Memorial Day 2011 brought the usual large number of special military programming and garnered a few comments to the effect that we ought to be honoring those who have fought and are fighting "for our freedoms." Certainly over the years there are many who have fought and are fighting for freedom. The list would include those who engaged the British after 1776 and again in 1812, those who fought against slavery here after 1861 as well as elsewhere at other times and places. Today's updated list adds "dissidents" expressing their views in foreign countries and much of the youth in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, Syria and even Iran. But can we include on that list those "coalition soldiers" stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan?
Certainly when confronted by these foreign soldiers on their home turf, Afghans logically perceive that their freedoms are being threatened by us. Few if any appreciate what happened on 9/11/01. And in Iraq after acknowledging that there were no weapons of mass destruction and no prior connections in Iraq with al Qaida, Bush 43 justified our presence there as being necessary to remove Saddam Hussein, a brutal dictator. Yet there is little evidence that coalition forces were welcomed into Iraq for that mission.
After 9/11 the status of our freedoms appears to be shaken. Pursuant to 9/11 we did not lose any freedoms with the deaths of upward of 3,000 people. But when we vowed to fight back, we did cede freedom in the "Patriot Act." How ironic that we just renewed that act this past week. And where bin Laden opined that our over-reaction to 9/11 could bankrupt us, our deficit spending on a 10-year-old struggle against terrorism might yet prove him correct. Freedom is lost when economic security is lost.
It is high time we learned how to fight for our freedoms. Step one is to sacrifice rather than deficit spend. The list of sacrifices must include making spending cuts clear across the board and increasing revenues appropriately. Looks like we haven't yet learned our lesson on fighting for our freedoms.
Dale Whiting, Chandler
Leon Ceniceros posted at 7:28 am on Sat, Jun 4, 2011.
Why should any "PATRIOTIC" American be worried about ...Uncle Sam...listening to his phone calls or reading his emails........if he/she is doing nothing wrong...and it stops another 9/11 Tragedy ???
I guess the problem is that many Liberals, Progressives and Democrats have a problem with being.............PATRIOTIC.
That has always been the difference between the Democrats (who would "pimp away" our treasured American Citizenship to 15 Million Illegal Aliens from Mexico...just to get a majority of votes in upcoming elections)...and the Republicans who love our Country and want to protect it's Border from Mexican Drug Cartels and the Illegal Alien Invasion.
If you want proof...just watch MSNBC or CNN or PBS (KAET Channel 8) and see the commentators and reporter and gurus on the LEFT...degrade (calling Republican commentators = sluts)..denigrate and ridicule....the TEA PARTY and the REPUBLICAN SENATORS, CONGRESSMEN/WOMEN and REPUBLICAN POLITICIANS.....(Chris Matthews, the ED Show, Rachel Maddow, KAET'S Ted Simons).....always asking.........WHAT IS WRONG WITH AMERICA ??.....WHAT IS WRONG WITH ARIZONA ??.
These Liberals, Progressives and Democrats....NEVER, EVER....ask....WHAT IS RIGHT ABOUT AMERICA or WHAT IS RIGHT ABOUT ARIZONA ........DO THEY ???
chatmandu002 posted at 8:46 am on Sat, Jun 4, 2011.
Dale, You make some good points. It all comes down to 2 different philosophies, big government socialism or capitalism. I fear we are past the point of depending on capitalism to run our economy. There are too many takers and not enough makers. If our country is going to become a socialist system then we need to tax accordingly. The best alternative is the Fair Tax. Go to fairtax.org to see how this would work. There isn't enough rich taxpayers to support all the entitlement programs.
Slabside posted at 4:41 pm on Sat, Jun 4, 2011.
The Liberal that wants everyone to think he's a conservative says: "And in Iraq after acknowledging that there were no weapons of mass destruction and no prior connections in Iraq with al Qaida, Bush 43 justified our presence there as being necessary to remove Saddam Hussein, a brutal dictator. Yet there is little evidence that coalition forces were welcomed into Iraq for that mission."
Captain Neo-Con, you need to speak to soldires that have served in Iraq. I have spoke many where I work and ALL OF THEM say the Iraq was worth while. Why don't you bash Obummer for staying in Iraq? Because he's your annoited one thats why.
You want to place the entire economic mess we are in on the wars. You are a typical liberal and refuse to place at least some of the blame on the Obama Administration spending.
You need to smell what you are speading and it isn't petunias buddy.
Cerulean posted at 5:46 pm on Sat, Jun 4, 2011.
Dale,
Your commentary is most usually thought provoking, and usually leads me to agree. As I do with step one; however the “cuts across the board” leaves room for wide interpretation. “cuts across the board”, yes, but how much?
For instance, there are estimates that between various subsidies and tax breaks for the oil industry American citizens sacrifice $6 – 30 billion annually. So, in the newly released budget proposed by House Republicans the recommended cuts to Fossil Fuel Research amounts to 31 million from a 900 million budget. On the other hand, proposed cuts for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Research amount to $899 million. The disparity here is so gross that I can’t even equate it to a bad joke. It is absolutely criminal.
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/print/article/2010/09/us-republicans-propose-inexplicable-cuts-to-renewable-energy
Chatmandu002,
One thing I know for sure – if a “fair tax” were in place, the government would not be able to afford to spend 900 million on fossil fuel research. The “takers” are the ones who can buy Congress.
The U.S. could do little of anything on a pure consumption only tax. States already tax products at 6%; some cities add their 1-2% tax to that. The poor guy who wants to buy a loaf of bread would have to eat at the Holsum bakery month old bread store garbage bin. Many already do.
Dale Whiting posted at 6:51 am on Sun, Jun 5, 2011.
Cerulean,
Across the board cuts are not necessarily uniform. But everything is on the table for review and everthing gets cut to some degree. Otherwise we do not sacrifice uniformly.
Slabside,
This issue is not whether returning veterans are proud to have served. Repeatedly I have maintained that where we send them over, we must welcome them home and serve their needs stemming from the service they rendered. The question is "Did we sacrifice at home while they were sacrificing overseas?" Where not, and where the grounds used to justify their sacrifice changed drastically, did someone play games to get us to sacrirfice our men and women in uniform and not sacrific our economic good standing back here at home? The answer to that one is yes, they did. And the "they" is Bush43/Cheney. Araqi Freedom was pitched as a simple in and out job. We went in with far too few forces. As a result, when the "mission was accomplished" we have destroyed the nation's economy, reduced its proud and ancient heritage housed in its world renoun museums to ruins, and left confiscated military ordnance scattered clear across the countryside, there to be converted into IED's. [Remember as a former EOD guy, I worry about IED's]
If we leave Bush43/Cheney alone and not address their suspecious activity, support our troops, yet not make our own sacrifices, WE are the real culperates! Can't you comprehend this thought?
Guess not. You missed it entirely!
RationalHuman posted at 1:02 am on Mon, Jun 6, 2011.
Who does the proofreading/ghostwriting for Dale and Leon in their letters?
The grammar in their letters does not even COME CLOSE to matching the grammar (or lack thereof) in the majority of their comments.
And no, Dale, I cannot comprehend the "thought" of being a "real culperate"...unless of course you meant CULPRIT. Otherwise your statement is as incomprehensible as it is illterate.
At least Dale's editor doesn't have to deal with CAPSLOCK, constant misspellings, and complete lack of punctuation and grammar like Leon's editor does...poor fellow!
Dale Whiting posted at 8:31 am on Tue, Jun 7, 2011.
RationalHuman,
Concentrate on the message, not the messenger. What have you to say about the message? Have you matched the sacrifice of those troops we sent overseas with economic sacrifices of your own? Where not, would you not agree that you are the culprit?
Dale Whiting posted at 8:34 am on Tue, Jun 7, 2011.
P.S. As I have explained repeatedly, my letters are drafted on a word processor. Microsoft does the spell checking. My comments are typed directly onto the page.
If you can do better, let's see you write something up for publication in the paper.
[Not spell checked. Heck, not even read twice.]