America, Ensign of Freedom

[lt_stapley]

I believe God has a plan for America as an ensign for freedom, that together we may bring freedom to many.

I dreamed of a liberator who would make men free,

I asked who and when it would be,

I asked and prayed until I could see,

The answer is now, me,

And the Land of the Free.

If we are to accomplish this we must join together as Americans and fight against oppression, starting with joining together to support the continued war in Iraq. For we are fighting for freedom there, and we must win.

[Empath]

That sounds a bit like Pope Urban's reasoning in the eleventh centrury at the start of the crusades.

[Guest eureka]

For whose freedom is America fighting in Iraq? The continued repetition of the word by Bush is reminiscent of Fascism and of Big Brother.

I also question your understanding of "Freedom" if you hold America up as "The Ensign of Freedom."m A country that has propped up cruel dictatorships for decades in its short sighted view of its interests; a country that trained terrorists as proxies for American interests; a country that killed millions in its wars and operations to support the dictators; is this "The Ensign of Freedom?

There is also the internal question. Is a country that has the highest rate of incarceration of its citizens in the developed world, to be held up thus? Is a country that does not have Freedom of the Press; whose citizens are so uninformed about the world by the controlled media that they can still make such silly statements about the cause of the war in Iraq and about the origin of the attack on the US, free.

Is a country whose Presidential election can be "rigged," free.

The iea that God's purpose is to be expressed through America is one that was put forward more than a century ago and, apparently, still beguiles some Americans.

It is blasphemous.

God has a purpose for all and not just the 4% of the world's population that live in the USA.

each nation and person will find its or his own destiny. It is not something that will be dictated by a a spoiled and corrupt society on this continent.

As a non-American living in a more or less free and democratic society, I take offense to any American who preaches his insular beliefs to me.

[Empath]

There's stuff there, Eureka, that is worthy of our consideration. It is somewhat though, like dumpster diving. You're not accurate in every assessment, but the spirit of what your saying has merit. It appears that we American's don't have a monopoly on ignorance and bad guesses.l

[Guest eureka]

I like your reply, Empath. I also like Americans and America. My daughter-in-law is an American. My son works in an international environment with mostly Americans - not in the States. And, I have a nephew who teaches at an American university.

I do not like, though, what America is becoming: at the promise it is throwing away. I find Americans in the mass to be totally unaware of the world around them and, due to the failure of the Media, of what their own country is doing.

You might be interested in the comment of a respected political commentator, some 40 years ago. He wrote, in a book about American politics, that " Democracy happens in the US once every fouy years: during the Presidential election campaihn." That, he considered was the only time that the public was engaged.

During recent campaigns, I am not sure that he woukd think that Democracy happened at all.

Perhaps he exaggerated but, as an outsider who has taken considerable interest in the subject, I am inclined to think like him.

[lt_stapley]

The age old claim that the presidential election was rigged is getting extremely old. Democrats crying about that election is one of the biggest reasons I dislike them. And so far I have not seen a shread of evidence that the election was rigged.

[The Terrible Sweal]

Rigged or not, George Bush was not properly elected on the basis of ballots cast.