[thechat] A balance of opinion.

Erik Mattheis gozz at gozz.com
Tue Mar 25 21:17:37 CST 2003


On Tuesday, March 25, 2003, at 08:09 PM, Hugh Blair wrote:
> Eric, with all due respect, and I do respect your right to
> have any opinion, your views are so filled with hatred of
> anything US

If you think I hate the US, I haven't been writing in a way you're 
understanding: I love my country. And the reason I've spent every 
waking hour except 4 or 5 max on nothing but anti-invasion activism is 
because I've never felt more patriotic.

My country has made a grave mistake by alienating itself from over 80% 
of the other countries it shares this planet with. We don't live in a 
bubble. I also vehemently disagree with the Bush administration's 
position that the US should use it's military power to force the rest 
of the world into a shape the Bush administration thinks looks prettier.

Here is a thought experiment for you:

You live in Iran, the most democratic Islamic country in the world. You 
have been politically active and have seen your country make great 
strides towards guaranteeing rights like people enjoy in the US. You 
hear powerful people in the Pentagon talking about forcing a "regime 
change" on your country. How would you feel?

> Yet you're filled with such vitriol against the US that I
> really wonder how you can live here. I know that if I had the
> freedoms (protected by our military over many decades) that
> you do, and hated the government I was living with as much
> as you do, I'd sure move. Tomorrow. Tonight. I wouldn't wait.

Leaving the US now would be about the most unpatriotic thing I could 
do. I think you can understand that now that I've clearly explained 
that I love my country.

--
-/erik/
Pictures of Liberated Iraqis
<http://shockingelk.com/pictures/liberated_iraqis/>
(warning: pictures of dead or maimed people)
--



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