Catching up

I am just completing a 4-day trip to San Diego.  I come down here every August to meet up with my old navy buddies.  We golf, eat and then golf some more.  We have been doing this for around 8-10 years.  The first 6-7 years we would run in the San Diego Half Marathon.

Now we are older.

Now we golf.

I love hanging out with old friends.  I see them for the first time in a year and it's as if we just saw each other the other day.  This is true with my high school friends as well.  I spent a lot of years moving forward.  It's only been in recent years where I learned to pause and reach back bring the people in my life along with me.

We had a lot of interesting conversations; many about un-reprintable events from our times in the navy.  Many about more current events.  It's interesting that, just like members of my own family, we disagree on many things.  Being friends, the disagreements are just words; sometimes nothing more than to just stay in touch instead of walking silently to take the next golf shot.

I did have my opinion changed about one issue.  Chas and I were discussing the Mosque in Manhattan.  While I could find no one that thought they didn't have the right to build there, most thought it was in bad taste.

I disagreed with them at first.

I took a very "high road" about freedom of religion and the difference between terrorists and Muslims.  Then Chas made a good point.  He said, the leaders of this religion had a responsibility to stand up and say, "Do not kill in the name of the Prophet."  Instead, they remain either quiet or actually support the attacks.

I think he is right on.  I have yet to hear any global leader in the Muslim faith stand up and say, "No virgins for you."  This may have happened but I haven't seen it.  I think that if they did do this, the mess that is the Middle East would be vastly improved.

Other conversations...

I had one friend that said he believes Obama is anti-jobs.  When pressed for a rationale, he said the more unemployed we have, the more control the government has.  I find this very hard to believe.  I think it's much more likely that if you give a guy a job, you get his vote.  If you want to stay in power, fix the economy.

Another opinion on another issue from another friend:  Get rid of all unions.  The unions are the reason that the government is so bloated.  Companies that have a plant go union, shut down and reopen in China. 

Another opinion but this time on religion:  "If I went to a friends house and then he made me compliment him on his home and food; if he told me what to eat and feel; if he whacked me any time I didn't agree with them; I would consider them petty (at best).  And yet, this is what organized religion is.  Men, not God, have made up rules about what God wants, all the while, giving him the pettiness of the worst neighbor on the block."

In the news:  I see there is a documentary coming out about Pat Tillman.  Supposedly, this is going to expose a lot of Rumsfeld-esque behavior.

More news:  Is it just me, or are a lot of people going on rampages?

More news: The Wiki-leaks guy was investigated for rape.  It turns out there was nothing to it.  Was this a warning directed at him?  Who would have done this?  I like to think our government is above such behavior, however, they did lie to the world about WMD's so Bush (AKA Cheney's sock puppet) could look presidential.

An observation:  Of all the people I met this week, only one person can recall an advertisement by Meg Whitman where she talked about "What she stood for" rather than putting down her opponent.  I am a big believer in hiring a business leader to office.  However, I am strongly opposed to a For Sale sign in the governor's office.  She needs to tell me why she is qualified instead of nit-picking at a 40 year political career of her opponent.  Maybe she does this to hide her lack of qualifications.

Back to saving the world.

Up, up and away...

j

A Mosque in Manhattan

As soon as Obama spoke out in favor of the constitutionality of a Mosque near Ground Zero, I knew the GOP would take the other view.

So, let's look at a few facts.  First of all, the Mosque is actually a cultural center that will cost more than $100 million to build.  Secondly, it's two blocks from Ground Zero.  Thirdly, it is not a sacred site as determined by those government officials whose job it is to determine such thing.

What we are not talking about is a terrorist training camp built on ground zero.

I can understand how some people might take offense.  If I lost a relative in the attack, I might feel the same way.  However, it is a highly biased and prejudicial perspective.  Some might say there is nothing prejudicial about this at all.  I disagree.  I am certain that a Catholic church going up in the same building wouldn't even raise an eyebrow.  So, what we are saying here is, "The Muslim Religion is the cause of the 9/11 attacks and we should change the constitution to lay special restrictions about the expansion of this religion in our country."

Freedom of religion is one of our cornerstones as a country.  We fight for this.  And let's remember the Crusades.  Estimates of the number of people killed by the Christians during this time range from one to nine million people.

So, let he amongst us without sin cast the first stone.  Or maybe that only applies when we want it to.

Now the Republicans want to make an issue of this.  They can put as much lipstick on their argument as they want but in the end, its still a pig.

The people that currently staff the Republican party are going to make an issue of this for only one reason.  They want you to think Obama is a terrorist.  They will say, "He was not born in America." even though they know they are wrong.  They will say, "His middle name is the same as that guy that was running Iraq," as if that meant something.  They will tell you about how he campaigned for the Mosque when all Obama did was support the constitution.

The Republican party wants to repeal the 14th Amendment and now they want to make the United States a country that only allows religions that match our own ideas about the meaning of life.

The Republican party will make a photo-op out of going to church and then take us into war in the name of oil and revenge while blaming their neighbor.

I want to be a Republican.  I want a small government.  I want a strong defense.  I want lower taxes.

None of those mainstays of the party are represented by the GOP of today.  Elections are coming up and I intend to clean house.

As far as the Mosque goes, I'm all for it.  I am in favor of what it really stands for: A place for families to get together socially and spiritually.  A place to pray and find comfort.  A place that says, "In the United States of American, we believe in freedoms, including freedom of religion."

To quote (approximately) Shakespeare... "Noting is wrong but thinking it is makes it so."  If this feels wrong to you, I suggest you check you motivation.

(Added the next day) This just in.  There are several strip clubs and x-rated bookstores within the same 2-block radius from ground zero.  There are 87 Muslim businesses and organizations in lower Manhattan were more than 10,000 Muslims live.  There are nearly 3/4 of a million Muslims in the five New York Burroughs.  Even the mayor of New York said it would be a shame if the Mosque were not allowed to be built because to do so would be in direct conflict with the constitution.

The GOP is saying, "Don't do it."  None are saying what that really means which is, "No longer do we think freedom of religion should be allowed in the United States."

(Added 2 days later):  They were making fun of this issue on The Daily Show.  One of the guys said, "It's not an issue of Can You but rather one of Should You?"  He goes on to say, "For example, you Can build a Catholic church next to an elementary school.  The question is Should you?"  I love that show.

Added a week later (8/20/2010)  The following was put out by a collection of religious leaders across several different faiths:  "We Americans, whether Muslim or Christian, whether Jew or Hindu, whether of faith or no faith, were all attacked on 9/11 by terrorists who can only be described as criminals," the text of the signed statement provided to CNN says. "We oppose the exploitation of the pain and suffering of 9/11 by political opportunists. They only divide our country and undermine the principles of pluralism, religious freedom, and security by fostering hate based on fear.The rhetoric against Muslim Americans -- namely, that they are a suspect community, or worse, enemies of the state; their religion is uncivilized and anti-American; they are deceitful; and they aim to destroy our culture and our constitution -- are replicas of attacks against other religious minorities in the past as well as current attacks against ethnic and racial minorities," the group says.

Back to saving the world.

Up, up and away...