soldier. I’m a former veteran and I’ve never met a group of people (not all but the majority) that were so rah rah for the cause that they refuse to believe anything outside of the Army vision, most Americans want to believe in the good of the US government anything outside of that would cause their world to come crashing down.
First off, I’m not a fan of Romney but I’ve been alive for 5 presidents, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush/Gore and Obama. My point is has anything changed? I mean since Reagan don’t we still have an incredible high prison population, shitty schools, too many people needing food stamps, rampant underemployment and every other social ill we can think of? If Mitt wins the presidency isn’t it just another rich white guy running the country? My more liberal friends are up in arms over the fact that he might win but really would anything change?
So I published my first guest blog yesterday and already got some feedback, pretty cool if you ask me. I was asked to provide more details on the day to day for Afghan’s, I should of realized that most Americans have zero concept of life out here, so I’ll try my best to describe it.
I interact with the local Afghan population on a daily basis, my job is to try and sort out problems they have (work stuff, troops in the area, crime, electricity/water, etc). Please remember that this is my OPINION and not any kind of policy.
Most of the complaints from the local population has to do with the incredible amount of corruption that takes place in their local government and the perception that ISAF and the US are complicit in allowing this to happen. From police shaking people down to bribes being paid for government job, processing “fees” so your paperwork doesn’t get lost, all of these are having a hugely negative impact on the locals. What complicates these problems is that there is such a disconnect between the villages and the urban areas that the villagers don’t even have the opportunity to make complaints. One more layer to that onion is that US/ISAF policy has been to allow the Afghan’s to govern themselves, this has been a spectacular failure, with a population that has 90% illiteracy rate and a “take care of my own tribe first” mentality things have taken a predictable downward spiral.
There are a great number of Afghan’s who never leave their local village, for any reason. To try and tell them that someone they have never met in a city they will never go to, is in charge, well it’s amusing to them.
In terms of a day to day life for the Afghan people, it’s really just a matter of surviving, day to day, there is no Pashtun or Dari word for “dream or ambition” it’s just making it through life, hoping you get enough to eat, if you are lucky getting the chance to get married.
Greetings from Afghanistan:
Before I get started I’d like to thank Ted for allowing me to guest blog, I’m a big fan of his work and politics, I appreciate that he’s given me this opportunity.
I’d like to start today with thoughts on Afghanistan, since I’m here and have been here for the last 3 years I think I have a unique perspective on what’s going on especially compared with what you see on the news. The recent killings of Afghans by US personnel and vice versa has been debated by talking heads and experts to no end so I’m not going to waste your time, I’m just going to say I’m SHOCKED it doesn’t happen more often.
To say there are cultural differences between US troops and the Afghan populace is kind of like saying Micheal Jordan knew how to play basketball, it doesn’t capture the richness or depth. I understand why the Afghan’s were upset about the burning of the Quran, religion is the only way they can make it day to day, the promise of heaven and an easier life is paramount here. The poverty/oppression/lifestyle that they are forced to live with on a daily basis is so far beyond comprehension to anyone in the United States that I won’t even try to describe it, I don’t have the words. On the other hand I also understand why Afghan’s are dehumanized by some US personnel, it’s easy to do. I’ve seen human rights abuses (especially men on women) that are intolerable for western values, when you send in an 18 year old from rural Texas and he sees these abuses I’m not sure what kind of outcome we expect.
Until next time, please send me any questions you have from out here.
KJP
