A Note on Memorial Day
In the blogging world, I am exposed to a huge extended list of political blogs. Extreme left to extreme right and every place in between. Most of the time the vitriolic criticism from both sides leaves me a little disenchanted and disenfranchised from both parties. I consider myself a good American and even an involved citizen, but I think the rancor is childish and unproductive. I get a little tired of it, but today, Memorial Day, I want to take a little different stance.
I love that I live in a country where this rancor and vitriolic discourse is allowed to take place and even celebrated. I have lived in a country where freedom of speech was a foreign concept. I have lived where a libelous comment in a newspaper or a magazine led to severe repercussions. I have seen people cower before authority out of fear and disgust.
I experienced first hand the democratization of a country that had never before experienced the joy of voting and criticizing and disagreeing. I saw the faces of those people yearning to say everything they had held back for 35 years.
At the end of my brief two-year stay in Paraguay, I boarded a plane and flew from Asuncion to Rio de Janeiro and then to Miami. I still remember the feeling I enjoyed when I landed in Miami and saw the flag and handed my passport to the immigration officials. It still gives me chills.
I love that I am an American and that my country and my countrymen believe in certain individual rights. I love that my forefathers fought to maintain those rights and privileges.
I love that a bunch of idiots like me gets to blog everyday on every topic under the sun without the worry of censorship. I love political blogs.....wait a minute...let's not get too carried away.
Happy Memorial Day
And to all of the WilkeWorld citizens, feel free to comment as you see fit.
I love that I live in a country where this rancor and vitriolic discourse is allowed to take place and even celebrated. I have lived in a country where freedom of speech was a foreign concept. I have lived where a libelous comment in a newspaper or a magazine led to severe repercussions. I have seen people cower before authority out of fear and disgust.
I experienced first hand the democratization of a country that had never before experienced the joy of voting and criticizing and disagreeing. I saw the faces of those people yearning to say everything they had held back for 35 years.
At the end of my brief two-year stay in Paraguay, I boarded a plane and flew from Asuncion to Rio de Janeiro and then to Miami. I still remember the feeling I enjoyed when I landed in Miami and saw the flag and handed my passport to the immigration officials. It still gives me chills.
I love that I am an American and that my country and my countrymen believe in certain individual rights. I love that my forefathers fought to maintain those rights and privileges.
I love that a bunch of idiots like me gets to blog everyday on every topic under the sun without the worry of censorship. I love political blogs.....wait a minute...let's not get too carried away.
Happy Memorial Day
And to all of the WilkeWorld citizens, feel free to comment as you see fit.
posted by Cool Dad at Monday, May 30, 2005
6 Comments:
Hey, I recent that you call my blog disenchanting, disenfranchizing, vitriolic criticism. This is the worst post that you have ever put on this site. I may just have to boycott you because of it.
You are so ill-informed that you have know idea that a libelous comment has serious repercussions in the U.S. That is the problem with the country. They allow bloggers like you to spread such mis-information. Libel is clearly illegal in the U.S., unless of course the victim can't prove malicious intent, which is hard to do. But none the less, libel is illegal, and you can serve jail time.
Now, I demand that you take back all your derogotory comments about political blogs (except the Liberal ones). Because political blogging is not vitriolic.
Now I am going to go look up vitriolic.
**Hopes that all the readers will get the tongue in cheek nature of previous comment.*
Well said, Mr. Jones, Well said!
Travis,
Thanks for the shoutout. By the way, I really like your blog and feel that you call the shots pretty much like you see them. I, too, had to look up vitriolic, but I thought it made the post seem more serious, I mean, vitriolic is a nice, big word. Thanks again.
It's too early to be looking up words in the dictionary! But if y'all insist.....
Vitriolic: Bitter or sharp expressin of feeling.
Good post K., but did you just call us idiots?
I really need to spell check (the human way) my comments before I post them.
And lest people think that I am some umpatriotic, inconsiderate, unamerican soldier ignorer. God bless our troops, both present and on this day (yesterday really) especially those troops who gave the ultimate sacrifice.
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