Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Hi Guys!

Hi Guys!

[WARNING--PERSONAL POLITICAL OPINIONS THAT BELONG TO CIE AND DO NOT REFLECT THE OPINIONS OF ANYONE ELSE, INCLUDING CATHY.]

Hope everybody had a happy 4th of July. Happy Independence Day for all the citizens of the good ol' USA. I hate that we're in the middle of a war. Then again, I have never truly understood politics. I think the reason I have such a hard time with it and get so frustrated is that frequently there are no clear-cut "right" answers. I absolutely support our servicemen (and women). I am horrified by the things I'm hearing are being done to our troops -- but I am also appalled at some of the things I'm hearing are being done by people representing my country right now. In my opinion, if you lose track of those standards of behavior and freedoms that set you apart, you become the enemy and have already LOST more than the battle. I am horrified by what our troops are facing. But I am also horrified by the thought that my own government may have authorized torture, and unjust imprisonment in Guantanimo. The point is that this government was set up on the principles of freedom: Freedom of religion, free speech, the right to bear arms, no taxation without representation. It is what makes us who we are. If we sell off the Bill of Rights in the name of safety, we are selling off the very soul of our country. War is hell, and we are at war. It frightens and saddens me.

OK -- time to move on. If you don't have answers, you don't get to bitch. I don't have the answers when it comes to politics. I'm not sure there even ARE answers. So I pray for our service people and I pray for peace.

The leg is better. The asthma is getting better. (It kicked in with the reaction to the spider bite). The writing is going slowly. No real surprise there. First, this is a different genre. My mysteries to this point have always been short stories. Secondly, I was completely burnt out and sick, so it's taking me a while to recover. But I've given myself the whole month of July to play with this, so I should be OK.

Hoping to visit my folks at the end of the month. I'll probably take the train as it goes right to their town. Flying would mean coming in to either Chicago or St. Louis, renting a car and driving. I'm not up to driving either the whole trip from Texas or possibly even the couple of hours from Chicago right now. It'll get better, but I'm not there yet. So I plan to take the train, barring disasters.

We switched my thyroid meds and it appears to be helping. WHOO HOOO!!!! This is a GOOD thing. I'm not back to normal yet, but at least I'm in the mammals.

(Note of explanation -- first medicine, I was a snail. Second medicine, a turtle. While we have not reached the rabbit/hare stage yet, I am at least in the mammal category.)

(Joke of the day -- What did the snail say on the turtle's back?


Answer: "WHEEEEEE!!!!")

1 comment:

Monica Burns said...

It's your blog Cie, post what you like. I for one agree with you on your stance about the war. My husband and best friend were pro-War when it started and I told them then that no WMDs would be found and that it was a political deal. Well, here we are, over all this time and we're still there.
I don't like it when we police the world. We've become a bully, and it's no wonder people hate us. Not just in the Middle East, but even a lot of allies despises our govt.

IMHO, if you want to over throw a gov't do it quick and dirty. I don't like collateral damage, but I think there's been far more collateral damage over the time of this war than if we'd gone in with a FULLY equipped armed forces and played dirty. I despise war, but war isn't clean unless it's quick.

So I'd say for the most part we agree with each other. But I'd love to see our troops out of there and home safe. As a vet, I know the true cost of the war in financial and human loss. Fighting for freedom is one thing, but it should be preserving our way of life not trying to replicate our way of life elsewhere.

Ok, thanks for letting me get on my soapbox here. *smile* Go get 'em girl!