The Death of Democracy in Pakistan?

Does the assassination of Benazir Bhutto mean the end of democracy in Pakistan? Is there any hope for Musharaf to end the rioting without marshal law? Will the people see who is behind this and turn against the Muslim extremists, or will they turn their anger toward Musharaf and democracy?

The death of Butto is a serious blow to Pakistan and democracy everywhere, but it could become a rally cry to end extremism. If the people of Pakistan can see that it was those who hide al Queda and bin Laden in the mountains who are responsible for this act, then maybe this can be a nexus, a turning point for getting control of the imams that teach hate.

The Letter F

I found some time back that the meaning of life, what is best in life, is 'in' the letter F. Well, not just the letter, but words that begin with the letter F. Friendship, Food, Fun, Family, Football, Faith, Flying...

To me cooking BBQ (food) surrounded by family and friends, watching football is fun. I love to fly, but gave it up as a career some time back for my family.

What other F words have meaning?

Freedom
Fishing
Flavor
Feasting
Feelings
Festivals
Fruit
Fiddles
Folks
Fields
Flowers
Films
Finances
Friday
Fireworks
Fix
Flag
Flakes
Flapjacks
Flavor
Flesh
Flirt
Float
Flow
Feet
Foreigner
Fowl
Fragile
Fresh
Fried
Frisky
Fuel
Funny
Fur
Furniture
Future
Father

These are all great words, but I'm not going to define them for you. That is something you have to do for yourself. Each word in any language evokes feelings and meaning that is different for each person.

Maybe you have another letter that you are fond of. Do the same thing for that letter, but the key is finding what is best in life for you. Focus on those feelings and allow yourself to love what they are. Heck, you might even make your own words to fit the pattern.

Gay Marriage?

Wow, that is a tough one. What does that mean? What exactly is marriage is the first thing to answer before seeing if you for or against gay marriage.

This is from the Merriam-Webster web site:

Main Entry:mar·riage

Pronunciation:\ˈmer-ij, ˈma-rij\

Function:noun

Etymology:Middle English mariage, from Anglo-French, from marier to marry

Date:14th century

1 a (1): the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law (2): the state of being united to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage marriage> b: the mutual relation of married persons : wedlock c: the institution whereby individuals are joined in a marriage2: an act of marrying or the rite by which the married status is effected; especially : the wedding ceremony and attendant festivities or formalities3: an intimate or close union marriage of painting and poetry — J. T. Shawcross>

So according to this definition marriage is between two sexes. I guess then that precludes the idea of a gay marriage. I remember the first time I saw a marriage announcement in the newspaper that showed two women. It weirded me out, I will admit it.

Then, being a Christian, I know that it is said in the Book that being Gay is an abomination. I know people that will judge, shun and hurt people based upon their orientation. I understand where these people are coming from, but I cannot help but think that God doesn't want us to hurt each other. I know he told us not to judge anyone.

So I guess the easiest way to say it is that all humans are children of God. Gays, Democrats, Republicans, Nazis, straights, Muslims, Hindus, etc. As children of God, even if they don't see it or want to be, means that it is not our job to judge them as humans. Don't you think it is hard enough to be a human being in this world without suffering from the hate of others.

I may be a Christian and have just gotten finished talking about not judging others, but I have judged Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as an idiot. Contrary to the President of Iran being gay is not a crime, and it sure does not call for a death penalty.

Some of you might say, but what about people that abuse children of the same sex? That is not what I'm talking about. Anyone that abuses a child should burn in a special level of Hell. In fact, I am against Capital Punishment, with the possible exception being for those that pray on children. Then again putting them in general prison population will give them a taste of their own medicine, and without possibility of parole. But, back to the subject at hand.

To me then if two people want a document and a ceremony to bind their relationship together then I'm all for it. I don't see how this hurts anyone or makes the institution of marriage any weaker than it already is. All the straight divorces we have now are doing a good job of weakening the institution.

I'm okay if the majority of the people want to call gay marriage something else. As long as the result is the same, what does it matter what it is called?

for more information see this Wiki entry.

altrrr?

What does it mean? These are the initials of the 3 greatest US Presidents of all time.

al= Abraham Lincoln
tr=Teddy Roosevelt
rr=Ronald Reagan

al+tr+rr = altrrr

That is not the complete list of my favorite Presidents, but is the top 3. I also include George Washington, FDR, and John Kennedy in the top 6. All for different reasons.

On another site I had a guy ask me if I ranked Ronald Reagan as a better President than the others I listed. I did and do have a top 3, but of the ones I have listed they were all important because of who they were and what they did at an important point in American history.

"I don't believe [Reagan] was the greatest, just the right one at the right time for America in the 80's. Just as Washington was the right president for our new nation, as was Lincoln, Teddy, FDR, JFK (if he lived) and RR."

"What would America and the world be like if Washington hadn't turned down the offer to be our new King?
What if Lincoln had not fought hard to keep the nation together and just told the Southerners it was okay to secede?
What is Teddy had not shown us how to become a world power? What if he hadn't fought so hard against the monopolies?
What if FDR hadn't instituted so many social programs during the depression or led us during the greatest war ever fought?
What if JFK hadn't appealed to our 'better angels?'
What if Reagan hadn't been around to get us out of our doldrums and instituted policies to get our economy back on track? What if he hadn't made it okay to be proud to be an American?"

So whenever I have a question of what our leaders today should do I ask myself "what would altrrr do?"

Bully Boy

One thing that America has been accused of on a near regular basis is being a bully around the world. Hmmmm. Want to see a bully, just look here...


That is the face of bullies around the world. Have you heard the one about how he is pissed at Spain because the King there had the audacity to tell him to shut up? Or where he compared the President of the US to the devil? How about where he is trying to get his countrymen to give him almost limitless powers? There is a constitutional referendum coming up and he is saying that if the vote goes against him it will because the US meddled in his affairs and he will shut off the oil. If any Venezuelan votes against him they are doing so at the behest of that nasty guy Bush.

Talk about painting a picture with broad strokes. This is one thing that Tyrants do very well - bully their way to office and then all the way to absolute power. Hugo wants to be the absolute ruler of his country and wants to have complete rule over Latin America.

Once he has his absolute power those that oppose him will learn what pain is. He has already made his way with closing down opposition newspapers and TV stations. Once you control the media you win the argument.

Fidel and Hugo, separated at birth?

Religion vs Faith vs Hate

Some would ask what the difference is here, but it is to me quite simple. Faith is belief in a higher being, while religion is following a certain set of rules and beliefs making up an organized faith.

One is about knowing God, while the other is worshipping Allah, Jehovah, Elohim, Yahweh, Krishna, etc. One is about freedom, the other about limits. Religion should be about helping us to get closer to God and not about narrowly defining how that can only take place. Unfortunately too many times each religion has its own view of Salvation that makes it only possible for their way to be the only way to God.

This narrow definition of Salvation puts up barriers between all of us. I have friends that are very dear to me and we agree on many things, but they are Baptists and believe deeply that Muslims, Hindus, Jews, Catholics, Presbyterians, etc. are all going to hell.

Is it not this same view point that has pitted Muslims like bin Laden and his followers against the rest of the world and even most of their own religion? It is this religous bigotry that prevents happiness in our world. It is not the only reason, but it is an important one.

To quote John Lennon:
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

Imagine a world without hate. Wait, what has hate to do with God? Everything. Religion can become the worst ISM in the world, and the most hateful and most destructive. Some would say certain political followings are religious in context and in their dogma. That only the true believers are right, only the true believers have rights, and only true believers should live. Is this not what we see in religious wars? Is this not what we saw in Nazi Germany in the 30's and 40's? Is this not what we saw in Soviet Russia and Communist China? Did we not see this in the Spanish Inquisition? National Socialism and Communism are both as much a religion as Christianity or Islam.

What is key here is that hate has a lot to do with the worst of what man can do to man. God tells us to love one another, but religion can get in the way and allow us instead to hate. Do you think God would want us to blow each other up in his name?

According to Jonathan Swift, the author of Gulliver's Travels, "We have enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another." I heard that as a college student many years ago and used it as a prisim through which I viewed religion AND God. As I grew older and wiser I discovered that Swift was in error. The quote should be--

"We have enough religion to make us hate, but not enough FAITH to make us love one another."

After I learned to separate the two ideas I was able to see that faith is about God only, while religion is about man and his own issues.

As a youth I thought hate was the opposite of love. Not true either; the opposite of love is apathy. Hate is love turned sideways, upside down, and inside out.

God created love, man created hate.

Imagine a world with no hate. Imagine a world where faith is stronger than religion, where love is stronger than hate. That is a world I want to live in and to leave to my grandchildren.

Disposable

Where is the fundamental difference between Capital Punishment and Abortion?

One is done to convicted murderers and the other against innocent babies? Well, yes. One is sanctioned by the state and the other allowed by the state. Well, yes.

Okay, what about similarities? Both are done with chemicals (at least in the US). Both are untimely. Both affect those directly involved in a bad way. They both say that life is disposable in our society.

There have been volumes written on each subject separately and together. The end result is that do we really want to add to the 'landfills' of our lives? Do we really need to kids learning that if you don't want something to throw it away? Do we want them to learn that if something is inconvenient to kill it? Do we want to cheapen life anymore than it already is?

Think about it for a second - you are finished with that chicken sandwich, toss it in the garbage. Throw away that old dress or shirt you are tired of. How about that couch you got when you moved into your first apartment? Then there is that baby that is going to be a real pain in your social life and cramp you going to college.

To me and lot's of people the fact that someone has murdered their fellow man/woman is enough for them to forfeit their life. I have believed this for a long time as well, but I have never been able to reconcile someone's ability to kill a baby within themselves. So I sat down and went over the message we are sending to our society - that life is disposable, period.

I cannot tell my kids this and I am loath to even tell them what capital punishment or abortion is.

The answer to this problem is - to outlaw abortion and capital punishment, but with other alternatives. For abortion this is adoption, pure and simple. This includes cases of incest and rape. The alternative to capital punishment is a deep, dark hole. I'm sure I'll write a post about our penal system, but for now the Death Row needs to be a place without creature comforts and be somewhere without possibility of escape.

I know this won't be easy to implement, but what else can we do?

Left Wing versus Right Wing

There really is no such thing as Left Wing and Right Wing. Political opinion and views are on a continuum like a circle, neither starting nor ending. They are part of the same circular political spectrum.

The bottom is occupied by the centrist view point. You might call it a moderate, or with those that don't have a political point of view at all. This is probably where most people live, politically. This is a safe place to be and doesn't require much thought, or more importantly, doesn't require any friction or fighting. Centrists don't blow up each other for a centrist ideology.

From there you have to go to the right or the left, conservative or liberal. They are depicted with a great deal of space on the lower part of the circle because they occupy a great deal of differing levels of intensity. With respect for each other these 3 groups can and do co-exist in peace and must work together for the sake of representative democracies.

Let that sink in for a moment. I went to college in a very liberal town known for its hippie views, and was discovering my conservative identity. The one thing I learned from talking and arguing with both sides of a political situation was that both sides had good and bad thoughts. Put simply - Liberals remind Conservatives to feel, and Conservatives remind Liberals to think.

Now from this spot the going gets a little tougher. Liberals can become leftists and then socialists, while conservatives can become so many different things that I couldn't label or they can speed right past Go and turn into fascists. They don't get the $200. Either way this is where democracy has taken a back seat to an ISM. Whether it be socialISM/communISM or fascISM the people will start to suffer from lessing freedoms and basic protections from the state. At this point there is no respect for differing points of view and those that oppose the state are dealt with... or made to disappear. Of course there is always the re-education camp or Gulag.

At the top of the spectrum, or the most unstable point in the circle, is complete totalitarianISM. Whether it be a communist regime under the title of People's Democratic Republic of Blahblah, or a fascist group called the National Socialist Party of Blahblah, the result is total and complete power in the hands of a small group of people or in one person. All freedoms belong to the state.

The important thing to remember with the circle is that the farther away from the bottom you go the more energy and power (or abuse of power) it takes to maintain control of the people. Also the farther way you go the fewer freedoms there are. As the state takes away freedoms they do so without the consent of the people and thus have to do so with the use of power. I don't mean losing the right to vote by convicted felons, I'm talking about the right of the people to protest, meet, or to form opposing political parties.

If you look at the line across the center of the circle the area above is the ISM Zone for a reason. This area doesn't have any safe places for political discourse. Almost everything is forced into a state of extremism. There is that damn ISM again.

ISM states mostly lead to other forms of ISM states. What did you say? If left alone (no outside intervention) an ISM state may have a revolution or change of power, but it will be to another form of an ISM state, or the same kind.

Political or military coups can lead from a Hunta to a communist regime, or from a monarchy to a dictatorship, or... It is rare and wonderful to see an ISM state replaced with the seeds of democracy. This is not something that happens overnight. Look at the pain that the former USSR is going through. They are still not a democracy, but they are much closer than they were 20 years ago.

The one thing I learned from putting this idea together while in school many years ago is that no one prospers in a ISM state and as long as there is respect for each other that ALL situations can be resolved together, from one side of the circle to the other (below the ISM Zone). And most importantly that both sides MUST co-exist much like light and dark, hot and cold, yin and yang. Really what this means is that within us all are a little of the other side no matter what we say our political views are. Within each liberal is a little conservative and each conservative has a little liberal within them.

Yes, even Ann Coulter has a little liberal within her. It is probably screaming its ass off, but it's there.

A Beginning...

All things have a beginning, a start, an origin, an alpha. So it is with this blog. I am not a politician nor do I aspire to that position. I'm nothing but a student of the body politic, a man that has lived long enough to have an opinion on most all matters.

What I offer you is a chance to read my thoughts on American political discourse and have your say as well. All I ask is that you be respectful of my opinion and others. While I am a Texan by birth I am an American by citizenship.

This blog will be a notebook for me to share what thoughts I have on matters facing America and American today, in the past and tomorrow. My opinions will be based upon political necessity, weighing alternatives, and in the end doing what is right for most people today and in the future. I firmly believe that a people that forget history are doomed to repeat it, but I don't believe in stewing in past mistakes.

I do hold a political affiliation, but do not adhere to it to the exclusion of common sense. That affiliation will be a subject of a blog in the near future.

Maybe together we can come up with the answers to the problems of America that work today and tomorrow. Hopefully we can leave the ISMs out of this discourse.

Thanks for reading and sharing,

ALTRRR