“They don’t hate us because we are free,” Gravel said of the insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan. “They hate us because we are killing them.”
– Former Senator Mike Gravel, quoted by Chris Hedges at Common Dreams.
Technorati Tags: Mike Gravel, Chris Hedges, Common Dreams, Iraq, Afghanistan, Obama, Petraeus, McChrystal, Politics
Grumpy Lion 
Good quote. Morbid, but correct.
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Morbidly correct, or correctly morbid?
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Both, I think.
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On September 11 of this year, I was at a high school football game ((((Girl))) is in the band (and we are band parents)). Before the game, the PA announcer gave the mic to a minister who talked about the 9/11 attacks. And he kept coming back to “they hate us for our freedoms,” “they hate us because we are free'” and “they attacked us because we are a republic”. Not once did he mention the thirty-some years in which Israel and the Arabs were pawns in the cold war (we supported Israel and the USSR supported (most of) the Arabs). We provide the weapons for our proxies to kill their children and then have the nerve to be surprised that we are not trusted and that authoritarian and religious extremists target our interests. Are we really that un-self-aware as a nation?
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Yes.
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Yes, we are. I learned a lot about the USA and how it’s perceived by non-Americans during the 13 years I lived in Canada.
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And I’ve learned a lot about the USA and how it’s perceived by Americans during the xoukz-klpw years I’ve lived in America. Not a pretty picture in either case, I’d warrant.
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Spaking in tongues, now?
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That’s actually speaking, not spaking.
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Well, it was past tense, grammatically speaking, if you want to get weird about it. But it’s just that I’m still coming to terms with my recent accession to the official status of senior citizen/old fart. And let’s have none of your agist smart-assery, you young punk.
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Hey, just last Tuesday, I got a 5% discount at the grocery store. Why? Because Tuesday is senior citizen day. I did not object.
And I would never make any agist or smart-assery comments to someone as, um, well, experienced? as you.
Any time I wonder about how others percieve America, I’m reminded of the quote by the great gonzo writer from Rolling Stone (whose name is escaping me (not an old-timer moment, honest)) that we are a nation of used car salesmen.
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You took money meant for our struggling senior citizens? Oh, the humanity, the humanity… (you didn’t by any chance crash a blimp recently, did you?)
Used car salesmen look good compared to our politicians.
“America…just a nation of two hundred million used car salesmen with all the money we need to buy guns and no qualms about killing anybody else in the world who tries to make us uncomfortable.” — *Hunter S. Thompson*
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Yes, that’s the quote I was trying to remember.
And no, I haven’t crashed a blimp recently. Or ever. I prefer dirigibles. Blimps are flacid, but dirigibles are rigid.
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Ah, so you are a blimpist…
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Battlefield 3 Hacking…
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