Hitting Nerves

I seem to be popular with anonymous people. Apparently my last post Are We Doomed hit some nerves with a few people. I decided to answer a second anonymous comment here because my answer to him/her wouldn't fit in the comment area. Mr. Anonymous #2 wrote that he would not read my blog again and would block me so I wouldn't darken his screen. So I don't expect Mr. Anonymous #2 to read this. But his response is just so full of the talking points we hear repeatedly from the progressives (the new word used for those of liberal persuasion) that I thought it was worth a response. Plus, he/she ended each paragraph with a question as to how I'd feel in such a situation, with great condescension. Mr. Anonymous #2, I realize you have done a fly-by, leaving your comments and then stating you will not read/listen to any rebuttal. All the same, I feel compelled to reply. Since you won't read it and you have blocked me from 'darkening your screen again', it shouldn't matter to you. You start your comment by stating I have berated Mr. Anonymous #1 and then proceed to call me a 'raving hate filled lunatic'. And that's just the beginning. Mr. Anonymous #1 chastised me for not being 'loving' enough, for not having enough 'compassion', and then implied I did not have enough insight to understand that our President is really the problem here. He couched his attack in 'loving' words. But it was an attack all the same. I suppose I didn't have to make the recruiting office comment - but you have to admit that I'm probably right about that. Where did I berate him? You accuse me of 'buying into' the hate-filled propaganda filling our airwaves. Would you consider your commects 'berating' and implying I don't have the ability to come to my own conclusions. The issue you raise in your first paragraph of imagining the roles being reversed is a complicated issue that is not so easily put into the box you seem to want to put it into. The history of the United States making promises to assist the Iraqi people in freeing themselves from the sadistic dictatorship they were subjected to goes back many years. During the Clinton administration there was a coup attempt planned and backed by the US. Clinton backed out at the last minute resulting in the execution of the Iraqi conspirators. No wonder the Iraqis were a little reluctant to trust that we would stay true to our word this time. Did that bother you? Or is it just the Bush administration that bothers you? Are you aware of how upset the Iraqi people are at the idea of the US pulling troops out prematurely? Do you know anyone who is there and knows or do you just rely on CNN to tell you what to think? Mr. Anonymous #2 - do you really believe that our soldiers are 'bullying' the citizens of Iraq? I find your statements about our soldiers particularly insulting. I suppose that was your intention, wasn't it. Contrary to your statements, our soldiers are honorable for the most part. I'm sure there are some bad apples, there always are. But this is an all volunteer Army - and the world knows that the American soldier is by far the most humane. Why else would the Germans have wanted to surrender to Americans rather than to the Russians in WWII? The worse American abuse the MSM has been able to come up with are the childish fraternity hijinks of the Lindi England episode. That certainly shouldn't be condoned and is an embarassment, but you can hardly compare that to torture. Regardless of language barriers, one can identify with compassion. Can't you? Our soldiers are not without compassion. They are citizen soldiers. They are our sons and daughters. American Soldiers are our sons and daughters, our kin, our neighbors. They are not monsters. You hide behind your anonymity and sling insults to the men and women who stand, sleep, eat and fight in that desert while you sit in the comfort of your home getting your feelings hurt sitting at your computer reading a blog. How would you feel if those roles were reversed? Regarding the Roman Empire, you need to brush up on your history a little bit. You state that you love our country, but 'find it despicable' that I would make a comparison to the Roman Empire. That's perplexing. Are you aware that our founding fathers based our Republic on the Republic of Rome? Yes, there was a time the Emperors of the Roman Empire perscuted Christians. That is part of the Roman history. Rome did thrive for 1,000 years so there is more than that to their history. As I'm sure you remember from elementary level history classes, the Emperor Constantine was a Christian and, in fact, made Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire. Constantine is considered one of the most powerful and influencial emperors of Rome. He spread Christianity throughout the Middle East. Contantine is credited with transforming Christianity into one of the world's major religions. So to paint the entire history of the Roman Empire by one episode in their history is just a tad narrow minded, don't cha think? Would you like your entire life to be judged on the worse year you had? And you, as a Progressive (the new word for Liberals), the 'understanding' and 'compassionate' Progressives, you call all Romans 'Christian Hating Warmongers'. I wonder if any Italians will read this. How would you feel if you were them? I agree with you that America is a generous and aware place. I agree that 'We The People' do not want to kill people who just disagree with us. That is evidenced by the great reluctance with which we have entered any war throughout our history. Your comment about the 'paternal kindness of a superpower...' is indicative of the Progressive's (the new word for liberal) overall paternal attitude towards 'We The People'. What would we do without the Progressives (the new word for liberal) telling us how to live, how to think, what views we should have, what to spend our money on, and where we can and can not do whatever the Progressives (the new word for liberals) think we should or should not do. You spend several paragraphs explaining to me why the terrorists attacks of 9/11 were really not that bad in the big scheme of things. The big Right Wing Conspiracy is 'whipping me up into a frenzy' while they steal my soul. No big deal. Right? No big deal at all. I submit to you that if you had been there, if your child had been there, if your own home were threatened, it would be a bigger deal to you. An intentional attack on our nation, into the interior of our nation. An attack on the very symbols of our financial and military might is a big deal. I submit to you that your defense of the attackers, your willingness to blame your own country for being attacked (blaming the victim), your insistance on minimizing the attacks and framing them in words like 'tragedy' rather than calling them what they were, attacks, is born out of fear. It is freightening to wrap your mind around the idea that there are people who want to kill you just because of where you were born and because you do not have the same belief system they do. You are an infidel and there's nothing you can do about that. And then you end this tirade by telling me you will not listen to anything further from me or my kind. You will not engage in debate. You will just slam me with your insults and then leave without avenue for debate. That is also typical of the talking points. You don't really want to see another point of view, hear another take on issues. Your mind is made up and you will keep it closed, shut tight. I'm sorry for you for that. Since you laced your insults with 'love' and 'understanding'. Since you associate yourself with a group that claim to be the 'understanding', 'accepting', 'liberal', 'open minded', etc. I thought it would be interesting to list the insults you slung at me in this one comment. List of insults: I berated a previous commenter; I'm a raving hate filled lunatic; I don't think for myself as evidenced by 'buying into the whole group hate thing...' ; Good intentions be damned - if they are good intentions; My reference to the Roman Empire is despicable; You imply I 'want' to kill people who disagree with me; I'm clueless; I should be ashamed of my hate filled angry call for vengeance and war; You berate me with comparisons between automobile accidents, suicides and terrorists attacks; I've been 'whipped into a frenzy'; I'm a sheep person; I see the world through a narrow angry lens of sensationalism; I'm a victim of out of control fear; I'm been sold a bill of goods to divert my attention while I'm being robbed; You don't want my blog darkening your computer screen again; I'm spreading fear and hate. I think all that added up together would make me a stupid and bad person, huh?