as told to (your name here)

Being For The Benefit

All that and I still don't think I managed to say what I wanted to. I think I meant to say something along the lines of "chicks just don't get me" but that sounds completely egotistical which is completely out of character for me. *grin* Oh well, better luck next time.

It's difficult to ignore the 9/11 hoopla this week and, this year unlike previous years, I haven't tried. For many Americans, 9/11 is something that happened to someone else. Tragic, no doubt, but not personal. From my own perspective, I mean no disrespect at all. Quite the contrary, in fact, if you consider how deeply moved many complete strangers are at all the ceremonies and remembrances. I watched a couple of the 9/11 programs this week as well as the President's address the other night. The only thing that stands out from the address was how, when he was talking about family (specifically a woman's sons, one of whom died at the WTC and another just graduated from West Point), the camera pulled back just enough to see the picture of his daughters on the desk behind him. Yes, I'm sure it was planned and yes, it was tacky and obvious. Do I care? Eh. *shrug*

I do care about what continues to go on in the world though. Sometimes I wish that I could, as an ordinary citizen, reach out to people in a way that politicians don't seem to be able to. I have never believed, as many people around the world seem to think, that America wants to rule the world. I don't really think we want that responsibility because, honestly, we're just not that motivated. We do, I believe, want world stability. Basically, we're a peaceful, lazy people (with The Bomb).

Beginning with Iran, I don't think I believe Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is as crazy as he is described in the western press. I want to be very clear here, that I don't agree with his positions on virtually anything (he has reportedly denied the Holocaust and vowed to wipe Israel off the map) but that doesn't make him crazy, just wrong. He has offered to negotiate with and debate our president, which also isn't crazy, just naive. I've never seen him get whipped-up into the frothy rhetoric and ululation of Islamic fanatics. I've never seen him brandishing a firearm from a balcony (see also: Hussein) above a sea of fellow nutjobs. I've also never seen him wear a necktie- Come on man, you're the fuckin' President of Iran, dress the part. (Not that I don't dig those unlined sportcoats and open collars. Very Don Johnson, Miami Vice.) He is an engineer and a highly educated man, and I want to believe that he is someone with whom we can reason, if only we were brave enough and patient enough to try (to get him to wear a tie).

Kim Jong-il? Now that li'l fucker crazy. Interesting biography though. Born in Siberia, educated in China and Malta. And hand it to him for bringing the psychosis right back home to Pyongyang and keeping an entire country stuck in the 1950s (see also: Castro). They revere him and are terrified of us, neither of which beliefs have any rational basis. As man, however, I can totally respect his love of Hennessy and Hos (that is, Korean mistresses named Ho- he's got a dozen of 'em).

Hugo Chavez knows we need his oil. He has absolutely nothing to fear from the US but, like the others, grew up poor and will always distrust us and want to punish us for living on the good side of the isthmus. His military experience is probably what enables him to act like a bully, but I believe he genuinely wants to improve his country's economic status. Since he's a Latin man, if the US would just treat him like he's got a 14-inch cock, we'd get all the oil we want. (Based on an actual suggestion from the US State Department Handbook on International Diplomacy and Genital Relations. I can't find it online though.)

posted by tinyhands @ 11:59 PM