Alright, so I watched the president's speech announcing the withdrawl of troops from Afghanistan in what seems a relatively gradual fashion and there was a bunch of other stuff in the speech as well but that was the meat of it.
Just at the outset here, I want to say that I agree with what Obama said nearly across the board. I disagree with using the Libyan model in the future and a couple other small things, but in a general sense, he said what I wanted to hear.
Now, the Republicans, and I used to number myself among them before defecting to the Panty and Pillowfight Party (aka P3), were quick to respond with a three pronged arguement. First, how can we announce a withdrawl when the war isn't over? Second, this is going to leave us open to disaster in that region in a number of different ways, and finally third, this is all about politics.
On the first, I guess I would need to ask when the people making this point would consider the war to be over. We knew at the outset that this was not World War II, there would be no signing of an instrument of surrender on the deck of a battleship, no Treaty of Paris or any other such thing. So when would they say the war is over? This has always been unclear to me. I guess what we want is for the Afghans to be able to police and govern themselves without the Taliban coming back to power. After ten years if this can't happen, it's never going to. We could continue for another ten years and the threat of the Taliban returning will still be present. Meanwhile, we're bearing the cost both financially and in blood. It needs to end. At some point in time, every sentence needs to be followed by a period and I think it's time now for this sentence to end and the page to turn.
As to the second, this is true. Of course, we're open to disaster now. In fact, look at our economy, that's pretty disastrous. The potential for disaster is always there, always will be.
Finally there's the accusation that this is all about polital maneuvering. Maybe, but that doesn't make it the wrong move in and of itself. It can be politically beneficial to the president, and I suspect it is, and still be the right thing to do.
By the way Republicans, don't screw this up just to play your own political game. Remember P3 is out there and I will steal your members as soon as I find a viable candidate and believe me, she will be hot. 'Nuff said on that.
Seriously though, we need to decide what we are going to be. I'm a history person and I see a lot of ancient Rome in America right now. This is not a good thing. I will most likely disagree with the president about how we need to go about "nationbuilding" here at home, but I think that's what we need and it will take all of us to do it. The national belt needs to be tightened, extended palms need to be withdrawn, we need to stop villifying each other, and as much as anything else, I think the Constitution should be required reading for all of us along with the Federalist Papers and the Declaration of Independence. We're not perfect, nor are these documents. But reading them could have a twofold result both of which I see as equally important: 1) The documents are the foundation for our country, and a great deal of founder intent can be gleamed in them. While the constitution is a living thing, the ideals expressed in it should be well known by all Americans, and I don't think they are. 2) These papers are to some extent our national soul. They bind us together and make it clear that whether you prefer port, starboard, bow, stern, below deck, or crow's nest, we're all in the same boat and as such, our fates are tied together.
Anyway, sorry for the rambling and at the same time, for all the half thoughts in this post. Trust me, it all makes sense in my head. To try to include everything is one post would be impossible though. I could be wrong, and I'd love to hear what you think. The road ahead is like the picture at the top of this post, many forks. I have no GPS and your guess is as good as mine as to which one to take. I hope you're not just going for a ride.
Y'all know I love ya.
(c) Carl Mealie, 2011
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