frankj1 wrote:some good posts above...
I think of my father quite often, I think of his service more so on the 4th and on Memorial Day.
I think of what it must have been like for him to go into the Army during WWII at age 27, to be sent to Europe.
To have been atop phone poles repairing broken wires and electrical things (they made him a specialist in these electrical things) to keep the information flowing, with some kind of gun on his hip.
He must have been frightened, but never spoke of that part.
He came back, married my mother, I was born several years later when he was 38. Many of my opinions and views are his, including traits that I can only hope to emulate when it comes to the respect toward and treatment of other human beings. He was the best kind of man.
He always said that he served so others could live in peace with the freedom to be wrong.
He was a liberal. as am I.
and he knew it was a funny line. Truth in jest I guess.
Good on your Father Frank. Much respect. Those guys did one helluva job, not an ounce of backup in them. A debt that can never be truly repaid, only honored and carried forward.
I think you misunderstand my point though. I'm not a my way or the highway guy, nor do I think that my military experience makes me more qualified as "the supreme right answer". Frankly I agree with your father. The whole point is protecting everyone's right to make up their own mind and have their own educated opinion.
I have no issue with any of that. Key word there being educated or at least actually informed on the topic. And that means both sides. Myopia is never a good thing.
Hell, I'm fine with liberals. As long as they actually not only believe the issues they espouse and want to make law, but live their lives that way accordingly. If someone is practicing what you preach, more power to them. In that case, while I may not agree with their position, I'll respect it as they do live and honor their beliefs. But if they just want to impose that on everyone else? Yeah, not so much.
My issue is with those that a. have no perspective, they just regurgitate talking points, b. espouse beliefs and positions that everyone else should have to live by but they do not do so in any way shape or form, c. when presented with a viable counter-position or argument simply shout it down and rile the mob to continue to do so, and d. not be willing to have an actual constructive discussion.
I can't take someone screaming to the heavens about global warming seriously while they're flying around on a private jet.
And that cuts every single political party out there.
When I reference my experiences, it's because I've been to these other countries, a lot, and walked the ground interacting with the folks and observing their processes and life styles. For years. Not just a week or two holiday or business trip. I have witnessed and experienced the cultures and life styles, firsthand. There are some great places out there for sure, but none I would want to live in.
America is still, for now, the greatest country on Earth. But if these policies of open boarders, free everything for everyone continue unchecked it won't be. The free health care in Europe and Canada gets tossed around a lot. Yeah, they have that, but nobody ever mentions that tax loads. The VAT tax is insidious.
And those nations do not live and operate anything like we do. No one also ever brings up "in the black" which is essentially "under the table". If you really need immediate good health care, you are either paying for your own private insurance on the side, which gets you head of the line as paying patients go first, or you have a doctor you pay "in the black". I have great friends in Germany, Austria, Belgium, Norway, it's the same everywhere.
That is not supposition, that's simply my actual observations.
We as a nation did not get to be the great power and country that we are on socialism. That's not how it works. I will oppose that to the day my wife gets her insurance check. That I'm" paying for.
So I believe what I believe, based on my life's experiences. Other folks have different ones based on theirs. OK, that's how it works. I'm more than happy to discuss mine, and why I think what I do with folks. In a civil conversation and exchange of ideas. But I'll not be shouted down, or shunted, or shamed into being quiet about them. When that starts the conversations are over, I'm not much on lectures either.
Again, that cuts all parties. We, as a nation, need to regain civility, intellectual honesty, honor and character. It all matters.
When all of a nation's political representation are talking out of both sides of their mouths depending on day and audience, that is the recipe for the end. A representative republic is not meant to be mob rule, nor are politicians supposed to be bought.
So yeah, there are big problems in this country, and I'm not in denial about them. I honestly believe that if we don't get back on track, well the Brits and the Roman senate never saw it coming either. But they aren't the worlds big cheeses anymore either. History, it's either learned and respected, or repeated.
Always has been, always will be.
