Palaver from Persimmon Crossing
with Warren FaulkConfound It! I want My Friends Back
Conservative and liberal ... terms that could once be used to loosely describe political leanings without causing offense. Now they amount to name calling. Downright inflammatory. To conservatives, the term liberal seems to describe someone who is obstructing progress on things such as oil and natural gas exploration and exploitation, someone who is soft on defense, soft on terrorism, soft in the head or just soft. Liberals may view conservatives as being against freedom of speech that they don't agree with, zealots when security issues are raised and not unlike fish in a feeding frenzy.
The political sides in these United States are so in disagreement that they don't even listen when someone offers an idea that is not in line or comes from someone they think does not wear the preferred label. Our Congress is in a shambles. Everything is divided along political lines with little regard for the public good.
Without doubt I am a liberal. I don't like having a label. I prefer to think of myself as logical. I have confidence that I can come up with good solutions to even international problems ... but I can't even get a hearing ... much less any effort toward implementation from the "powers". And even speaking my mind has gotten me into several arguments and cost me a few friends lately. I am still waiting to hear a single argument in favor of our having invaded Iraq a year ago that makes any sense at all ... to me.
I think the fact that anything like half the country agreed with it is incredible and speaks volumes about our general lack of awareness of the world around us. It is mind boggling to me that a generation of people who saw nations rise up and blindly follow leaders like Stalin, Tojo and Hitler and who lived through a period where several of our own Presidents mishandled and mislead us in Vietnam could or would line up and do the same thing again without really holding some feet to the fire where the invasion of Iraq was concerned. I could make similar observations where our wayward approach to energy and environment are concerned. So I have definitely taken sides but it isn't getting me where I want to be.
Can anyone doubt that at least some of the more than 10,000 Iraqi citizens killed by us in recent months, those injured, those left homeless were totally innocent of any wrongdoing? Does anyone really believe we did "everything in our power" to find another way? Do you not understand that it is possible to be short sighted and brave at the same time?
I know some of you are brave. I know. But brave also is the man who does not lash out at every opportunity ... who is willing to run some risks for peace ... who seeks to solve problems, rather than impose his will ... who errs on the side of honesty, rather than support a political ideology. Nobody wants to be seen as wishy washy, but our current trend of splitting into uncompromising groups is a washout. Nothing is working for the greater good at any level. At the national level such things as same sex marriage ... or marriage of any kind ... cannot possibly outweigh the fact that we have troops dying on our behalf in terms of news value or true value. That's like comparing apples and cannon balls in terms of gravity or actual import. But for weeks matrimony had the lead as our casualties mounted to 900 killed and 6000 wounded. To me that is an insult to everyone who ever raised the Stars and Stripes above his or her own personal safety.
But see? I'm doing it too. Assuming you don't have a clue. You used to be so smart! What went wrong? Can we not begin again at a point where we once agreed. Where the nation seemed more important than a collection of individual arguments and labels.
-- Warren Faulk
Smarr, Georgia
August, 2004------------------
Warren Faulk has written a book called "Still Looking For My Hinny," an online book about animal husbandry, fishing, hunting and war. Available from authorhouse.com
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