Syria

So can anyone tell me what’s going on in Syria?

Since the government decided they were going to take their respective balls and go home, I’ve not heard a single peep about it. Nobody seems to care about it anymore. I guess everything’s okay over there now, right?

Thanks, media, for keeping us informed on everything instead of filling a 24-hour news cycle with one topic.

(In case you couldn’t tell, that was sarcasm.)

Best,
Clyde O. Watson

Where in the world is President Obama?

I read in USA Today that an Al-Quaida group – one of the many different factions who are labeled as rebels in Syria – has captured an ancient village that is home to the two oldest monasteries in Syria.

These rebels told the residents of Maaloula, many of whom were/are Christian in their religious beliefs, that they could either convert to Islam or be beheaded in the street.

Check Your Shoes

When I was a kid, my Daddy used to get us all up for church on Sunday morning. We’d have breakfast together, which was rare for us (and I’m guessing for most people around here). My Daddy worked in the coal mines, so he left for work at about 5:30 each morning on weekdays. Then on Saturdays he and my Momma slept in while my brother and I would get up early and watch cartoons. The good ones that aren’t censored; the ones they don’t show anymore.

Anyway, back to Sunday. We’d get gussied up in our best and all get out to the family car, being sure to step on the flagstones out to the driveway to make sure we didn’t get our shoes or the hem of our pants wet from the morning dew, then Daddy would drive us to the little Methodist church.

The People Across the Street

A woman was eating dinner with her son and her daughter. Her husband was upstairs in bed. Her husband was sick. Very sick. He had been sick for over a month.

Dinner was a single can of baked beans. It was all they could afford. Times were tight.

“You guys know Mable across the street, right?” the woman said as she scooped up a spoonful of beans.

Both kids nodded.

War is Hell

war [wawr]  noun, verb

1. a conflict carried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation; warfare, as by land, sea, or air.
2. a state or period of armed hostility or active military operations: The two nations were at war with each other.
3. a contest carried on by force of arms, as in a series of battles or campaigns: the War of 1812.

These are just a few of the first entries over at Dictionary.com for the word “war”. There are more; 13, in fact. That’s a lot of definitions.

I’m sure most of you know what the word “war” means, and I’d be willing to bet that for a lot of you it fits in one of the definitions I’ve listed above, or if not one of those, then the other definitions listed on Dictionary.com. I’d be willing to bet that almost everyone in the US is involved in one way or another in some kind of war. Hell, here in the US, we love war. We declare it on everything. The War on Terror. The War on Drugs. Cancer. Poverty. Christmas. You name it, we’ve got a war going on against it.

But have we, here in the comforting glow of our computer screens, forgotten what war is actually about?

Jobs Harmed by Obamacare

I know that the crap going on with Syria right now is pretty important, and believe me – I’ll get to that. But first, I’ve got to say something about this whole “Obamacare is evil” thing.

I’m not too big on the Facebook. I don’t know a lot about it, or even how to really use it. But when I saw someone post this picture:

This is bullshit

I just had to say something.

An Open Letter To President Obama

Mr. President,

I voted for you in 2008. I voted for you again in 2012. I believed in you.

I still believe in you.

I’m not a democrat and I’m not a republican. I don’t have “a side.” I don’t live in a world where all politicians are either good or evil. I don’t live under the delusion that politicians are either heroes or villains.

You’re not Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re not Darth Vader.

You’re both.

Priorities

Today, Bill Clinton gave a long speech about the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).

Now, before I go on, let me say that I am unequivocally not a democrat (I’m also not a republican). And I am absolutely not a blind Obama supporter. He has hurt our civil liberties in ways that make me cringe.

But this speech today by Clinton… it was a good speech. A very good speech.

He openly addressed problems with Obamacare and he addressed the various ways the country’s politics are misconstruing the actual facts in regards to Obamacare.

He also explained – in very simple terms – many of the things Obamacare does.

The Cost of War

Sometimes war is necessary. I can accept that premise.

I personally think it’s very rare that war is necessary, but I accept the assertion that sometimes… it is necessary.

However…

Obama Is Seeking Congressional Approval in Regards to Syria. Great News, but a Sad Example of What We Have Become.

Obama is going to actually go to Congress about Syria.

First and foremost, this is great news. This is exactly how it’s supposed to work.

Honestly, I think this is the best news I’ve heard from the Obama administration in a long time.

And yes, I realize he didn’t really have a choice. Ignoring Congressional approval would have ended the Obama presidency in pretty much every practical way. In non-partisan polls, nearly 80% of Americans said he should go through Congress. Members of all parties were calling for him to go through Congress. Even Obama – back in 2008 – declared situations like this must go through Congress.

So yeah. I get that this is a political decision as much as a moral (or legal) decision.

I don’t care.