Hi. My name is Freedom, and I’m an Obamaholic. I attended every rally that I possibly could attend during the O-man’s campaign. I collected buttons, fliers, shirts, and posters that carried his likeness. I watched intently every time he spoke to us on the tube. I helped to rally the troops in any way that I could. My name is Freedom, and I’m an Obamaholic.
I had to insert that into this post as what follows may lead you to believe that I have become a hater. That would be miles from the truth. This post may lead you to believe that I have become as fervently against the O-man as I have been for him. That, too, would be far from the truth. The truth is that it is what it is and I can tell it no other way. Both during and after the campaigning and election, there were two prominent notions that I heard around the net: first, that we must do our part to bring about change, and secondly, the phrase “I’m not looking for a savior, just a president who will do a good job”. Both are worthy statements, but, I view the situation differently.
Most of us, those of us who are “feeling the crunch”, are already doing our parts. As I have stated previously, most of us struggle with the idea of going to a job that we hate, that pays too little, and leaves us wondering just how in the world we will make it through. A lot of us could have very well opted to lead a lucrative life of crime, but chose to do the right thing, instead, and hoped that our leaders would pull us out of this quagmire in which we find ourselves. Each and every day, we send our children off to schools that we know are sub-standard and do our best to instill a coinciding education into our children’s minds when they return home from school. There are many among us who have insufficient health care and pay through the nose for the overpriced prescriptions that they are given, then, sit in silent suffering. That is doing our part. That is doing our fair share. As much as we may wish, as much as we may dream, we, the people, CANNOT pass laws that will insure that we are paid a proper wage for a properly done job. We, the people, CANNOT pass laws that will provide a better education for our children. We, the people, CANNOT pass laws that will see to it that the citizens of this nation receive quality and affordable health care. Those responsibilities lie in the hands of our elected officials. We have done, and continue to do our part. Once elected, it is their turn to do their parts.
Most recently, it seems to be the sentiment of the netizens that our president-elect should not be viewed as some kind of messiah that will step in and save the day. The sentiment seems to be that everyone is hopeful but few are expressing the idea that a change will actually come about as we have been expecting it to come. I take a different point of view, in that I cast my vote each and every time I vote expecting just that – a messiah that will step in and save the day. It is my feeling that we, the people, elect politicians to serve the people and to do our bidding. If we elect someone whom we believe will enact laws to enhance our lives, and they fail to do so, then those elected officials need to be voted out and replaced by someone who will get the job done. If I might reiterate the previous paragraph, they, and they only, have the power to enact laws. WE CANNOT DO IT OURSELVES. The people that we elect to serve have a responsibility to the people to turn this country and its citizens into the entity that the United States of America should be. Having duly aided in electing a viable candidate into office, not only do I hope that our president-elect will be a messiah who steps in to save the day, but, I believe that we have every right to EXPECT a messiah that will step in and save the day.
Hi. My name is Freedom, and I’m a Obamaholic and I say . . . bring it on! Peace.
copyright © 2008 freedom
freerealm@gmail.com
“POLITICIAN”, by Cream
Pirates In The House Of Somalia
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Black Hawk Down!
Do a search for Somalia, July 12, 1993, and you will certainly find quite a bit of information available. Most of the information will give a brief summary of what took place that day in Somalia. The most (so-called) significant information that is placed in the forefront is that the U.S. fired upon a house which was to have been occupied by the one person they so desperately sought. In the forefront, you will read that, afterward, five (5) journalists went in to investigate and were killed. Always associated with that story, you will read that several months later a Black Hawk was down, downed by the leader that the U.S. had so desperately sought. The one thing that most reports fail to include is that the targeted house which the U.S. destroyed, housed not the enemy that was being sought: The house contained more than fifty (50) of the clan elders from Somalia, the eldest and most respected in their community. Ironically, they were gathered together to discuss a plan to stop the fighting and bloodshed. When the day was done, they all lay dead.
It never fails to bring a tear to my eye when I read that yet another U.S. soldier has been killed. The tears formed in the seventies, during the Vietnam War. They formed in the eighties during the fighting in Grenada. Finally, they formed again in the nineties, when I read the headlines “Black Hawk Down!”. Unfortunately, as with most of the media, reports about what happens on any given day, highlight one aspect of a story, and downplay some very significant part of what really took place. July 12, 1993 was one such rearranging of the facts. Five (5) reporters were killed because a few moments earlier, Somalia’s most revered leaders were blasted to smithereens without provocation. Later that year, a “Black Hawk was down” because the U.S. had launched an attack on those who were trying to put an end to that very same type of action. General Thomas Montgomery (ret), who was in charge of operations that day, was interviewed by PBS’s FRONTLINE, regarding the events of that fateful day. He would not state that there were leaders left dead in the house. He danced around the issue by saying “When the soldiers got in the building, there were either dead or wounded . . .”.
Before there was a Black Hawk down, more than fifty (50) of Somalia’s leaders lay dead.
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Please note that after the building was bombed, four (4) Western journalists, including the renown Daniel Eldon, entered the building and were killed by “an angry mob”. This was at the top of the headlines for more than a week or so. What was left out was that the elders of Somalia had been killed just moments before while attending a peaceful meeting. As suggested at The Unmitigated Word, perhaps we should learn to take a closer look and understand the “why”.
copyright © 2007, 2009 freedom
freerealm@gmail.com