Sorry about not updating the blog lately. I happened to have classes and wanted to get a better academic footing than my previous semesters, so I dedicated a lot more energy than usual to get better grades. Thankfully, it paid off. Now that I'm having a new semester that's going okay, and recent events have become the hottest in a long time, I decided I'll throw in my opinions of the major issues of the day.
First...
The Dick Cheney hunting accident - What Cheney did was tragic, although based on a mistaken action. I am no expert on guns, nor am I possessing any experience or skill with guns. That being said, Cheney's actions should be taken as a mistake that should be punished through the extents granted by the local, state, and federal laws. No more. Democrats, predictably, are trying to look for a scandal. Recently, I overheard a local Liberal talk-radio host saying that there was a "cloak of secrecy" involving Dick Cheney's not informing the media until a day later of the incident. This, however, does not indicate a conspiracy. Instead, it indicates that perhaps Mr. Cheney did not want a huge alarm to sound before he informed Mr. Whittington's family of the horrific mistake. Cheney's action was unfortunate, but the policking of Administration critics making an issue out of a non-issue is approaching to be just as tragic.
Second...
The "Protests" of Danish Cartoons - I'll repeat what countless bloggers and talk radio hosts have to say about this issue: The cartoons in the Danish newspaper are not a reason for the recent violence on the part of some in the Muslim community, it is an excuse. The Wahabbi-dominated Muslim communities of Europe have openly declared their enmity time and again towards Western values, even before all this foolishness with cartoons. Much like many Academics today, they are against Democracy and free speech. They wish to smash the very table from which they dine. What is the objective of these violent actions? The objective of any form of violence and terrorism: intimidation with the intention of submission. See how quickly Europe has caved in to these individuals. Even the United States, the supposed haven for freedom of speech has succumbed to an extent to this travesty. Christopher Hitchens, responding to a statement by Sean McCormack of the US State Department calling the cartoons and any criticism of religious figures "unacceptable", says:
What does he mean "unacceptable"? That it should be forbidden? And how abysmal that a "spokesman" cannot distinguish between criticism of a belief system and slander against a people.
Source: http://www.slate.com/id/2135499/
The following will be shocking to many PC Leftists and the "America is a Christian Nation" Conservatives: Due to freedom of speech rights, no figure, religious or secular is beyond criticism. Even bigoted statements are protected under freedom of speech. What recent events having to do with this leads me to believe with more certainty that this Muslim "protest" is merely another act of Jihadist terrorism, creating a sort of de facto Islamic law against criticism of their religious figures. The sad thing is that the buckling under because of this controversy will only make the Wahabbi community only increase their "outrage" in order to get more political weakness to exploit from the West.
Both of these two issues seem to show a sad pattern in modern Democratic society. And that is this: Perpetual outrage brings political points. The Left tries to make up conspiracies to do with the current Administration being "power-hungry" and can seemingly do nothing right. The Right often gets upset over the actions of the Left, sometimes to the point where they have compensated by verbally attacking anyone even with a VALID criticism of the Administration or even questions a certain action. And, as I've just said before with the Islamists, the act of being outraged about actions of private individuals in different countries criticising their religion and blaming the entire government and populace of a country for it, and doing it in the most violent way possible. This strategy, whether new or as old as politics itself leads to a system of political bullying for political capital. And political discourse and freedom, along with those who cherish them are those who suffer for this travesty.
