The purpose of this blog was to lend a voice to my opinions, as erratic and erroneous as they may be. And yet I find cold comfort in blasting these missives into the ether. They bounce around a few places but in general, only serve my own ego. I am feeling in a particularly dark mood this day. Whether I continue with this remains to be seen. I am approaching a year, and much like my previous post, and there is little to show for my efforts save an archive of ramblings.
No, my metanoia is not due to the fact that republicans may lose the congress. If they do, it will be due to their own ineptitude, which will be replaced by the democrats own ineptitude. The basics of our nation rely upon the free exchange of ideas and commerce. This magic formula enables the United States to be more prosperous, tolerant and stable than any nation on earth.
A country of 300 million people of such wide ranging diversity is a testimony to the inherent goodness of humanity.
Do we have some problems? Certainly, but I am convinced that the process of debate and discourse will win the day. I am a technologist. I believe in the possible, but will start with the probable.
President Clinton's two legacies from his time in office are welfare reform and keeping his mitts off the economy during a time of blistering, unsustainable growth. I believe that President Bush's two legacies will be education reform (NCLB) and sponsoring the reformation of our national security policy and armed forces.
I do think the invasion of Iraq was justified. I also think the follow-up was not well executed. The tribal nature of that part of the world can not be understated.
I worry about that country and those people, they too are born inherently good.
When I was in the gulf for a part of the summer of 2004, I had a chance to stay at a very nice resort - thanks to the Navy's force protection policy. This resort was frequented by Saudi nationals who sought escape from the constraints of their society. A large family was at the pool. The women were clad from head to toe in traditional garb and the younger girls were also clad head to toe in what appeared to be a wetsuit, but were swimming. The boys were in western style suits along with their fathers and uncles.
One of the young boys invited me to play a game of water polo. He was about 12 or 13. Clearly I was a westerner, you don't get much paler than me! We spent an hour playing in the pool and simply having fun. He reminded me of my sons. Eager, open and unsullied by any prejudice or bias. After some time, I had to depart, I shared my goodbyes and he asked me if I would return again to play.
I said that I hoped I would.
Indeed, I hope we all can.
3 comments:
Slef expression, perhaps, but self fulfillment? I am not a hit junkie - but if I can get my point across without seeming like a raving lunatic, then that's something.
When playing in a band becomes more chore and less fun, I will put the bass in a closet, take a sabatical (mmmmmmmm, sabatical), and walk away from playing music for a while. I must admit I have thought about doing the same thing for my blog too. Some times it feels like a big waste of time. But then I think, how much time does it really take out of my day to write a post; I mean the thing that eats my spare time is visiting everyone elses blogs. So if I cut back on anything, it will be surfing through all the other sites.
I could take a few weeks off from blogging - a self imposed exile. For various reasons I have gone that long between posts on a few of occations. But in the end I couldn't quit. Hell, I'ld probably end up posting more during my exile than I do now. Anyway. I have a feeling we will all have alot to blather about with the elctions two weeks away.
I think I'll post this on my blog.
Take care.... and don't quit.
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