Thursday, October 21, 2004

Burn It

So here's something from Wolf Blitzer's illustrious CNN site:

"Did distancing Clinton hurt Gore?

'Gore did as well as he did, he carried the popular vote because Clinton's record was so strong. But in the end, voters, after all the trauma of the Clinton years, wanted a change,' says CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider."
Wait, wasn't "all the trauma" caused by Republicans?? I mean, yes, Clinton did what he did; but it got blown all out of proportion (no pun intended).
If the Clinton years were traumatic, what are these years?

I must say, lately I feel as if something was stolen from me.
I have always been very patriotic. I have seen a lot of this country and there is much to love about it. Even our political system has a lot of inherent good.
I am a realist. I know that politicians are what they are, and I know that there are things in the system that can force a man's hand. Still, I was always proud to put my hand over my heart and gaze at the flag.
My father is in the Army, Special Forces, so I have ties to the military culture. I know that one of the purposes of a state is to protect itself (comprising the people and the infrastructure, its present and its future).

I am aware of all of this, and I have never felt so helpless. The flag has no meaning for me anymore (or it has meanings that are painfully conflicted). It hurts even more to see people that shrug all of this off as "just another thing." I try to be reasonable - everything with a grain of salt - but the situation seems more and more dire.

John Kerry will probably not change any of this, but Bush would make it worse.