Father, Help Your Daughter!

Ok, I'm bored today at work. Kim's off on Fridays. Ethan's not here, and my girl can't e-mail at work any longer. What's up with that?! They're like my lifeline to the outside world when I'm inside this insane bubble. Aaaaaahhh...Sooooo I'm going to attempt to entertain myself for awhile. I collect quotes and I thought I'd share some of my favorites:

FEMINISM

"I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is. I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat..." -Rebecca West

ON WAR

"You will find that the truth is often unpopular and the contest between agreeable fancy and disagreeable fact is unequal. For, in the vernacular, we Americans are suckers for good news."-Adlai E. Stevenson

"The greatest horrors of our world, from the executions in Iran to the brutalities of the IRA, are committed by people who are totally sincere."-John Mortimer

"In the name of noble purposes men have committed unspeakable acts of cruelty against one another."-J. William Fulbright

"We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, but others judge us by what we have already done."-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"The chain reaction of evil -- hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars--must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation."-Martin Luther King, 1963

"The world has achieved brilliance without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. If we continue to develop our technology without wisdom or prudence, our servant may prove to be our executioner."-Gen. Omar Bradley

"Older men declare war. But it is youth that must fight and die. And it is youth who must inherit the tribulation, the sorrow, and the triumphs that are the aftermath of war."-Herbert Hoover

"War's a profanity, because let's face it, you've got two opposing sides trying to settle their differences by killing as many of each other as they can."-Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf

"Everything, everything in war is barbaric. . . . But the worst barbarity of war is that it forces men collectively to commit acts against which individually they would revolt with their whole being."-Ellen Key

"Only the winners decide what were war crimes."-Gary Wills

"War is, at first, the hope one will be better off; next, the expectation that the other fellow will be worse off; then, the satisfaction that he isn't any better off; and, finally, the surprise at everyone's being worse off."-Karl Kraus

ON THE WAR IN IRAQ

"Why of course the people don't want war ... But after all it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship ...Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger."-Hermann Goering, Nazi leader, at the Nuremberg Trials after World War II

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."-Theodore Roosevelt, Republican, 1918

"How dare Senator Daschle criticize President Bush while we are fighting our war on terrorism, especially when we have troops in the field?"-Trent Lott (R)

(Daschle's)"divisive comments have the effect of giving aid and comfort to our enemies by allowing them to exploit divisions in our country."-Rep. Tom Davis, R-VA

"Your tactics only aid terrorists -- for they erode our national unity and diminish our resolve. They give ammunition to America's enemies and pause to America's friends"-John Ashcroft

"Those who criticize the administration are aiding and giving comfort to the enemy"-John Ashcroft

"Once the war against Saddam Hussein begins, we expect every American to support our military, and if you can't do that, just shut up. Americans, and indeed our foreign allies who actively work against our military once the war is underway, will be considered enemies of the state by me."- Bill O'Reilly, The O'Reilly Factor, 2/26/03

LIBERALISM

"Somebody came along and said 'liberal' means 'soft on crime, soft on drugs, soft on defense and we're gonna tax you back to the Stone Age because people shouldn't have to go to work if they don't want to. And instead of saying, 'Well, excuse me, you right-wing, reactionary, xenophobic, homophobic, anti-education, anti-choice, pro-gun, Leave it to Beaver trip back to the '50s, we cowered in the corner and said, 'Please don't hurt me.'"-The West Wing

"Liberalism is, I think, resurgent. One reason is that more and more people are so painfully aware of the alternative. The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness."-John Kenneth Galbraith

"As mankind becomes more liberal, they will be more apt to allow that all those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the protections of civil government. I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations of justice and liberality."-George Washington

"Liberalism is trust of the people, tempered by prudence; conservatism, distrust of the people, tempered by fear."-William Gladstone

"Liberalism is the supreme form of generosity; it is the right by which the majority concedes to minorities and hence it is the noblest cry that has ever resounded on this planet."-Jose Ortega y Gasset

"Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives."-
John Stuart Mill

"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."-Martin Luther King, Jr.

"The worst government is the most moral. One composed of cynics is often very tolerant and humane. But when fanatics are on top there is no limit to oppression. "-H.L. Mencken

FREEDOM

"Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want rain without thunder and lightning."-Frederick Douglass

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."-Benjamin Franklin

"I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedoms of the people by gradual and silent encroachment of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations."-James Madison

"It is not the fact of liberty but in the way in which liberty is exercised that ultimately determines whether liberty itself survives."-Dorothy Thompson

"The day that this country ceases to be free for irreligion, it will cease to be for religion-except for the sect that can win political power."-Robert H. Jackson

"If there is any principle of the Constitution that more imperatively calls for attachment than any other, it is the principle of free thought - not free thought for those who agree with us but freedom for the thought we hate."-Oliver Wendell Holmes

"Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves."-Abraham Lincoln

"We are willing enough to praise freedom when she is safely tucked away in the past and cannot be a nuisance. In the present, amidst dangers whose outcome we cannot foresee, we get nervous about her, and admit censorship."-E.M. Forster

"When we lose the right to be different, we lose the privilege to be free."-Charles Evans Hughes

"...conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth."-John F. Kennedy

"Freedom is always and exclusively freedom for the one who thinks differently."-Rosa Luxemburg

PATRIOTISM

"Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it."-George Bernard Shaw

"Nobody makes a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little."-Edmund Burke

"Ignorance is not innocence but sin. "-Robert Browning

CIVIL RIGHTS/GAY RIGHTS

"When great changes occur in history, when great principles are involved, as a rule the majority is wrong."-Eugene V. Debs

"Few people can be happy unless they hate some other person, nation or creed."-Bertrand Russell

"All great truths begin as blasphemies."-George Bernard Shaw

"The more ignorant the authority, the more dogmatic it is. In the fields where no real knowledge is even possible, the authorities are the fiercest and most assured and punish non-belief with the severest of penalties."-Abraham Myerson

"It is not healthy when a nation lives within a nation, as colored Americans are living inside America. A nation cannot live confident of its tomorrow if its refugees are among its citizens."-Pearl S. Buck

"Love, friendship, respect, do not unite people as much as a common hatred for something."-Anton Chekhov

MY PERSONAL CREED

"I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
-Robert Frost

MY FAVORITE QUOTE TODAY

"George Bush has the look about him of someone who might sit up and yip for a doggie yummie." -Columnist Mike Royko

My personal opinion:

While terrorism is a terrible thing and acts of terrorism are ultimately indefensible, I read this article that had me asking a lot of questions today. Questions about what the US can do to minimize it's spread and what the US might be doing to create conditions favorable to it's spread as a viable tactic for achieving a goal among the disillusioned people of the world. I am not willing to draw a DIRECT cause and effect line between the actions taken by the US under the leadership of the Dictator in Chief GWB and any certain acts of terrorism, but I do think that some of our country's actions have caused some of the conditions that create the type of desparation that pushes someone who feels angry, opressed and that they have no avenue to affect change in their lives by peaceful means over that precipice toward the insanity of terrorism. I also believe that it is not unpatriotic to admit that many in the world would view us as terrorists as well. I've seen estimates from 10,000 all the way up to 17,000 on civilian deaths in Iraq. I do not believe that calling that "collateral damage" is logically possible. The day those planes flew into the World Trade Center, we lost a over 2,000 people and it was a tragidy of epic proportions in our country. Can you imagine if we had lost 17,000? If more were dying every day and there was no end in sight? If we didn't have jobs or a stable economy? If foreign troops controlled everything about our country and everyday lives? Wouldn't we be pissed? Would it be considered terrorism if we revolted with any means possible? I don't know...so many questions....This section from the article in Time Magazine online is what caught my attention and has me thinking about this today...

"So why is al-Qaeda continuing to grow and prosper despite the loss of its Afghan sanctuaries and so many of its personnel, and the fact that it has been relentlessly hounded by security services across Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia? The consensus among security analysts is that the key to eliminating al-Qaeda as a threat is to transform the permissive political environment in which it operates in the Muslim world. Instead, the opposite has occurred — Muslim anger at the U.S. has reached an all-time high and continues to grow, driven by outrage at U.S. actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and by Israel's actions against the Palestinians. The precipitous decline in support or sympathy for the U.S. in the Muslim world after 9/11 has meant fertile ground for al-Qaeda recruiters....

While al-Qaeda's appeal in the Arab and Muslim world has grown in the years since 9/11, the group has not mounted a single attack in the U.S. in the same period. Bin Laden's goals are to rally Muslims to the cause of jihad, in order to drive the U.S. and its influence out of the Islamic world and restore the Islamic empire of the Middle Ages. And the antagonism provoked by U.S. actions such as invading Iraq have been more effective even than the terror of 9/11 in building support for the movement...The last al-Qaeda terror strike on U.S. soil rallied the overwhelming majority of Americans strongly behind President Bush. Whether and how a new terror strike on U.S. soil three years later might do the same remains to be seen. But whereas the 9/11 attack shocked and horrified much of the international community, including the Arab and Muslim world, and drew them initially closer to Washington, it's unlikely that a new attack would do much to reverse the deep polarization of the international community brought on by the war in Iraq."

I think it's incredibly sad that the US doesn't see a problem with most of the world viewing it as one of the main forces which has brought about that deep polarization of the international community. And, yes, I do believe that makes me patriotic. I think a country with as much potential for greatness as the US has a responsibility to be a force for good and fairness in the world. Not a militaristic, economically driven force taking over other countries on the whim of an asanine politician who convinced a few activist judges to give him the presidency. But that's just my opinion....

rant rant rant

Just had to listen to a customer preach in my ear about this book called "A More Excellent Way" that claims that any disease you have is a result of your "spiritual condition". So if you "get right with God" your allergies will get better. Or cancer...or whatever...just pray about it. Forget about medical science...what do they know?! Anyway....I think it's a crock of shit and I think it's sad that people who are sick might fall for this. Well...I guess if they're stupid enough to fall for it then I don't really feel so bad, but it's still pathetic. Aaaaahh I'm just bitching 'cause I had to listen to that guy talk my ear off. I knew the type of people that call my company were crazy long before this book came along.

Yoy have I been tired today. Don't even know why. But oh well, the day is almost over. Blogger has been fucky all day, but Kimmy found a way around it all. *three cheers*

Glad to see some people found my Home Economics posts as "enlightening" and "inspiring" as I did. You just have to laugh really. I have to tell you that on the days when my self-esteem is running low I look back at things like that and see how much I have overcome to become the person I am today and it really gives me a boost. I'm so much happier and so much less concerned about how other people judge me. Wasn't easy to get to that point and I have a lot of people besides myself to thank for helping me along the way, but still...I'm proud of myself.

Yesterday, I heard a story that reminded me of my past, though, and made me so sad. Don't mean to be a downer, but I wanted to share because it's important that we all know what some of us still face. Reminds me of that saying that says...you're only as free as the least free person in your society...don't remember it exactly but something like that. Anyway....

I saw an acquaintance of mine last night and as we were catching up she began to tell me about her sister-in-law. She is 40 years old and just came out to her family as a lesbian. Evidently after a long string of loser, "hide-who-I-really-am" boyfriends and 4 and a half years of therapy she finally accepted who she was and came out to her mom and her brother and his wife. Evidently the brother and his wife are devout BAPTISTS *shock* and attend a church near my parents church called Harvest Baptist. (notice the "you are always welcome" banner on their website). Well, she proceeded to tell me what fanatics they are and how they ostracized their sister. They banned her from seeing her five year old niece unless she was "supervised." WTF? Her own mother rejected her (but eventually came back around thankfully). She moved away to try to live her own life but when she came back at Christmas to see her family, her sister-in-law pulled her into the bathroom, shut the door and angrily demanded to know whether or not she had ever "touched" her 5 year old niece. Stunned and hurt, she insisted that she was a lesbian NOT a pedophile. Come to find out...her little niece likes to play with trains instead of dolls so her evil mother was "worried."

Ugghh...hearing all that just gave me a sick feeling...to think that someone would treat ANYBODY let alone their own family that way....then it made me realize that I might face this same situation. My sister has only been married for a year, but plans to eventually have kids. I would LOVE to have a little niece or nephew to spoil, but the sad reality is that I will probably never be the kind of aunt I'd love to be....they'll never be allowed to stay over my house or anything since I "live in sin". Who knows...maybe my sister will come around too, but last I knew she was still "worried I was going to hell." Guess I should try to be more positive, but it's a little tough in this situation...

The good news in all this, is that my friend was sharing this story with me because she couldn't believe that her family (it's her husband's family) would treat her sister-in-law like this. She stood up to her mother-in-law and evil sister-in-law and told them what a crock of shit it all was, and she had a direct hand in bringing her mother-in-law around to accept her own daughter. The cool thing is that she is straight as they come and didn't even know that I was gay (gave me a cool opportunity to come out to her which I did and she was HAPPY for me--go figure). (-: It's people like her that give me hope. So, in addition to telling that nasty story, I have to give her some major props! Way to go Mel! (-:

"Got Passion? Get Saved." LMAO

The debut feature from writer/director Brian Dannelly, Saved! is a dark comedy set in a strict Baptist high school. Leading up an ensemble cast that also includes Macaulay Culkin and Patrick Fugit, Jena Malone (Donnie Darko, The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys) stars as Mary, a teenager who, in a desperate attempt to convert her gay boyfriend, ends up getting pregnant with his child. Her rapidly swelling stomach sends shockwaves through the school, where Mary learns first-hand the hypocracy of some of her peers. Squeaky-clean, pop songstress Mandy Moore bucks her image, playing Mary's overzealous best friend who is bent on converting a Jewish friend. (from the New York Times)

Sooo....as I mentioned in my previous post, I like to travel. I've traveled quite a bit compared to most people...mostly on medical missions trips. My friend who is a dentist trained me to be her assistant and we travel to different areas and provide free dental care. Here's a pic of me and my friend Annette in Thailand...(I'm on the left)



Anyway.....that's just background. We have garage sales once or twice a year to raise money for these trips and tons of people donate stuff for us to sell. So the day before yesterday we were sorting through this massive pile of stuff and I came across these earrings...I thought...since I've now realized that I'm merely hiding my feminine qualities, perhaps I should start wearing more noticeable earrings....Aren't these GREAT?????! Couldn't resist sharing. (-:

Stolen from Smouse who stole it from Kim who stole it from someone else....

1. What year was the best year of your life?
This one...back to this time last year.

2. One animal or insect that Noah should have left off the ark?
Spiders...and snakes. Hah! I picked two! Watcha gonna do about it?!

3. Do you make a wish before blowing out your birthday candles?
no, not really

4. Do you generally open your bills on the day that you receive them?
sometimes

5. How many pillows are on your bed?
3

6. Favorite ice cream flavor?
Breyers Coffee

7. What is the most dominate color in your wardrobe?
Khaki

8. Have you ever seen a ghost?
no

9. Would you rather go to a carnival or circus?
Carnival

10. Favorite meal: breakfast, lunch, or dinner?
If I have time for something besides cereal then breakfast...otherwise dinner.

11. Your favorite fictional animal?
sponge bob

12. Have you ever flown first-class?
yes, a few times...it rocks!

13. Would you go on a reality show?
no

14. Are you more optimistic or pessimistic about the future?
Optimistic

15. Pancakes or waffles?
waffles

16. If you could own a home anywhere in the world, where would it be?
if we're talking vacation home and ANYWHERE then I say Southern Thailand

17. Your favorite Soup of the Day?
Italian Wedding Soup

18. What site is a must see for all visitors to your city?
The Point? The Inclines? I dunno.

19. Can you recommend a good restaurant in your city?
There are a lot of good ones...Grand Concourse or Buca de Beppo would be my picks...

20. You go to the zoo; what is the one animal that you want to see?
the monkeys

21. Potatoes, rice, or pasta: which is your favorite?
pasta or rice...it's a toss up

22. What is the best movie that you've seen this year?
I guess I'd have to say Miracle so far

23. One of your favorite books when you were a child? ]
The entire Hardy Boys series (Nancy Drew was a wuss)

24. What in your life are you most grateful for?
My girlfiend and my friends

25. You are home alone and use the bathroom; do you close the door?
no

26. What is your favorite small appliance?
my food chopper

27. Salty snacks or sweet treats?
depends on the day...usually sweet, though

28. Are you usually a little early, a little late, or right on time?
usually right on time or a little early....unless I'm with Christie and then we seem to always be late

29. What is the most daring thing that you have ever done?
besides being gay in a hetero world....in Thailand I rode on the open 3rd deck of of a boat for 3 hours during a really bad storm where waves were crashing over the top and it was raining really bad and the boat was pitching like crazy and we were sliding around...actually put a rope around me and held onto the rail....but it was better then being down in the cabin with diesel fumes and people puking EVERYWHERE...Didn't actually think about how daring it really was until it was over...I also rode on an elephant on that trip which is pretty daring, but not as...

30. Have you ever met someone famous?
Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain, Michelle Akers, Alix Olson

31. What was one of your favorite games as a child?
Inventors

32. At what age have you looked your best?
if we're talking weight, then probably 18...the rest of it..I'd say now...at 26

33. One person that never fails to make you laugh?
this girl named Courtney I knew in college...made me laugh so hard I couldn't breath...all the damn time...

34. What was the first music that you ever bought?
that I remember buying?
Steven Curtis Chapman cassette

35. If you could change one thing about your family life when you were a child, what would it be?
extreme religious strictness (which accounts for a lot of the details I would change) and the fact that I was only exposed to people who were exactly like me and my family...I'm working on making up for that now...

36. What is the one thing that you cook that always receives compliments?
my chocolate chip cookies

37. From what news source do you receive the bulk of your news?
CNN

38. In the last calendar year, how many people have you told that you love them?
5...if you include telling your family you love them...

39. Who received your first kiss?
Dilo--a girl. woot woot...go me...but as for the person herself...ick!

40. The single most important quality in a mate?
Honesty

41. What do you value most in a relationship?
Trust

42. Do you believe that you have a soulmate? If yes, have you already met?
not sure what I believe

43. Do you consider yourself well organized?
no

44. On average, how many times a day do you look at yourself in the mirror?
maybe 5

45. Did you ever make a prank phone call?
yes

46. What one quality do you seek in a friend?
sense of humor and openmindedness

47. Have you ever killed an animal?
I hit a chipmunk once with my car by accident. )-:

48. When you were twelve years old, what did you want to be when you grew up?
an archaeologist

49. Do you believe in an afterlife?
yes

50. What would you like to accomplish with the remaining years of your life?
marrying my girl and living happily ever after, going back to school to become a physician's assistant (I think), and travel a LOT more


And here are 15 more questions:

1. What is the "theme" on your calendar this year?
at home...women's soccer players, at work...funny things people have said

2. Do you read the newspaper every day?
no

3. What kind of shoes are you wearing right now?
sandles

4. What magazines do you subscribe to?
Girlfriends

5. What is your favorite condiment?
Ketchup

6. What was the first occupation you remember wanting to have?
Archaeologist

7. Do you have a green thumb?
no

8. Did you have an imaginary friend when you were little?
until I was about 4 I think...I don't remeber it, but my mom says I did...

9. Do you floss regularly?
yeah, I'm a good girl

10. If you could still hang posters of celebrities on your walls and get away with it like when you were 12, who would be on your walls right now?
yep. Mia Hamm and Alix Olson to start....probably others too

11. Do you keep shoe boxes or throw them away?
I have 1 or 2 I think

12. Would you be embarrassed if someone looked under your bed?
no...just Christmas decorations and books

13. If you could be one character in a book, who would you be?
Betty Bower's sidekick. lol

14. What do you sleep in?
boxers or sleep pants and a tshirt

15. What is your favourite word?
I have no idea...why is juicebox popping in my head? Kim, any idea? (-;

Well, I spent a lovely evening over at my parent's house going through boxes of crap that I never took when I moved out. Five garbage bags full later, I came across a treasure!!! My home economics binder from my sophomore year of high school! Wooohooo! I did find a peanut butter pie recipe that I remember being quite tasty, but overall it was just a load of CRAP. When you look at these pictures you might think that I went to high school in the 50's or something, but I'm not that old. I promise This is from material used in 1992. Scary! However...much hilarity has ensued as I have read through the entirely archaic and pathetic images and words that they tried to use to mold us into "good Christian girls". Teaching us to please others with our looks and bodies and to submit to men and such. Blah blah blah. Some of it is so extreme...no wonder I hopped on that pendulum and swung straight to the opposite end of the spectrum. Enjoy!
(these pics are gonna make this a long post, but they're worth it)


The following are some more specific instructions on "OUTWARD APPEARANCE"
...and just a side note of my own per the Bible (growing up a pastor's kid wasn't totally useless)

"As for those who seemed to be important-whatever they were makes no difference to me-God does not judge by external appearance..." Galatians 2:6 NIV



(that last sitting position on the bottom right is what I like to call the "passed out crack whore look") tee hee hee

And finally....and this one puts the icing on the cake...my ALL TIME FAVORITE: (looky looky kids...it's a picture of ME on the bottom left!) *evil laughter*

EUREKA! I've figured it out! I'm not a boy...I'm just hiding my feminine qualities! At last I know the truth!
That's all folks!

Civilization in Ruins

Blog post in 3 parts:

Part 1: Life Update.
Well, life's been pretty peachy. I've missed my girl a lot since we haven't been able to see each other very much lately due to life circumstances, but...things are looking up on that front. I enjoyed the gorgeous sunny weekend and survived a day of obligatory imprisonment at my mom's house for Mother's Day. She flipped out because of my bumper sticker that says "Dissent is Patriotic." Ummm ok...whatever. Anyway...back to another week of work. Last night I went to my first ever Drag King show, and I was impressed. It was a good time, and some of the stuff was very uber cool. 'Specially the one where the girl changed from a dress to androgynous/boy clothes on stage. Very meaningful for those of us that aren't the girly girl type. Anywho...now the girls and I are all fired up for goin' out in drag sometime just to see if we can pull it off and have a lil fun messin' with people's minds. Other than that, busy at work, same ol same ol. Have in a request to my boss to move to another position in the company and perhaps get a raise. We'll see though...He can be a real dickwad. SHOCK!

Part 2: Funny Story--Aka...It's funny sometimes--being a dyke...
So, if you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know that my girl proposed and gave me a ring (when I said yes OF COURSE). Well, this weekend I was driving home from her place and suddenly realized that the ring was missing. Major freaking out occurred. Frantic phone call for her to please look for it....you get the picture. A few moments of brainstorming later, I got home and found it...in my baseball glove...musta slipped off when we were playing catch in the yard and I took off my glove. Fun times.


Part 3: Good Article (from Time magazine online)

The Perils of a Righteous President
Faith without doubt leads to moral arrogance
May. 09, 2004
by Joe Klein

After his grudging public apology for the behavior of U.S. soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison, George W. Bush attended a ceremony commemorating the National Day of Prayer. His remarks there were, as we have come to expect from this President, a stirring mix of humility and certainty. "God is not on the side of any nation, yet we know He is on the side of justice," Bush said. "Our finest moments [as a nation] have come when we have faithfully served the cause of justice for our own citizens, and for the people of other lands."

The words are wonderful, but such sentiments are easily corrupted. Faith without doubt leads to moral arrogance, the eternal pratfall of the religiously convinced. We are humble before the Lord, Bush insists. We cannot possibly know His will. And yet, we "know" He's on the side of justice and we define what justice is. Indeed, we can toss around words like justice and evil with impunity, send off mighty armies to "serve the cause of justice" in other lands and be so sure of our righteousness that the merest act of penitence an apology for an atrocity becomes a presidential crisis. "This is not the America I know," Bush said of the torturers, as if U.S. soldiers were exempt from the temptations of absolute power that have plagued occupying armies from the beginning of time.

As the nation suffered the disgrace of Abu Ghraib last week, I traveled through Turkey and Jordan our staunchest Islamic allies in the region and talked with moderate politicians, businesspeople and military officials. Most found Bush's moral talk either duplicitous or fatuous. "Liberate Iraq? Rubbish," said a prominent Jordanian businessman. "You occupy Iraq for the strategic and economic benefits. You are building the largest embassy in the world in Baghdad. Halliburton and Bechtel are running everything, at enormous profits. And then I watch Bush on Al-Arabiya and all I see is his sense of moral superiority. He brings democracy and freedom to the barbarians. But who are the barbarians? Even before the Abu Ghraib pictures, we saw male soldiers searching Iraqi women and humiliating Iraqi men by forcing their heads to the ground."


The President's moral convictions are, no doubt, matters of true faith and the Jordanian businessman is a member of an authoritarian establishment with much to lose if Islamic radicals or, faint chance, democrats take charge. But Bush's moral certainty almost seemed delusional last week in the vertiginous realities of Iraq. A distressing, uninflected righteousness has defined this Administration from the start, and it hasn't been limited to the President. Bush's overheated sense of good vs. evil has been reinforced by the intellectual fantasies of neoconservatives like I. Lewis Libby and Paul Wolfowitz, who serve Bush's two most powerful advisers, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. It was neoconservatives who provided the philosophical rationale for the President's gut response to the evildoers of Sept. 11: a grand crusade yes, a crusade to establish democracy in Iraq and then, via a benign tumbling of local dominoes, throughout the Middle East. Those who opposed the crusade opposed democracy. Those who opposed the President coddled terrorists (according to recent G.O.P. TV ads). They were not morally serious.

But democracy doesn't easily lend itself to evangelism; it requires more than faith. It requires a solid, educated middle class and a sophisticated understanding of law, transparency and minority rights. It certainly can't be imposed by outsiders, not in a fractious region where outsiders are considered infidels. This is not rocket science. It is conventional wisdom among democracy and human-rights activists—and yet the Administration allowed itself to be blinded by righteousness. Why? Because moral pomposity is almost always a camouflage for baser fears and desires. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and the neoconservatives share a primal belief in the use of military power to intimidate enemies. If the U.S. didn't strike back "big time," it would be perceived as weak. (Crushing the peripheral Taliban and staying focused on rooting out al-Qaeda cells wasn't "big" enough.) The President may have had some personal motives—doing to Saddam Hussein what his father didn't; filling out Karl Rove's prescription of a strong leader; making the world safe for his friends in the energy industry. The neoconservatives had ulterior motives too: almost all were fervent believers in the state of Israel and, as a prominent Turkish official told me last week, "they didn't want Saddam's rockets falling on Tel Aviv." At the very least, they were hoping to intimidate the Palestinians into accepting Ariel Sharon's vision of a "state" without sovereignty.

Abu Ghraib made a mockery of American idealism. It made all the baser motives-oil, dad, Israel-more believable. And it represents all the moral complexities this President has chosen to ignore all the perverse consequences of an occupation.

(I'm posting it in full 'cause you can't view the articles online after a week or so)

Ok. I'm bored and stuck at work, so for a bit of humor....I thought I'd share Kim's quote of the day:

"Cleavage is like money. More is never bad."

Made me laugh...a lot. (-:

So, over the last few conversations with my parents, politics have inevitably come up. My dad called me last night and we chatted for a bit so it's on my mind again. Being the conservative Christian Baptists that they are, they are apalled that their "sweet little daughter" has turned into such a liberal. My mom had to leave the room at the thought that I would not vote for the "christian" (and I use that term loosely) posterboy GWB. My dad said I can vote for whoever I want but that he thinks I'm just angry. He's very perceptive.

The article. This is so sad. I truly believe that the fostering of attitudes and beliefs necessary for one human being to do this to another is a direct result of the irreverance and apathy that our leaders have shown about the insane loss of innocent civilian lives in Iraq. After all, if we can carpet bomb them and kill them indescriminately then what the hell does it matter if we torture them, right? Yeah...enjoy the vacation in Crawford Mr. Asshat in Chief....

BWAAAHAAAAHAAAA. I like the first one especially.

So, not much new here. I went out Saturday night with the gang--Christie, Kim, Ethan, Steve, Ama, and Mike. Hit Images first then went to Donny's where we made our way to the patio due to the suffocating heat inside and the shitty DJ...SERIOUSLY...he sucks...uggh...anyway...much fun and drunken debauchery. I was only semi-drunk for half the night since I was driving but still....before we knew it it was 2 and they were making us leave. Since we were having such fun we went to Tilden for after hours...thanks to our cool friends with memberships there. lol I was sick the first time I was there, but this time I realized what a nice place it actually is...lol Anway, didn't get to sleep til 5:30 am...at which point the birds were singing already and keeping me awake then I couldn't even sleep in for some reason. I've been dragging ass ever since. It was a great night and worth it, but 2 Red Bulls and lots 'o sugar later, I'm still holding my eyelids open by force. I must be a trip to talk to on the phone...oh well. I can be the annoying one for once rather than my customers.