Power, Corruption and Lies

So, normally I don't consider myself to be a political activist, or even that rigidly aligned with any one political party. I don't put up false pretenses of being "fair and balanced" like the self-adulating Bill O'Reilly (who has become one of my least favorite people in an indirect proportion as he becomes on his own favorite person) but I would have to say that I've grown older and wiser, especially over the last four or so years, to not be so black-and-white in what I deem to be politically expedient.

Admittedly, I voted for Bush back in 2004. I would've voted for him back in 2000, but I didn't bother voting in Utah since I knew that it wouldn't have mattered living in a state that is always a "sure thing" for the Republican presidential candidate. Now... going into year 7 of the Bush presidency, I can say that I haven't been all too impressed with what he's done. I'm not one of those types that has hated on Bush since the beginning because it was simply in style. I don't also see him as the incarnation of evil, a modern stalin/hitler/mussolini. In fact, I hate the idiots that swing so far to the left and are such firebrands in their accusations, that I am pushed to come to his defense when such blatantly unobjective things are said.

But when you look at the facts, there's just too much in question for me to say that the guy has been up front, honest, and responsible in how he's carried out his duties as commander in chief. Now, I know that not everything is black and white. The problem I see though, is that just a little too much of everything has been in the gray area for what we've seen in this war.

Now, I'm not calling for a pullout of our troops, although I think that Iraqis should be able to vote on whether or not to keep our presence there. They sure act like they don't, and we should be willing to allow them to live with the consequences of us not being there. By all means, we should remain on the defensive for all the unintended consequences that this scenario would inevitably create.

I don't think that we were foolish for going into Iraq in the first place, given the circumstances with Saddam, the WMDs he had used on his own people, his blatant disregard for the UN sanctions (I'm starting to think that being a total wuss is a UN delegate job requirement) etc. justified in us taking him out. Obviously we made a ton of mistakes, and didn't know what the hell we were getting into. Unless you're in complete denial, Iraq is no more than a civil war between tribes that is costing American lives on a daily basis.

Is the war immoral? I'm actually beginning to think so. It started out a noble cause, but it's becoming apparent that we are using immoral means to achieve objectives. We were sold on a lot of erroneous information, false connections etc. No matter how we try to justify what has happened, it will not change the truth that the pretenses weren't 100% accurate. Now, despite all these exposés and negative press have been hounding the president and the war on terror, I have been on his side. I have to admit though, that I was really disappointed when I first read about companies like Halliburton profiteering off of the war.

I wasn't prepared for what I saw on Friday evening when I came across this video clip.









Now, I don't care what anyone has to say about "The Nation" and "Democracy Now" being heavily slanted to the left. Of course, you can see in the very language that these people employ, calling our presence in Iraq an "occupation" instead of the Liberation it is... or was once upon a time. But I'll tell you what... after seeing all this, I can say that this is immoral.

Of course, it's not completely black or white. I don't think that these "Mercenaries" are warmongers, and are the devil incarnate, but you cannot explain away their lack of accountability. You cannot say that you support the troops and the White House's endorsement of using these Contractors when these folks answer to nobody, are better equipped and better paid than our own soldiers, and are literally removing any incentive for our troops to remain loyal to the US rather than a seek the profitability, security, and likely immunity of a corporate sponsor. It's not the players though... it's the game. Our government is allowing it to happen.

So does all this mean that I'm going to vote for Hillary and Obama in '08?? HELL NO! Now, growing up Mormon has made me think that I was going to be a Republican all my life. I've notice that more and more of my LDS friends have grown disenchanted with the lies and corruption within the Republican party. Do we want to become Democrats... well, I haven't found many who are willing to jump ship just yet, but the response I got from my father when I asked him his opinion on the current political environment summed things up well. Never trust the party in power.

Bush made the mistake by surrounding himself with too many immoral people. In my opinion, Cheney himself is full of crap. It sucks to see that those you've trusted are using their position to enrich themselves even more.

In a day when it's so difficult to know where to cast your vote, I think in these confusing times, the safest bet might be the one some would call "a vote for Satan". When an ex-con (read the last paragraph) is telling you that, you can move forward with confidence.