tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6971235.post-1096133927090335932004-09-25T10:33:00.000-07:002004-09-25T10:38:47.090-07:00Comments From The Daily Blotto: <br /> <br /><P><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/09/25/MNG5D8UT511.DTL"> <br />A story out of Michigan about the town where the murdered <br />engineer, Eugene Armstrong came from.</a> A very illuminating portrait of people who are, understandably, distressed by the beheading of Mr. Armstrong. One thing comes through, however, that is rather disturbing in itself and that is how disconnected the good people are from "what happens." Things are not as black and white as these good people portray it. Our own government has killed tens of thousands of innocent people in the pursuit of terrorists. And that has to be factored into the calculus of going to war. It explains to one who comes from a blue state, in a very blue area why President Bush may get re-elected. The American people don't want to see what is done in their name. And in no small measure does that go towards what the barbaric terrorists do. It doesn't excuse it. And they have forced our hand. But we need to be much more alert in this world. We can't afford to be ignorant or think that "we" are pure and "they" are dark. I can't think of any more important time for the American people to keep alert in the world and not fall asleep in front of the TV. <br /> <br /> <br /><P><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/09/24/national1634EDT0642.DTL"> <br />An odd bitterness in a story about a Lewis and Clark enactment.</a> <br /> <br />And, in a bizarre sense, it replicated everything about the expedition, including the hostility from the natives. Twenty-five or so stopped the enactment in protest saying that Lewis and Clark started the downfall of the native civilization. In some ways I have sympathy with this view, in other ways I think it is utterly naive. Having travelled through the western part of the continent I can vouch for how devastated the native people's are. However, it was inevitable that they would meet "modern civilization," <br />at some time. If not the 19th, then the 20th centuries. The <br />Europeans who came here did exactly what the natives did. They migrated, they scouted, they homesteaded but they did so with a more organized economy, superior technology, and more population. They were like the Aztecs in that sense. Well, the confrontation between the Europeans and natives is a primary story. One where the guilt and the shame and the anger should be done with. <br /> <br /> <br /><P>Reverend Falwell has boasted that Evangelical <br />Christians are, "by far the largest constituency" in the Republican Party. <br /> <br />Reverend, pride goeth before the fall. <br /> <br /><P>Evangelicals and other stubborn constituencies simply assure that the "nation" as a whole will not go beyond a certain level of development. And by putting incompetents in office like President Bush, assured that another "60's" like period will break wildly out sometime in the 21st Century. Hasn't anybody yet figured out that Evangelical and fundamentalist Christians have more in common with fundamentalist Moslems than they do with the people <br />who founded this nation? Is this just apparent to me? The <br />"nation" Falwell would want already exists. It's called Iran. Americans have yet to fathom that, within themselves, they need to separate belief from practical affairs. And in practical affairs you need a rational point of view, an objective view, a learned view, and not one that shakes venomous snakes around on some smoky mountain. <br /> <br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6971235-109613392709033593?l=eide.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04889188985640887756noreply@blogger.com2