Who lets these people out?

When I want to get really steamed up, I just head on over to Syrupy Pop [Link], run by one Paul W. Stark, whom I'm sure is a decent person, and is not brain-washed by the religion (Christian) which he practices. *AHEM* Usually upon reading his blog, the first words out of my mouth involve some unitelligble, guttural noises, followed by a loud "What?!?" Rather than rant a bit about this, I'd rather have a look at a few points he makes, make a few counter-arguements, and then rant for a bit. Let's begin.

"U.N. "peacekeepers"? Hardly. It appears these "peacekeepers" do all sorts of terrible things - and America should be upset that we provide such a large share of the U.N.'s budget."

He is, of course, referring to incidents which have taken place between U.N. Peacekeepers and residents of The Democratic Republic of Congo. There have been around 150 cases of misconduct reported, the most serious of those cases involving rape, pedophilia and prostitution. Now, I admit, that's no good, and the perps should be punished with expediency. However, the most serious cases were also the rarest... and who the hell are you to get all high and mighty? You support a president who was in office during the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and the unlawful (and undemocratic) retention of "combatants" at Guantanamo Bay. Stack that on top of a war that was entered under false (perjurous, if you ask me) pretenses, and the destablization and abandonment of Afghanistan, and I think your high-horse should be five feet below sea level.

"It seems pretty up in the air as to whether the president will be able to implement social security reform. Doing so, and restoring a bit of economic liberty to the people, would be huge."

Social Security doesn't need to be reformed right now. The budget needs to be balanced right now, the deficit needs to be lowered right now, we need to get our troops out of the Middle East before Shrub decides to just occupy the whole damn region right now. Social Security reform is the least of my worries. The Monkey is trying to push it through so he can get s'more thumbs-up from Big Business, who have nothing but gain coming their way from this plan, and also so that his 8 years in office don't look like a huge smoking crater of pig-shit to future generations. (Honestly, there's really nothing he can do about that.) Relax on the SS issue, it's not THAT important right now. Focus on getting this country on the right track first.

"Terri Schiavo is still alive, for now. You know our society has serious problems when it's on the verge of allowing an estranged husband to starve his disabled wife to death. Everything possible must be done to prevent her murder."

Yes, you know your society has a serious problem when it doesn't allow nature to do what it should have been allowed to do 7 years prior simply because a book says they shouldn't. For those who aren't familiar... read a newspaper, would you? Anyway, Terri Schiavo had a massize heart-attack 15 years ago, and died, but was resuscitated. Due to the heart attack and resuscitation, she suffered severe brain damage. As time passed, the damage worsened, and now most of her cerebral cortex has disintegrated. The cerebral cortex, for those who don't know, is the part of the brain that handles language, perceptual awarness, "thinking" and memory, among others. In other words, this poor woman has been reduced to the mental state of a vegetable. She has a feeding tube inserted into her stomach, because she can't be fed through her throat. Her husband believes that she would not want to live this way, and is attempting to have the feeding tube removed, while her parents are doing everything to keep her alive. It's a tragic battle, and one that is very heated, but let me just say this: If I get brain-panned or the like, don't keep me alive. I don't want to be around simply to eat and shit. Thats not a life, thats hell and anyone that knows anything about human decency would know that it would be time to let me die, not to torture me in order to fill-in for your inability to grieve. Let it go. That's all I'm going to say.

"Wow. I think American foreign policy is having some influence. First, we get upset about the lack of democracy in Egypt. Then Egypt decides to become more democratic. We'll see how everything turns out."

Yeah. Guess they didn't want to be bombed into a democracy like the other two countries we've converted, huh? Wow. Smart move, Egypt, 'cause I was getting ready to paint clever sayings on the bombs, like "Vote or Die", "Carpet Bombing for Democracy" and "If You Can Read This, You Should Have Voted, But Your Life Is Forfiet To Democracy Now." 'T would've been great.

" A brief analysis of George W. Bush's presidency:

After 9/11, excellent foreign policy. Truly heroic, world changing, and necessary.

Good judicial nominations and a solid record on social issues."

Wow. I don't know where you are getting your LSD from, buddy, but you should lay off before you start seeing Dick Cheney prancing around with the Pope in a field of daisies while God plays "What A Day For A Daydream" on a ukulele. Woof. George Bush's presidency can be summed up in one word. Clusterfuck. Thank you and good night.

"America's bold foreign policy - opposing regimes that oppress their people and supporting the revolutionaries that will fight for their human rights - is taking hold."

Yes, United States! Way to go! Put that Huessein in power, help out that Ayatollah Khomeini, support that Mihn! Make deals with those horrific human rights violator: China and Saudi Arabia. They oppress their people in a GOOD way... a way which is financially positive for us! Huzzah! Oh, and poo-poo and pishaw the fact that the United States has a human rights record that is fairly dismal as well, from the mistreatment of "miltary detainees" to the starving masses of poor that the government refuses to acknowledge. That won't dampen war-march of democracy! No sir!

In closing, I would like to say to Mr. Stark: You make my brain hurt. I have no idea how you can go to sleep at night, but I do know this. Don't be scared to have an opinion of your own. Oh, and that article you had up about "Feelings" and libereal political beliefs? Yeah, kiss my ass. If you don't have feelings, I don't want you doing anything related to my governing, because I want someone who knows when enough is enough. Then again... if it keeps going the way it has been in this country, I won't ever have to vote again. King Pachyderm will do it for me.