Policy Discussions In The Public Arena

Please let me apologize in advance. In no way do I wish to become a political blogger, but my writing is about whatever is on my mind and this issue has certainly been on my mind quite a bit lately. If any of you feel that this post reveals me as a member of the vast right wing conspiracy or a fundamentalist, evangelical, right wing extremist, then please accept my sincere, if half hearted ... "whatever".

Here is my burning question: when did it become okay to discuss matters of foreign policy in the public arena?

What kind of idiocy is it to tell your enemy, who is sworn to annihilate you:

• what you will or will not do in the course of interrogations?

• how long you will engage him in battle before you give up and go home?

• that you think the war is already lost?

• that "the nuclear option is off the table"?

• that you believe U.S. Forces are stretched too thin to effectively fight another campaign?

• that you not only disagree with, but will actively work to undermine the efforts of your commander-in-chief?

Some of those statements may in fact be valid. Some of those points absolutely need to be considered and debated from all sides. But, this debate should be done internally and with our best interests at heart, not publicly for the express purpose of denigrating your political adversary and furthering your own party's grab for for power!

The very fact that certain people drag this debate out onto the world stage instead of fighting for their positions within the halls of government and out of the glamor of the spotlight to me speaks volumes about their character and their motives. They behave recklessly and totally irresponsibly and endanger our country for the sake of self promotion and political grand standing.

To take these kinds of actions in hopes of gaining political power, the best interests of the United States, it's citizens, and it's fighting men and women be damned, is in my humble opinion at best reprehensible and at worst treasonous.

[stepping off of his soap box your humble author now returns to his normal, more introspective life]

you are forgiven

you cheat - i forgive
you leave - i forgive
you take - i forgive
you accuse - i forgive
you devalue - i forgive
you wound - i forgive
you devastate - i forgive
you aggrieve - i forgive

for all of the anguish you have caused me
for all of the things of value that you have taken from me
for robbing me of time spent with those i love most
for breaking my heart
for crushing my soul
for your unfaithfulness
for breaking our Holy bonds

you are forgiven

Why Blog

As I sit here and stare at this crisp, clean white space before, me a question crosses my mind. What do I want to blog about today? Or better yet, why bother to blog at all? Why take the time to fill this empty space with whatever comes pouring out of my psyche? Does the world really need one more person offering their opinions?

Opinions ...

Someone once said that opinions are like bowel movements. We all have them, but who really wants to hear about any one else’s! Someone else said that opinions are like arm pits (cleaned up version) everybody has them and most of the time they stink! Maybe opinions are more like the photos we carry in our wallets, we are all proud of them, some people will politely indulge us while we share them, but few people are genuinely interested in any one else's.

As usual, I tend to take a different tack. I consider it very closed minded and intellectually stagnating to not consider all of the different angles pertaining to any particular issue. Granted, in today’s highly polarized, highly partisan, political climate it is hard to care about or to give heed to any of the shrill voices vying for my attention. In my personal life, every acquaintance seems to know exactly how I should conduct my everyday business. In fact, it is extremely difficult to exist and not be constantly bombarded by a plethora of unsolicited opinions. It is enough to tempt me to shut it all out sometimes, and yet, I do still value, and often indeed benefit from the advice of others.

The thing is that not all opinions deserve to be given equal weight. There are a handful of people whose opinions I very much value. To use a current buzz word, to me they have gravitas. There are other people whose advice is about as valuable as yesterday’s coffee grinds. The trick is in deciding who to and who not to listen to.

But, back to the original question, why do we blog? Why do we feel so compelled to constantly offer our opinions? Perhaps it stems from the universal need in each of us to be heard and to be understood; not even to necessarily be agreed with, but to at least know that our opinion is heard and considered by someone somewhere; a cry for the simple acknowledgement of our existence and our intrinsic worth. I am. I have value. Hear me. Acknowledge me.

Perhaps the blog is a better way of sharing our thoughts. We can feel good about writing out our feelings and benefit from the catharsis of the writing process and yet not force anyone into one of those uncomfortable, unwanted discussions. Perhaps if more people engaged in this outlet, less people would feel compelled to corner others at the grocery store and subject them to their overly enthusiastic, meandering rants. Hmmm ... better living through blogging!

My own blogging has evolved in the few short months that I have been at it. It started as simply a way to vent, but as soon as I became aware that a few people actually read my posts something changed. Now I feel a duty, an obligation of sorts, to actually have something to say that is worth the time that people take to read it.

As I opine, I find that the times when I am most unguarded and transparent are the very times that I seem to tap into the universal feelings that we all share and seldom express. Once I tackle a difficult subject it tends to lose it's power of intimidation over me. There are things that we all feel and think, that are hard to admit to or give voice to, but that desperately need to be acknowledged.

So, to fellow bloggers out there I say, "God's speed to you". Get out your dictionary and thesaurus, face your demons and inner angst, write from the heart, use your spell checker, ALWAYS PROOFREAD before you post, and don't be afraid to tackle difficult subjects. The things that you are most afraid to write about are the very things that will resonate the most and have the greatest impact on your readers.

To use a buzz phrase - that’s my take on it. What’s your opinion?