I am responding to a 'letter to the editor' which has gone viral among some circles. I felt I could respond to most of the concerns. Here is the letter and I'll pick up afterward.
Has America become the land of special interest and home of the double standard?
Lets see: if we lie to the Congress, it's a felony and if the Congress lies to us its just politics; if we dislike a black person, we're racist and if a black person dislikes whites, its their 1st Amendment right; the government spends millions to rehabilitate criminals and they do almost nothing for the victims; in public schools you can teach that homosexuality is OK, but you better not use the word God in the process; you can kill an unborn child, but it is wrong to execute a mass murderer; we don't burn books in America, we now rewrite them; we got rid of communist and socialist threats by renaming them progressive; we are unable to close our border with Mexico, but have no problem protecting the 38th parallel in Korea; if you protest against President Obama's policies you're a terrorist, but if you burned an American flag or George Bush in effigy it was your 1st Amendment right.
You can have pornography on TV or the internet, but you better not put a nativity scene in a public park during Christmas; we have eliminated all criminals in America, they are now called sick people; we can use a human fetus for medical research, but it is wrong to use an animal.
We take money from those who work hard for it and give it to those who don't want to work; we all support the Constitution, but only when it supports our political ideology; we still have freedom of speech, but only if we are being politically correct; parenting has been replaced with Ritalin and video games; the land of opportunity is now the land of hand outs; the similarity between Hurricane Katrina and the gulf oil spill is that neither president did anything to help.
And how do we handle a major crisis today? The government appoints a committee to determine who's at fault, then threatens them, passes a law, raises our taxes; tells us the problem is solved so they can get back to their reelection campaign.
Continue reading on Examiner.com: What Has America Become by Ken Huber of Tawas City - Fort Worth Christianity & Culture | Examiner.comhttp://www.examiner.com/christianity-culture-in-fort-worth/what-has-america-become-by-ken-huber-of-tawas-city#ixzz1E4ra1k5q
So, I'll break down the counterpoints per his points:
1. Lying to congress vs. congress lying.
- Oliver North seemed to skate through a series of lies to congress and land a job with Fox News. Isn't that special..
2. The black racist vs white racist.
-When my girlfriend spoke about her occasional 13.5 mile bike commutes to work (all while owning a car that worked fine) she was told "That's some white people shit. No offense." None taken, but naturally if she did the inverse of that situation, sought out a black person who doesn't physically exercise and proclaim "That's some black people shit," I'm sure she wouldn't be working there. I'm in a position at work where things I do or don't get done are heavily scrutinized while my black co-worker sleeps at his desk and magically has 33% less of a file load than I do (since they don't assign him work when he's not present, which is a day or two a week, and I'm doing overtime on the other hand.) I don't think his being black is why he has less of a work ethic. I also don't think my claim of racism would be taken seriously since I'm white. So I agree with his opinion, but it's just that. What I wonder is why he is interested in having his racism accepted? Why not take the high road?
3. Not compensating Victims vs. millions to fund 'rehabilitation.'
- Nothing like getting raped and having to pay for your own forensics investigation 'rape-kit' because of some budget cuts made by Sarah Palin as governor. Meanwhile the guy goes to jail and watches Judge Judy on the public dime. But that's how you skrink government, by making more people responsible for their own condition. Unfortunately, a lack of responsibility for one's own condition is a good description of a criminal personality trait. I see his point.
4. Abortion is legal vs. it's wrong to hang Saddam.
-The possible debate stemming from this could take days. But, as quickly as I can, 1 Who cried for Saddam? Was there really a public outcry of note? I don't think so. And if people can't have abortions fine, but lets not rely upon the useless "Abstinence Only" public education model. The guy who authored this for George Bush was accused by his ex wife of repeatedly attempting forceful anal sex with her. He claimed in court that he was just having,, um, aim issues. So what is advice worth from a Gynecologist who can't find his wifes vagina?
5. Getting rid of Communist Threats by renaming them as Progressive.
-From another differently biased perspective, we renamed Progressive causes as a 'Communist threat'. I'm glad we didn't become the Soviet States of America, but I think we certainly did our part to demon-ize people instead of working with them peacefully to coexist. The spy game went both ways with both sides interfering in each other's affairs. The last group of Russian spies Caught in the US were an 'international incident' and we made this huge deal about it and then we swapped some of our agents for theirs because we were doing the same shit. The fact that we 'caught' their spies is probably that our spies got caught first doing something objectionable enough that they had to be stopped whereas the Russian agents who were guilty of doing stuff like applying to go to public colleges and then analyzing the enrollment process were monitored over time and, in my surmise 'caught' so we can get are guys back. Also, this guy's letter shows such a lack of faith in what our system of gov't has created so who is he to throw stones against another system? If my Ford is in the garage every month do I make fun of Dodges? Well, ok, yes, but only because they are in twice a month.
6.Crossing the Border VS Crossing the Demilitarized Zone.
-As someone who did patrols in the Demilitarized Zone, I hope my country keeps it's border policies as different from North Korea's as possible, even if it means *gulp* helping people. And to go back to 5, why is this guy against communism while admiring their methods. Need to talk about something letter guy?
7. "we all support the Constitution, but only when it supports our political ideology"
-Agreed. But only because of number 8
8.Parenting has been replaced with ritalin and video games.
-Although the Socratic method of philosophical debate can boil down issues into a logical and agreeable point much of the time, America is more rich with a cultural history of Dumbassedness than Socratic debate. Therefore I debate his statement with 'we all support the constitution.' I think most people don't attempt to read it.
9. We give money to those who don't work.
-The guy who sits next to me at work is asleep some of the time. I agree.
10. We have freedom of speech but only if we are being politically correct.
-Ever hear of the WestBoro Baptist Church? They have freedom of speech. God hates fags. There, I typed it, lets see how long the cops take to come get me.
11. We teach homosexuality is OK but can't say God in public school.
-A. They teach diversity in school so people don't assault one another and think it's OK when it's actually a bias crime. If sex education was as effective as adversity education maybe abortions would go away like, oh, I don't know, lynching.
B. They've got all the God you want at private school. So do you want a gov't so big it has religious education options or do you want to exercise your conservative personal accountability and enroll in private school? If there's a public God school, so too must there be a public Gay school. If you don't agree that that constitution provides that standard, you are probably the type who "support(s) the Constitution, but only when it supports (y)our political ideology"
12. Using human fetus's for research VS animals.
-Fetus? I think he means embryo. Like the embryo's left over for invetro fertilization that were just going to be thrown away if not used for stem cell research.
13. Hurricane Katrina VS Oil Spill.
-When the San Francisco great quake happened in 1906 the response through telegraph enacted a plan in the first day for govt troops to assist. Not so with the internet in 2005. On the other hand we once again need a huge government to satisfy this guy because we need a government that has oil drilling equipment and more know-how on how it's to be used than British Petroleum. Or perhaps just some more,, regulation? Like the regulation that flew out the window under an oil president?
14 pornography on TV or the internet, but you better not put a nativity scene in a public park.
-Once again comes private vs. public. You don't have to buy a tv so arguably pornography could be available over the airwaves. However you need to order cable and specify you want a package upgrade that includes pornography. Violence is available with the standard package. The internet is less regulated (the idea of less regulation being all many republicans need to pleasure themselves) but once again, you dont' have to get a computer, and you chose to view whatever you'd like when you get the internet. And again with the mish-mashed beleifs. Are you saying you want the 1st amendment or not?
In many of this authors so-called 'double-standards' he's simply matching a freedom afforded to us under the constitution up against a public attitude which is not itself an actionable law. If you think gay people aren't equal theres no law against that. If you are racist it's not a crime. There are just popular opinions against these ideas. It's not a double standard for different kinds of Americans to have different beliefs. It's just America. If you don't like it move north of the 38th parallel.
Should this letter hold a lot of weight as being something really important? YES! Because it is just nothing more than a Mish-MashofBuzz-Words! And sometimes those are worthwhile.
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