Not On His Watch

From My Own Little Corner Well, it's been a while since I made an entry. I just haven't had the energy nor the heart to do so. It seems that things haven't changed much in the last few weeks. Despite the cease fire in the Middle East, the area seems even more unstable. The war in Iraq continues to rage on, despite the reassurances of our esteemed leaders. Hurricane Katrina victims are still waiting for our government to do something, anything. In other words, the problems facing us are still there and don't appear to be getting any better. In Lebanon and Israel the fragile cease fire is holding, but for how long? The Israeli government has said that it will review the actions of the IDF and itself and the handling of the "war". I have been hearing disturbing things about corruption there at some very high levels. Hezbollah has said that they wouldn't have kidnapped the 2 Israeli soldiers if they would have known that the results would be so devastating. Really? What did they think would happen? That Israel would roll over and just give in to their demands? Come on. The Lebanese people paid a dear price for the actions of Hezbollah and now the rest of the world will have to be involved in policing the area in south Lebanon in an attempt to keep the peace and in the rebuilding of the infrastructure damaged by the Israelis. In the meantime, we continue to lose our young men and women in Iraq. It is increasingly clear that things there are "going south" at an alarming rate. The latest fatality count stands at 2,860 total coalition fatalities and 2,633 U.S. fatalities. And don't forget about the civilian casualties. As these numbers continue to grow, it is becoming increasingly clear that it is time to get out. President Bush has said not on his "watch". Well I, for one, am glad that his "watch" is almost over. I only hope that our country can survive another 2 1/2 years of his "leadership". Just my opinion. He is in New Orleans today to commemorate the 1 year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. I'm not sure that this is a date that should be commemorated. It was, and still is, an absolutely horrible example of our government at work. Only half of the people that survived the disaster have been able to return. The rest are still displaced. And the citizens of Mississippi are only a little further along. They are trying to get settlements from their insurance companies, and those same companies, who have been collecting premiums from these people, are refusing to pay. They say that the damage was from flooding and, as such, is not covered by their policies. Unfortunately, the courts recently agreed with them. I just have one question-isn't storm surge part of a hurricane? Doesn't storm surge cause flooding? I was under the impression that there are three major components of a hurricane. The WIND, the RAIN, and the STORM SURGE. If this is true, then why isn't the damage caused by flooding from storm surge and rain covered by their hurricane coverage? These people are still living among the debris and trash left by the storm. Are George Bush and all the other dignitaries that are there, going to visit these parts of that once great city? Or will they visit the parts that look good on t.v.? Of the 110 billion dollars designated to help rebuild the area, less than half has been spent. The infrastructure in New Orleans is still in need of serious repair and rebuilding. Only 50% of the hospitals are up and running again, and 25% of the schools. This is a sad testimony to the effectiveness of our federal government. When we are more worried about helping people half way around the world than our own people, then it is time for a change. Our republican government continues to tout the fact that they are for less government. And yet they continue to impose more restictions and take away more of our liberties every day. There are illegal wire taps, monitoring of our phone calls and internet usage, and the deterioration of the separation of church and state. There was a rally held in St. Louis yesterday to oppose stem cell research. It was attended by BOTH religious leaders and politicians. This in an attempt to affect the outcome of the November election initiative on stem cell research. I personally have a medical condition that could possibly benefit from this type of medical research. I lost a daughter to cerebral palsy and often wonder what could have been done to help her had she been born in this time of such great medical advances. These unknowledgeable people continue to assert that this research is tantamount to abortion and even murder. How absurd! And I just wonder how many of these politicians go along with these groups to further their own agendas, i.e getting reelected. Stem cell research is a great advancement in medicine and should be treated in the same vein as the Salk vaccine, antibiotics, organ transplant, and many other advancements that, at their inception, were considered outside the boundaries of ethics. When election day comes, we need to remember that there are many other problems that are much greater and will have a greater impact on this country than stem cell research and abortion. In this country we are supposed to have the right to our own opinion about things and not have another persons opinion of right and wrong forced upon us. Our decisions about who will lead our country need to be based on facts and not on the "religious rights" idea of what is best for all of us. I personally don't understand how you can reconcile sending our children into an unjust war to die and then stand there in righteous indignation and state that abortion and stem cell research are murder. If all life is precious and to be protected, doesn't that include the lives of all our children, not just the unborn? I know that the men and women in our armed forces volunteered, but did they volunteer for this? And while our standing in the world continues to fall, Hugo Chavez is traveling the world. He is telling anyone who that will listen that our government is the greatest threat to democracy that the world has ever known. And President Bush, albeit unknowingly, is his greatest ally. President Bush's foreign policy, or lack thereof, is appalling. His actions with other leader's is at times most inappropriate. Take for example the back massage of Germany's newly elected female leader. Her reaction was almost utter disgust. And don't tell me that he's from Texas and so is used to showing his affection in such ways. He is the President of this country and should conduct himself as such. And there are other threats that are waiting in the wings. Iran is test firing missiles and MAY have the capability to create a nuclear bomb. North Korea is also becoming more unstable. These governments are the reason that diplomacy is so vitally important. Our government cannot simply say to these countries, "You can't have weapons of mass destruction, because we say so.". We need to make them understand the reasons that these weapons are detrimental and give them incentives to stop making them. What we should not do is tell them that if they don't do as we say, they will be punished. That method doesn't work anymore. It is time to change our policies and our leaders. Please, pray for peace and enlightenment, and may your God bless and keep you and yours.