Yeah, I watched

Once again, I am just stunned. Even though I knew exactly what the Prez was going to say, I am still very disheartened. As you know, I have been against the war before it started and I think we need to get out now. Funny thing, I use to have a blog called "Left Over Right" where I posted my more political thoughts. I ended it almost six months ago because I didn't have time to deal with trolls. Some of the stuff I put out there in April is still pretty fresh today. In light of the Prez's speech, I thought I'd replay it for you. It's called "With Open Eyes". "With Open Eyes" If you read my other blogs, you may know that I wrote a novel called Web Site (formerly known as Progressing Rapidly Over Uneven Terrain). It is a very graphic look at the characters that are involved with a pornographic web site. When I tell people about the book, they eventually get around to asking me why it is so sexually graphic. My explanation is that you cannot understand something unless you look at it - really look at it. You have to see something for what it really is. Therefore, when the people at the web site have sex, I describe it in full detail. I also try to contrast it with sex that people have in other situations. Some times it is uncomfortable to look at, but once again you have to see (or read) it to believe it. My belief is that this is true with everything. In order for us to believe things our government tells us, we have to see it in all of its ugliness. For example, we need to see the images from Abu Ghraib to understand what is happening. The same is true for Guantanamo Bay. We have never seen the inside of that place. We have no idea what happens there or who it happens to. How can we allow the government to take action in our name without our specific approval? Continuing on the theme, it is a tradegy that all news footage from Iraq and Afghanistan are filtered by the US Department of Defense. Even if some footage gets through, the networks in the US are reluctant to air in fear of reprisal from the White House. Again, how can we make informed decisions about whether or not we are doing the right thing? How can we exercise our will if we don't have any information? They tell us to trust them. They say we need to stay the course. How can we know what to do? Show us what us what is going on, then we can decide if we should continue. Maybe we are doing the right thing and fighting a world-wide terroist threat. Or maybe, we are fighting a war to support multi-national corporations. Point is, we don't have any information. Lastly, a huge issue that gets absolutely no attention is the fact that no one is allowed to take images of coffins of fallen soldiers returning from overseas. This is an outrage. We have to be reminded on a daily basis what this "War on Terror" is costing us for two reasons. First, so that the families of the fallen know that we feel their sacrifice. Second, to remind us of the cost, so when we are asked to give we know what we are giving. Coffins are real tangible evidence. If we continue to allow these men and women to return in a shadowy cloak of darkness then we forget. We know war is ugly. They say war is necessary. Let us see the information and let us decide. We deserve the truth. We can handle the truth. Show us the truth. ... and once again, the man is asking us to trust him. Are we going to fall for it again? Technorati Tags: Politics, Congress, Rebeleyeball, Paul Gavin IceRocket Tags: Politics, Congress, rebeleyeball