Excercising my rights

To celebrate Independence Day, I'm going to exercise my free speech rights. So you're aware, there's nothing in particular that happened today to prompt this post. I haven't really thought it out, so it may not make sense when it's done. My only goal here is to reflect on our country and to do so publicly in celebration of my freedom to do so.

Laying the cards on the table: I'm a Christian Republican white male who voted for George Bush.

I supported going to war in Afghanistan. After 9/11, going after the terrorists on their turf (and regime change in terrorist-friendly Afghanistan) sounded good to me. I'll never forget the morning we all spent in shock in the Marion County DA's Office, huddling around TV's to see the devastation in New York, DC, and Pennsylvania and wishing we could cancel our court appearances for the day.

I supported going to war in Iraq. Primarily due to the evidence presented to the UN by Colin Powell, universally-respected Secretary of State, coupled with one of the better speeches George Bush has ever given explaining why going to war was necessary.

I'm glad we've ousted Saddam.

I have many friends in the military, and I support them all.

All that said, I'm sickened by our president and tired of our war.

President Bush is, I believe, a good man. A man in touch with his principles who honestly believes that he's doing the right thing. I believe all of that.

That said, I question his decision-making process, I question those advising him, and I wonder if he's got the wherewithal (entirely misspelled, I know) to lead this country at home and abroad.

At home, the economy continues to stagger towards a long-promised recovery. Oil prices increase with no real apparent action from our government to address them, despite the fact that they impact our whole economy. Class warfare continues. Noone is seeking a middle ground from which to guide a consensus of our country (the country of both the reds and blues) somewhere where the majority of us want to go.

Abroad, we are spurned by most of the world. We're distrusted by many, reviled by most. We've developed a cavalier attitude that alienates both our friends and enemies. We're isolationist while thrusting ourselves on others, which are, in my view, incompatible stands.

In Iraq, we're fighting the new Vietnam, unable to tell the difference between our friends and our enemies, who emerge in clusters from amongst our friends to kill us and any of their country-men who get in the way.

We are stuck.

First, before I get flamed as some unpatriotic pinko, let me say this. I agree with the lefties, who I don't consider myself one of, who say that the power of our country comes from our freedom to take place in debate, to raise our opinion in the marketplace of ideas. To be patriotic is to participate, not to sit back and watch. To be American is to raise your voice.

I support our troops. I support my friends in Iraq and other areas of the Middle East. I care about how they are equipped. I want them to be given the tools to succeed. I want them to come home alive, and to be honored for their sacrifice when they do. I'm proud to know each of them.

But this war is a problem.

Having said that I supported going in, and I supported the toppling of Saddam, I understand that wanting out of the war isn't realistic. I want our country out. I don't want any more lives lost. I don't want any more money spent in a situation that often appears hopeless (although things like successful free elections in Iraq are amazing when they come along).

I believe, however, that supporting going in requires me to have the gumption to support doing what it takes to accomplish the objectives set forth in gaining my support. There was the objective of ridding Iraq of WMD. That objective was, depending on your viewpoint, the result of intentional deception or simple misinterpretation of data. Either way, it wasn't the only objective. The other stated objectives were to remove a tyrant who was a terrorist-friendly head of state, and who was a terrorist to his own people, and also to liberate a people from oppression and create an oasis of self-rule in a land of despots. At the time these objectives were stated, there was nigh-universal support from everyone.

Certainly there was from me. And I cheered as American troops went in. And I cheered as Saddam was captured.

I've stopped cheering. It's been a long time since I've been happy about this war. However, having been in the group of Americans who cheered our entry, I owe it to our country, our troops, and Iraqis to push for the best possible resolution, the safety of our troops, and the independence of the Iraqi people.

What is the best possible resolution? Sadly, I don't know. I don't think it's a unilateral pull-out, leaving a vacuum of power and hostile, emboldened insurgents free to impose their will through violence and terror. I don't think its allowing under-equipped, under-manned forces to twist as we try to figure out what to do. Beyond these thoughts, I'm not sure what to think.

I think that we went in too quickly. Hindsight is 20/20, of course. But it's clear that our leaders didn't have an adequate plan for the weeks, months, and years after the battle charge.

Had such a plan been laid out, I have to think that our "Coalition of the Many" would be stronger and more cohesive, and our standing on the world stage would be more solid than it is now.

The political capital we're spending in Iraq, I believe, will not be understood until it is lacking in some future, greater context. We will pay for not laying a complete foundation and bringing others along. We'll wish we'd taken more time, made more complete plans, and worked to include others.

Now we live in a country set apart from the rest of the world. We listen to a president repeat the same jokes, the same catchphrases, and the same stump speeches he was spinning two years ago. We have a president who can't acknowledge fault and who therefore appears disingenuous. We have a country that feels like its leaders aren't listening. We have a bunch of people arguing among themselves because there's no leadership giving us a unified direction. At least, one that makes sense.

I'm glad 2008 offers a new choice on my side of the aisle. I hope that my party will actually consider who they put up there. I want a leader with a moral mandate, a social conscious, an idea of our country in the world context, a true compassion for the poor and a desire to address the issues of poverty here and abroad (I applaud the US/UK-led effort to cancel third-world debt), and an eloquent voice that speaks honestly and frankly with our people. I wish those people existed in government. Unfortunately, our system seems to nurture and cultivate salesmen with no true goals but the placating of their stockholders, and with no clear direction but whatever makes the arrow on the polls go up.

I'm one of many voices that, though perhaps confused, is clear that we don't like where we are, where we're headed, or who's taking us there. I hope and pray that there's some rational force driving us to a peak and not a valley. I know I don't understand much, but I know just enough to have a funny sinking feeling in my tummy, and I don't think it was caused by the Fred Meyer's sushi I had for lunch.

I'm done rambling. Don't know if I made any clear points. Regardless, your input is welcome...

Catch ya later.