State of the Union

A man is walking down a small path in the woods and comes across a snake that has fallen into a fairly deep hole and obviously cant get out. To his surprise, the snake calls up to him and begs for the man to help him out. Stunned by the situation, and the talking snake, the man replies that he is afraid of snakes. the snake pleads his case, begging the man to help him escape the hole and most certain death. The man, clearly resistant of the request, asks the snake for assurance that he will not be bitten if he decides to help him. The snake, as many ways as possible, guarantees the man that he will not bite him if he will just rescue him. The man, convinced by his new found friend, reaches down in the hole and gently lifts the snake up and places him on the soft, cool grass, safe from his previous thought of his demise. The snake rares back and strikes the mans hand, biting him with full force, injecting venum and leaving blood. The man quickly pulls his arm back, grabbed his hand and looking at the snake in disbelief and asked"Why...Why did you bite my hand after I saved your life?" The snake looked at the man and replied "I'm a snake, its what I do".

     Of course we all probably recognize this story as a lesson in human nature, but I use it as a metaphor for the way our country sometimes is victimized by the people we reach out to help. On September 12, 2001, we all should remember how we felt about what was going on in our country, and how we felt about the people in this world willing to bring war to our nation. we as a country were in shock still, but we all did what we do best...come together in a time of crisis with an apparent clear objective...its us or them! President Bush standing on the pile of rubble at Ground Zero with the firemen, giving one of the best spontaneous, rallying speeches ever given by a president, to the entire Congress standing together and singing God Bless America. We were one as a nation...all the petty bickering and arguing about politics and other issues seemed pointless. For the first time, I think a majority of people in this country finally realized that there are people, and entire countries in this world that want to kill us. Yes..as you read this think about it...there is someone in this world that wants YOU dead, and will stop at nothing to try to do it.

    The President eventually gave a speech to the world, proclaiming that we are taking a very active role against terrorism on a global scale. That we were going after the sources of terrorism, no matter the difficulty or distance. That as for the other countries in the world, you were either with us, or against us...no grey area. From this point, it gets a little sketchy. Iraq was already on our radar for their disregard for warnings about their  reported weapon development and refusal to allow inspectors in country. They were obviously a major player in the unrest in the world, and we went after them, and justly so. The government of Iraq was essentially a terrorist organization in itself, killing thousands of people on a regular basis. We had to go in there, the ENTIRE Congress, as well as the free world was behind us. But when time goes by, and people die, we get a little wishy washy on what we are doing there. People start second guessing our mission because it becomes very difficult at that point to push ahead and send our people into harms way. We have the best military in the world, the best soldiers, and best equipment that can be had. I promise you that it went as well as war could go...its an ugly business.

     All that being said, here is my true point. The world changed on September 11th, 2001. Not just for us, but the world. Our actions in Iraq, and precautions taken here in The United States, are the new norm. After 11 years of war, we have found ourselves spread thin, tired, and needing a break. Amazing things have happened in the middle east. Dictators have been taken out of business, either by our military or by revolutions of their own citizens. We pursued the mastermind of September 11th for years which led us into sending troops into Afghanistan . Afghanistan is a country that is supposed to be an ally of the United States but as we get more involved, I think we are finding that it is probably just our snake in the hole.

     We have found and killed BinLaden. That was closure for a lot of people. I know its not that simple but, we need to get the Hell out of Afghanistan. I know we have this pipe dream of spreading democracy and world peace throughout the region, like a 80's Coke commercial where we all hold hands and sing songs...but it aint gonna happen! The people in the middle east will never think like us or have the same values. We, as a nation, have to stop thinking that we can March into a country that was established before the USA was even on the map, and persuade them to act like us. We need out before we lose one more American soldier over there.

     The United States Military is usually the police of the world. We are not getting any support from these countries we are spending a fortune on to help protect. We have families and children going hungry in the U.S. We have terrible problems with infrastructure in this country, and Emergency Services that are terribly underfunded. I say, Instead of putting our military in all these countries around the world, pull them out. I have news for you...without the support of the US, both Militarily and Financially, most of these countries cannot survive. We pump billions of dollars into foreign aid, just to be disrespected by the world. If we drill for oil in the united states, and off shore, we can reduce our dependence on foreign oil and make these middle east countries hurt when their oil sales slump world wide. we withdraw our military, strengthen their abilities here. When our military is called on by another country, we go in quick and hard, get the job done and get the Hell out. then we send the above mentioned country a bill. It is not our responsibility to babysit the rest of the world, especially when we are struggling so much here. Then people say that if left alone, these other countries will develop into uncontrolled chaos. OK. we will have the biggest, and strongest military possible, and when we are threatened by them, we quickly and decisively deal with it. The nexy trouble maker will think twice about pulling our chain. This is a system that works really well for Israel. They are a tiny country in perspective, but have a amazing, and feared military. Top notch...and the world knows it. They dont cruise the globe trying to pick a fight, but when they come...your gonna hurt. Plus they have a very supportive big brother.

     Bring our soldiers home. you cant reason with a people that go ape shit crazy if you dog ear a page of the Koran, or mention the name Mohammed. Me as a Christian, embrace the doubters of my God, to show them what true love and acceptance is. Their religion cuts your head off if you rock the boat. I dont want these people on my team...to heck with them, let them kill themselves. So leave the snake in the hole this time, step over it and come on home and lets take care of ourselves for awhile.

    Thanks for reading, sorry i got a little political today.....