Years ago, as my wife and I were grocery shopping, we saw a woman with two children in tow.
The children were arguing or fussing about something. Not loudly enough to create a scene. Just enough to be noticed by fellow shoppers. Really, not that unusual at any store where parents have children who wish to be elsewhere doing anything else.
Then one of the kids hit the other. The mother's response was immediate. She slapped the oldest of the two across the face with a stern, "I told you: Don't hit!"
The irony, the hypocrisy, hit my wife and I as the slap had hit the child. And, of course, was completely missed by the mother.
There are two things to notice here. The first I'll mention may not be the first that comes to mind, but bears mentioning as it frames the second, more obvious observation.
Frist, one of the children crossed "the line" and the mother responded. How often do we see parents set limits or parameters for their kids, only to watch them dither and vacillate when the child repeatedly crosses the line?
Second, how absurd to "teach" a child that physical violence is unacceptable through physical violence! The lesson learned is not that violence is unacceptable, but that one needs to be bigger, stronger, and more powerful than the one you are striking.
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We (as a nation) excused our own actions in Iraq because "the world needed to be free of the horrors of a tyrannical dictator." We willfully ignored the over 100,000 Iraqis who have died because of the instability we brought with our "justice."
Today, questions come to mind:
• Who made us the mother of the middle east, that it is we who must step in and correct nations like errant children?
• How will adding to the violence in the area solve the problem?
• Have we learned from our past? Are Iraq and Afghanistan better off now then they were after the departure of previous invaders?
• What will it cost? in lives? in dollars? in reputation and good will?
• Who will pay those costs?
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I can only answer the last. Not the 1 percent, who will actually make money on the deal. Increased war spending always seems to make the wealthy more so. The cost will be payed by the 99 percent in the lives of our children and grandchildren. In taxes, and debt, and decreased social services at home.
We have truly entered an age of empire for America. One in which we've gone from being a people to be admired, respected and emulated to being power to be feared. No, repubs, they don't hate us for our freedom, they hate us because we have taken the Soviet Union's place as the world's bully.