Matt’s Blog

I actually read these words in a Time magazine article in reference to the “investigation techniques” used by the Bush administration in Guantanamo Bay.

I was waiting for new tires on my Subaru, an unfortunate consequence of the fact that you can’t simply replace one tire on an all wheel drive vehicle, you have to replace all four of them.  It wasn’t entirely clear in the article whether the author was being sarcastic or not, perhaps it was necessary to disguise it to get it past the Times editors, but I was mildly disgusted by the phrase.  I suddenly felt like I was in the novel, 1984 getting a healthy dose of doublespeak from a party member.

What disturbs me more is that we let it go on.  Even now the President is asking for power to try captive terrorists under some sort of military tribunal, though the administration has some other clever way to phrase it so that they can ask the Supreme Court once more for permission, having been denied once already.

I’ve always looked back on important world shaping historical events like the civil rights movement and compared myself with the good people, with the ones who stood up for what is right.  Now I wonder what history will say about our time, and which side I will have been on.

In truth, I still struggle somewhat with my own political viewpoints.  I used to cop out of having an opinion, stating that I didn’t have enough information, that all I had was propaganda from both sides, the politicians, and the news media.  Neither one being particulary partisan, I regarded the information I was getting as inaccurate.  But I don’t think that’s really working for me anymore.  Just because I don’t have the information I think I need, I should still have an opinion.  Being part of a democratic nation means being part of the decision making process.  I should be out gathering new facts if I think the ones I have are insufficient.

I also struggle to place myself on the conservative/liberal line.  I have friends who lean liberal, and others who lean conservative.  I seem to lean based on who I’m spending the most time with.  Lately though, I think I’ve finally formed an opinion of my own, thankfully.  Our society’s greatest value is in our relationships with each other.  That said, preserving community value (not values, I mean simple, raw community worth for the benefit of members) over individual freedoms is more important, and that places me on the conservative end.  And while I’d rather not label myself, especially with the mucking about that the GOP is putting our country though right now, it seems difficult not to in America.

I should have posted about this a long time ago.  I saw a documentary about the Dixie Chicks.  It was very good, and even though I don’t really listen to country music anymore, I still listen the Chicks fairly heavily.  Granted I got into them because of a girl, but that was so long ago, I hardly remember it.

Anyway, the movie is about the fiasco when Natalie said that she was ashamed that President Bush was from Texas to a British audience.  The backlash in America was so strong, that people were driving bulldozers over their Dixie Chicks cd’s and country radio stations all over were refusing to play their music, even when listeners requested Dixie Chicks songs.

The movie of course, describes all this in vivid detail, and shows what the band members were going through.  It can plainly be seen in the movie that the band suffered terrible strains because of the incident, though I doubt any would admit it.  Natalie was perfectly happy to turn from the country audience just as they were turning from her.  Emily and Martie however, are more plainly desirous to stay with their country roots, where they have been singing for over twenty years.

Lucky for their fans, they have stuck with singing and released another album, which is highly showcased during the movie.

For my part, at the time the Chicks made the comment, I had mixed feelings.  I recall even saying some similar comments to some of the anti-Chick interviewees of the film.  Now suddenly, I feel like an ultimate proponent of free speech and applaud Natalie for her bravery.  But so does most of the country at this point, so I wonder how influenced I am by the mood swings of the majority.  I am just glad that all of that drama stregthened the band’s relationship, instead of weakening it.

By the way, my roommate and I just decided that our street will be called Broadway, since it has no name.

There seems to be two camps when it comes to illegal immigrants. Either build a wall, or give them amnesty. Honestly, I would hate to see either of these options. What we really need is something in between. In all likelihood, we’ll find it over the long run. At least partisan politics gives us that, a big fight until we find an answer we can all live with. But until then, I’m more concerened with what is happening to other countries when their people come here in droves to find a more prosperous life. I’m afraid that their cultures, their traditions, their way of life may be disappearing in the shadow of America.

What I would really like to see, is America using it’s economic clout to kick start the economies of those countries. Give any immigrant a choice between a good job in his home country, or a good job in America, and we all know what most will choose. That way, fifty years from now, we’ll still have a world full of diversity, culture and unique traditions.

We can all certainly feel more safe and secure, now that our phone records are being safely stored and analyzed by the government. I certainly feel more safe. I’m sure the government will come up with some cool algorithms to find the calls that are made to terrorists, and if it works, great. Personally, I think it’s a waste of time.

I’m more concerened with the side issues here. First of all, it feels a little shady. Our leaders won’t even come out and tell us what they’re doing. Even when the story comes out, they won’t fess up. It just makes me think that they’re not totally convinced of what they’re doing either. Sure, there’s a lot of reasons they might have for secrecy, but they’ve got to know that the truth will come out eventually.

Second, I don’t really feel comfortable with the precedence that’s being set. I don’t like the idea of any other organization doing the same thing, and feeling justified in the act simply because it’s been done before. I don’t like the idea that we may continue to use such a technique, even after the current threat is eliminated, simply because all the procedures might be in place to do it.

I’d just like to see a little more communication out of our leaders, after all, the government has more than lives to protect.