What Price?

The United States government as opposed to the Bush administration is now telling American Fighting men and women that their tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan are going to be lengthened to 15 months from the now stated 12 months. This length increase traded for a guarantee of 12 months at home in between tours. I was under the impression and so were a lot of soldiers they already got to stay home for twelve months between tours. Was the Bush administration lying then or now?

Who cares? I’m of the opinion that not enough of you do. You’re not volunteering for service so you don’t give a damn if other young men and women get to spend an extra three months in a combat zone. You’re not going over there, you have nothing to worry about, and you don’t have to dodge bullets or IEDs. You just keep putting three-dollar a gallon gas into your car and drive off to the movies.

How can you keep letting a small, dedicated group of people risk their lives in combat as you play video games in the safety of your living rooms? How do you justify that inequity to yourselves? How do you sleep at night? Apparently you can without any qualms and visions of sugarplums dancing in your head.

Last year in the U S approximately 45,000 people died in car accidents. Another 45,000 to 50,000 died as a result of a gunshot wound. 200,000 or so died from the effects of cancer. About that same number died from heart disease. Where are the wars to stop these killers of Americans? Far greater numbers die each year from these causes than died in the attacks of 911. Why have we the people let 3,200 and counting young Americans die in Iraq and Afghanistan?

What are you afraid of America? How did you get to this state? What are you willing to change in order for the betterment of all? Please, starting right now, require more personal involvement from yourselves and demand greater integrity from our government.

Choices

Congratulations to the Utahns for Public Schools political information committee on their success in gaining 130,000 signatures from Utahns who feel the School Voucher program passed by the legislature should be voted upon by the public. This grass roots, all volunteer group has passed the first hurdle the legislature placed in their path on the road to undoing the voucher bill. It seems to me that when the legislative body which is supposed to represent the people of the state puts roadblocks up to impede the democratic will of those people then maybe it’s time for new members of the legislative body.

Along those tines, I would like to paraphrase Mr. Lewis Black again, as I ask the internet commentator to the article in the Salt Lake Tribune this morning regarding this issue when he stated he was sure the measure would be passed in a referendum vote. “Where do you go to get the drugs which make you so delusional?” A vote on this issue will surely come down on the side of not spending taxpayer monies on private schools.

To the Parents for Choice in Education, the political action committee on the other side of this issue, you already have a choice. You can have your children attend public schools or send them to private ones. The choice is yours. The rest of us ARE NOT going to pay for your choice. Your arrogance in suggesting we do is staggering.

During my life I have made a number of choices that have had some high costs associated with the consequences of those choices. I have never asked any of you Parents for Choice in Education to help pay for any of my choices. Where do you find the nerve?