Angry Liberal in Massachusetts

Land of the Free?? Part II

2006-09-02T11:55:00.000-05:00

In the first entry of Land of the Free I discussed the absolute assault on our civil liberties that is happening today under George Bush & Dick Cheney. Now i would like to discuss something that has gone on for FAR too long in this country.The "War on drugs" has gone on for decades, irregardless of whether Democrats or Republicans were in power in Congress, and irregardless of whether the president was liberal, moderate, or conservative. This seems to be one of the few things that almost ALL of our politicians go along with, either because they believe in it or are worried about the political consequences of being on the side of the "druggies" and even worse the dealers. Ever since the First Lady Nancy Reagan started telling people how easy it is to "just say no" this country has imprisoned millions for drug use and sales. Don't get me wrong, I am not a proponent of using drugs. On the contrary, I'm in recovery myself and I understand MUCH BETTER than Nancy Reagan the problems associated w/ using drugs. It's just that I recognize that the contempt that the American people and our leaders have for addicts is due to people like her saying that it's as easy as 1-2-3 to stay off drugs. This attitude causes many to see drug addicted people as people w/ lack of moral willpower. They see them as weak, thieves, dirty, disease infected, and beyond our help. That's just the opposite of the truth. The worse off an addict gets, the more likely it is that help is exactly what he needs and wants. As addicts hit bottom, their drug use tends to come into perspective, and w/ the right treatment they can find freedom from the deadly grip.
Instead, what do we do with our fellow brethren who are addicted to drugs? We lock them the hell up. They sit in a cell, becoming more and more isolated, depressed, suicidal, alone, and beyond help. Why shouldn't they feel like they are beyond help? That's exactly the message that is sent to them in 90% of the jails in this country. Now, many addicts commit serious crimes to feed their habit, such as grand larceny, armed robbery, and even murder. I'm not including them in the category of people I'm talkin about. I'm talking about the addicts that are in jail for being addicts, one way or another. Whether it is being caught for possesion or doing a ridiculous 2 year mandatory sentence for dealing to support your habit.
We need to realize that America;s prisons today only create more and better criminals. There is no rehabilitation. Upon entering most prisons in the U.S. inmates have to join a gang to stay alive. This forces them to commit crimes for the gang, and they get more and more cold hearted due to the ghastly environment around them. Then, they are released to the world after however many years, and told to behave. They lose their driver's licenses (at least in Mass. they do) for drug convictions, and they now have a record. Would you hire them for a job? No, absolutely not. The American Justice system continues to work against these people, instead of working to make them better individuals and productive members of society. Wasn't the original intention to rehabilitate these people? It looks like this is one more situation in which America has lost it's way and strayed from the plan.

Land of the Free??

2006-08-22T14:25:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since my last post. I've been on vacation and enjoying the nice weather. I am watching a show on Court TV called: The ACLU freedom files. It is reminding me just how badly the neo-conservatives in power are destroying our civil liberties. Library books, emails, web sites, customers info, etc etc. They are systematically raping America. It is sickening what is happening in Washington D.C. these days. The worst part is, most Americans have NO CLUE how bad the bill of rights has been trampled. I blame that on the democrats and legitimate conservatives in congress. People are being whisked away in the middle of the night and illegally deported for having had aquaintances in Pakistan years ago, before they even moved to America, who are SUPPOSEDLY "connected" to terrorism. The word connected is being used to arrest anyone of Arab descent. This is unbelievable that the country is allowing this to happen. Shady men in black coats can now legally creep into your house when you're not home and search the place, read your computer files and check your internet usage, read emails, snail mail, and anything else they can find. Not only can they do this, but they can leave just as quietly as they came in, and never tell you about it. They can legally steal fromn you w/out telling you who took your belongings. I wonder how many families out there are scared to death because their house was broken into by a "burglar" when it was really our wonderful government. The FBI and the CIA can now pretty much do whatever they want in the name of "fighting terror". They are allowed to do all this investigating w/out even checking w/ anyone outside of their own agency. That is scary!! If we let the police and investigators always decide who they can go after w/ no limitations, this country would be a VERY different place. It's not that they're bad people who wanna go after innocent people, but they would end up doing that. Why not? If they're wrong, they can go after the next guy. It could end up being a country where suspects are chosen using process of elimination. That's a scary thought. WE NEED TO WAKE UP. This country is headed somewhere where I know we don't wanna go.

WAR=WAR=WAR=WAR=WAR=WAR=WAR

2006-07-31T13:31:00.000-05:00

I am so sick of war. This world should be so sick of war by now, yet man continues to demolish man on a daily basis. War breeds more war, and that is shown again and again, yet the knuckleheads that have the power still don't get it. Now, I've never considered myself a pacifist, and I still don't. I understand that there are times in this world where war is a necessary evil, but it should always be the last option. Unfortunately, it seems as if it is often the first option for all the power hungry politicians, warlords, and terrorists of the world. Why? WHO KNOWS!!!! Almost every war in modern history has been followed by another war that is directly related to the first war. For example, World War II was a direct result of the negotiations following World War I, where Germany got blamed for the entire war. They were stripped of an army, made to pay reparations they couldn't afford, and many other things of that nature which made the Germans very unhappy. So, when a murderous veteran of World War I named Adolf Hitler showed up ranting and raving about the humiliation of WWI, he had a willing audience. You know the rest of the story. I'm not blaming WWII on the winners of WWI, just pointing out why there were people who would listen to maniacs like Hitler. As I've said in previous posts, there will always be murderous madmen in this world. These men are ignored unless the climate is such that people want revenge of some type. After the Allied victory in WWII, the Russians were able to spread communism across Europe and Asia. We split Vietnam between us and the Soviets, and a war soon followed. Korea was also split between communist North and democratic South. Not only did that start a war, but the war is still officially ongoing. North and South Korea have been under a cease fire for many years, while both sides think they are the true Korea. Now, I am not gonna keep going, but if you follow the wars you'll always find a connection to some sort of post war agreement in which the victor gets all the spoils, and the loser is left to be punished. While I do feel that we had more than enough reason, let alone obligation, to fight in the World Wars, I don't feel the same way about Vietnam or Korea. Although, my main problem is not with the war itself, but with the aftermath. The way that the victors treat the defeated breeds more and more anger. One war is bad enough, but if it helps further the cause of peace in the world, then it is necessary. The problem is that man continues to use one war as reason for another war, and on and on it goes. This is a statement of all mankind, not just America and our allies. I fear that this cycle of sanctioned murder of all mankind will continue, due to man's natural "instincts" of revenge and hatred of enemies. I am no pacifist, but due to the way man continues to conduct himself, I will most likely find myself against most wars, until we figure out that keeping the peace AFTER THE WAR is the most important part. And that doesn't include conquering the area and locking it down. Instead, we need to work together as FORMER enemies who are now seeking peace. Please watch this short video of the cost of war in Lebanon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc70l8j1K4w&NR

The Radicalization of the Middle East (as if it needs any more)

2006-07-23T10:55:00.000-05:00

It is now day 12 of the new massacre in the Middle East, in Israel,Lebanon, and Gaza. Everything is escalating and getting worse. The rhetoric I'm hearing on television is making me sick. Every time someone asks about the amount of force Israel is using on civilians in Lebanon, the response is to point out that Hezbollah started it. I just heard our president say the same thing when asked about the civilian suffering. Rather than say anything about their suffering, he plays the blame game. I agree hezbollah started this, and they are attacking Israeli citizens with rockets,but isn't that why they are called terrorists? Are we not supposed to be the better people? It is so easy for these people to talk as if they're playing a game of "BATTLESHIP" , while civilians on the ground are paying the price.
Imagine this. You're a Palestinian male living in Gaza trying to support your family. For years, every time you leave your house, you are interrogated by israeli troops at a checkpoint in your neighborhood. Now, these are not border checkpoints, they are spread all throughout palestinian territory. You want to bring your wife to the doctor, but you are stopped at the checkpoint and questioned as to where you're going. After explaining where you are headed, you are told to wait on the side of the road. After an hour or so of watching the soldiers hang around and do nothing that has to do with you, they decide that your wife has permission to go to the doctor but you may not go with her. She has to go, but doesn't feel safe without you. Off she goes, looking back at you the whole time, and you are told to go back home. After years of dealing with situations like this, you are becoming more and more radical. Then, one day, as if a miracle had occurred, Israel announces it is withdrawing from your land and you will be free to vote for your own government. After voting, you feel proud. You are free to walk down the street whenever you like. Your future seems positive, until the election results come in. Hamas has won, and that wasn't supposed to happen, at least not as far as the powers that be were concerned. Suddenly, you're worse off than you were before Israel left. The international community is pulling back all the funds they have been sending to help the palestinian people. Due to this, your lights are off for most of the day, you have very little, if any, food, clean water, gas/oil, medicine, and there is no one to pick up the trash in the street. Who are you going to blame for this? Why is the rest of the world letting you and your family starve? This is usually when some radical cleric gets your ear, and convinces you to join a terror organization.
Now, I am not making excuses for terrorists. There are some very bad people in this world, and they will always be around to take advantage of situations like the one above. I am only saying that if it weren't for our skewed middle east policies, there would be no one for these terrorists to recruit. And we all know guys like Bin Laden are not going to blow themselves up. I highly recommend watching a documentary called "Checkpoint", made by an Israeli citizen, which shows what happens at these checkpoints. There is no commentary, only footage, so no one can claim the filmmakers are biased. This documentary will open your eyes as to how you would react if put in the same situation as the Palestinian people.
This is not George Bush's fault alone. He has only made it worse. These policies have been in effect for many years. The problem now is that at the time when we had the chance to get the world on our side (after 9/11), our leader has done the opposite, and turned the world community against us. I feel this is due to our presidents lack of understanding of the world, and his ignorance of world history. Our president and his friends are a bunch of cowboys who don't think through the end results of their actions(see Iraq), and therefore they are very dangerous.
Take the situation going on in lebanon as I am writing. Bush & co. have touted the Lebanese government as a symbol of democracy in the middle east. Lebanon is an ethnically mixed country, and that is represented in their democratic government. Unfortunately, that includes Hezbollah, and just like in Gaza, we want to change that. In the short time this govt. has been in power, they have managed to disarm all but one of the militias in their country. The only militia they couldn't disarm was Hezbollah, who is very popular in Lebanon due to the social services they provide. The Lebanese government knew that to disarm Hezbollah before the population was ready was to start another civil war. Now, Israel has decided that by not routing Hezbollah soon enough, the Lebanese govt. has failed, and they need to step in and "save" them. The funny thing is, Israel not only is responsible for the formation of Hezbollah, which began due to Israel's invasion of Lebanon in the 80's, but they themselves had 18 years of fighting Hezbollah, and they not only couldn't disarm them, but they were driven out of Lebanon by them. So how the hell is a new government which has nowhere near the capability of Israel going to beat them? So, now here we are, right back where we were years ago. The government of Lebanon has lost the confidence of their people, while at the same time Hezbollah is gaining more support. The people of Lebanon are becoming more and more radical due to the bombardment of their homes while their so called allies, the U.S., is basically cheering Israel on.
Now, many neocons brush it off when it is said that our actions in Iraq have actually created more terrorists, along w/ the insurgency. Well, it is true. Our actions consistently play into the terrorists hands. Bringing war to these countries has the exact opposite effect than it is supposed to have. We supposedly are doing this to HELP the Iraqis, but that is not how it feels to the people on the ground. Imagine China invading Massachusetts and saying they are liberating us from Mitt Romney. Now, I'm not a big fan of Mitt's, but that doesn't mean I want some foreign soldiers coming here to take care of him. Of course, I am not comparing Mitt to Saddam Hussein in any, way, shape, or form, but think about it. Foreign troops searching for any Romney supporters, going house to house, unable to speak our language, and with no clue about our culture. Add to that the fact that we continously destroy their neighborhoods w/ bombs in the name of saving them, just as Israel is doing now in Lebanon. Civilians see this, and naturally become radicalized. How come we haven't caught onto this yet? Yes, there are people that are running these terror groups that are animals who wanna destroy our way of life. But we have people like that in this country. There are many American KKK and skinhead groups etc that are always on the hunt for soldiers to join up. There are people seeking power and destruction of others in every country on earth, but in the middle east we help the terror leaders recruit by the actions we take in that part of the world.

"Compassionate Conservative"

2006-07-18T15:46:00.000-05:00

I should start off by saying that although I am an angry liberal in Mass., I'm not actually that angry. At least, I'm not an angry person. I am very angry w/ the way things are going in this country, and I tend to get alittle fired up now and again. However, I'm not one of those people who gets their point across by using anger. I'd rather use words. I mentioned in my "coming soon" post that I am very annoyed w/ all the right-wingers who think that somehow they have a monopoly on being patriotic. I also constantly hear the pundits on TV using the word "liberal" as if it's a bad word. I have noticed that many on the left have internalized that, and therefore many hide from the word. Well, I'm hear to say that I am proud to be a liberal. I take it as a compliment to be considered a liberal. To me, liberal means open-minded, caring, unbiased, accepting of others, understanding and most of all, American. Why is it that we allow others to put us down for having those qualities? I don't know, can someone else tell me?
I have started this site to get some things off my chest, not to bash Republicans. Although, let's face it, I'll have to do some bashing if I'm talking about the "Republicans" of today. I put the word in quotes because today's Republicans couldn't be more different from the true Republicans of old. George Bush II uses the phrase "compassionate conservative" to describe himself, and many of his republican friends signed on to use this saying for themselves. Let's break that down. There's two parts, one compassionate, one conservative. Is George Bush and his cronies compassionate? I think we all know the answer to that question. They laugh at us when we talk about all the innocent Iraqis that are being killed each day of this God-awful war. They talk about the 2500+ American servicemen who have been killed in Iraq as if they were born to die for George Bush. He has yet to attend a funeral of any of those men. He blows off their family members that would like to actually speak to him(ex. Cindy Sheehan) and instead gives a select few of them a chance to meet w/ him for a nice juicy photo op to show how much he cares. He is in favor of the death penalty, and not just in favor of it. As Governor of Texas, he proudly put to death many men, while using his death count as something to brag about to his right wing friends. Now, I'm not saying that if someone is pro death penalty they're not compassionate. I know some very compassionate people that are in favor of the death penalty. All I'm saying is that if you take George Bush's core beliefs they are anything but compassionate.
Now, let's take the word "conservative". Many people don't realize that George Bush II is anything but conservative. He could be considered a social conservative, although I tend to believe those beliefs are the least important to him, if he believes in them at all. A TRUE conservative mainly believes in limited spending in government, limited power for the government over their people, and very much against America getting involved in foreign conflicts and pre-emptive wars. Obviously, there are many more aspects to their beliefs, but those are some of the very core of conservatism. Now, I'm not saying that all conservatives hold these beliefs, but for the most part they are widely agreed upon by true conservatives. Now, take George Bush- He has taken record surpluses handed to him by the Clinton administration, and flipped them into record deficits in less than six years. FLIP-FLOP!!!! Yes, we are at war, but in that case a conservative would not be cutting taxes for the top dogs in society. If anything, they would probably figure out a way to raise taxes for the top percentage so as not to go broke. Besides, a conservative wouldn't have spent 1/2 trillion dollars on an unnecessary war anyway. Then, look at George's record of claiming more and more power. Not only has he taken it upon himself to basically ignore the rule of law whenever he feels fit, but he has given sweeping powers to the rest of government. The FBI, the CIA, the NSA, and the so called "Homeland Security" Department are all gaining more and more power while the Republican majority closes their eyes to the true tenets of conservatism. Read an interview with William Buckley, a real conservative, about this topic at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/07/22/eveningnews/main1826838.shtml. We are at war, and I do wanna be protected, but not this way. We cannot allow terrorist thugs like Mohammed Atta or Osama Bin Laden to change our way of life. Of course we need to adjust some laws & procedures to deal with new and different threats, but they are going way too far. It scares the hell out of me that the Patriot Act and the Bush team special projects will most likely continue to grow in power and their reach. Think RICO act. The act was originally meant to go after the MAFIA, but it's since been used to go after gangs, drug dealers, pro- life extremist groups, animal rights groups, etc. etc. Much like the Patriot Act, the definitions were broadly defined, which meant they the law could be used on almost anyone. The vague definition of terrorism in these laws and statutes scare me. I don't think it's crazy to think that in 10,15 or even 50 years someone could claim that dealers and gangsters are "terrorizing" the neighborhood and are therefore "terrorists". How about a bank robber? Couldn't he be a terrorist too? I'm not saying these people shouldn't be prosecuted, but they should be allowed all the rights American citizens are used to.
Lastly, as previously stated, it is not conservative to start pre-emptive wars for bogus reasons. Some "conservatives" today are even advocating attacking Syria and Iran. They think the U.S. is unstoppable, and we can push our beliefs and way of life on everyone else. Have they learned nothing from places like Iraq or Gaza? Obviously, they are not truly paying attention. These people are not conservative, nor are they liberal or moderate. They are reckless, power hungry politicians. They have spent government money like it's burning a hole in their pocket while teaming up with Big Oil to make millions of dollars at the expense of the American people. Bush & co. ignore laws that he doesn't like by having some low level attorney on the WH staff write up some new interpretation of laws that have been accepted for years.
As you can probably tell, I get very annoyed with the term "compassionate conservative". It is obviously used to fool people, and it does. Who could be against a compassionate conservative? I hate to admit that my first ever presidential vote was for George Bush. At that point, I wasn't paying much attention to politics, but I still wanted to vote. I fell for the term compassionate conservative. Hell, it sounded good. Of course, now that i pay attention, i wouldn't vote for someone using that tag, whether it was a lie or legitimate, because i am not conservative. I should say, however, that I do respect true conservatives and their beliefs. It's the neo-conservatives of the new milennium that I have lost respect for, and it appears that the majority of American people are beginning to feel the same way.

Coming soon........

2006-07-18T11:44:00.000-05:00

I have set up this blog to have a place to express my feelings about the present situation in American politics and America in general. I am angered by the fact that those of us who disagree w/ the right wing "you're on your own" principles are said to be unpatriotic and unAmerican. I will write my thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and whatever else comes to mind. Please feel free to comment on anything I write, whether you agree or not.