Porked

I'm glad someone finally sees it my way. I can only hope that he's overly pessimistic when he says that because of his views he'd "never get elected in the first place." These are the type of people that we need in government: people who are willing to make short term sacrificies for long term gain.

That's a major source of my frustration with so many in the Republican party. It seems that they agree with these ideas in principle but when it comes to possibly making a short term sacrifice (losing re-election) then they're far too willing to compromise those beliefs. I would how much long term gain we've all missed because of this willingness to compromise.

More Iraq Madness

I've discussed what's going on in Iraq with so many different people on so many different levels that I almost don't want to get into it. Then today I read the following line from MSNBC.com.

"Iraq’s leading Sunni Muslim clerics said Wednesday the country’s landmark elections lacked legitimacy because large numbers of Sunnis did not participate in the balloting, which the religious leaders had asked them to boycott."

Does anything else really need to be said about the situation?

UPDATE: 1/10/2006 7:14PM
I was looking back through some old posts trying to add the newly supported labels and I was reading through the article that is reference here. Apparently sometime between when I originally made this post and now the article I liked to has changed. They've toned down their language slightly. I guess they realized how ridiculous it made the opposition in Iraq look. The arcile now reads:

"Because many Sunnis stayed away from the polls, influential Sunni clerics — including many who had called for a boycott — are now challenging the legitimacy of the balloting and the government that will emerge from it."

That's makes them sound far less hypocritical and is honestly probably far less accurate.

Let Freedom Sing

I'm not exactly Kid Rock's biggest fan. As a matter of fact, the first Kid Rock song that I ever heard in its entirety was a version of "Lonely Road of Faith" that he performed on CMT Crossroads. I remember hearing the song for the first time and thinking to myself, "This guy has an amazing voice. Who in the world is this guy?" When I learned that it was Kid Rock I was almost embarrassed. How could I have possibly found the music of someone as disgusting as Kid Rock so outstanding? I was conflicted.

The theme for the inauguration is "Celebrating Freedom, Honoring Service." What better way to celebrate the freedom that we all share as Americans than by bringing together people from different backgrounds and lifestyles to share the things we have in common? Far too much of the world is devoted to the things that divide us. The Founding Fathers didn't see eye to eye all the time but they were able to come together on the things they had in common. Rather than condemning Kid Rock for our differences lets celebrate the fact that we both desire a country where we're free to make our own choices for the things that affect us. I can choose to worship God and pray openly (except in school) and he can choose to sing songs about violence and drug culture.

Perhaps if we chose to celebrate the things we have in common more often then we would be able to establish a rapport with people that would serve as a vehicle for open and honest dialogue about the issues on which we disagree. That's a far cry from the environment we see today where Democrats will vote for anyone but Bush and Bush supporters are writing books entitled "How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must)." My take? Establish some guidelines for the event that govern the conduct. Minimum standards could be set in regards to appearance, language, etc. If Kid Rock were willing to agree: let freedom sing!

"It is the soldier, not the reporter who has given us the freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us the freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who gives us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag." - Father Dennis Edward O'Brien, Sergeant, USMC

"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason peoples of other faith have been afforded asylum, prosperity and freedom of worship here." - Patrick Henry