"This is how the entire course of a life can be changed - by doing nothing. On Chesil Beach he could have called out to Florence, he could have gone after her. He did not know, or would not have cared to know, that as she ran from him, certain in her distress that she was about to lose him, she had never loved him more, or more hopelessly, and that the sound of his voice would have been a deliverance, and she would have turned back. Instead, he stood in cold and righteous silence in the summer's dusk, watching her hurry along the shore, and the sound of her difficult progress lost to the breaking of small waves, until she was a blurred, receding point against the immense strait road of shingle gleaming in the pallid light."

-On Chesil Beach
Ian McEwan

Support our troops....?

A mission, well wish, or an actuality? I feel like our country is so backwards and it's so frustrating sometimes. I know two people personally who have served in Iraq since the war has started and they have both had to kill people. Neither will really talk about it but the jist has been made pretty obvious. One of the soldiers had to kill an innocent woman. It was most likely due to the fact that the woman had no clue what she was supposed to do or what the American soldiers were asking of her. But the soldier was ordered to kill her and the passenger in her car and he did.

Personally, I don't know if I would be able to take a life. I ran over a squirl once and felt awful, even cried. Now if it was in defense, I could see it being a little easier, like if someone broke into my house or threatened my family or something like that. But I don't think I have it in me to take an innocent life. If I ever did, i would need an outrageous amount of really good therapy. Now add the stress, pressure and sorrow of being in a different country, away from home, AT WAR, and having to take an innocent life. Then the next day seeing your friends killed and/or mamed. Then having to shoot random people in the streets, not knowing who or what they are.

Our soldiers are put in extraordinary situations daily and are commanded to perform. An entire country is oressuring them to do the things we cannot. They are used to do the dirty work of the rich politicians who make all the decisions. And yet when they are finally able to come home we, as a nation, do not support them, no matter what we like to display on our t-shirts and car windows. WAY too many soldiers are not given care and attention they NEED. This is not a .uxury we are denying them, it is a necessity. How can we send our sisters and our brothers and our cousins and nour parents to war without making sure they are taken care of? These are the people who risk their lives and the weel being of their own families so that we can sit in our nicely heated houses and enjoy home cooked meals and the conversation of our loved ones. There should never be a question of whether or not to support our troops. It should be a priority.

For the better part of my life the word "patriotic" and the phrase "proud to be an American" were the last things I wanted displayed on my bumper. I knew that I should love my country and that I should be willing to fight for it and most likely if you would have asked me either of those questions I would have answered with a resounding and seemingly confident yes. But he truth is, I never honestly and deeply felt proud or excited to be what so many other nations have associated with obesity, money, debt, rash decisions, hurtful pride, false security, hypocrisy, and corruption. I was never proud to be an American until the evening of November 4th. On the evening I heard a man stand uip and rally the people around him. I heard and watched a man overcome adversity and push others to do so too. I heard and saw a man admit to the large task at hand and admit that it would be a rocky road and ask for help from those who put him there. I heard and saw a man take power into his hands and hold it gently, knowing what it could mean for the nation he never stopped believing in.

Barack Obama is a better person than I am. He knew all along what his nation was capable of, whereas I was ready to move to the south pacific and break all ties with my native land. What Barack Obama means for this country is humility and grace, confidence and depth of character, reason and passion, hope and real justice. Leadership will not be based of fear anymore but compassion. We will not drop bombs we will rebuild schools and take care of our soldiers and educate teachers and support local economies and live sustainably.

Barack Obama, you have given me hope. You have turned a pesimistic 19 year old into an excited and proud American. I can't tell you how excited I am to be taken seriously by the rest of the world.

much love