From the New York Times February 24:
Sectarian Bloodshed Reveals Strength of Iraq Militias
The sectarian violence that has shaken Iraq this week has demonstrated the power that the many militias here have to draw the country into a full-scale civil war, and how difficult it would be for the state to stop it, Iraqi and American officials say.
I am afraid I believe civil war in Iraq is an inevitability. The battle of ideologies is being waged in the United States, too. Only it is more subversive. At least in Iraq it is as simple as Shiite versus Sunni. In the United States, we have the religious right, the liberal left, and everyone in between. Right now, the political climate is full-on conservative, which generally follows a perceived era of liberalism responsible for the "moral decline" of the country. Apparently, some people really did care that the last President got a blowjob. But because our current President has "found God", his actions are sanctioned.
Does anyone really care whether two people of the same gender are able to marry? I have yet to read an intelligently formulated and rational argument for opposing same-sex marriage.
Does anyone really think that intelligent design is an actual theory? I have yet to hear anyone give a plausible explanation as to why an unsubstantiated, untestable belief should be introduced as an alternative to evolution in a publicly-funded science class.
I am weary of partisan strife and political placation. That in this day and age people would rally around a figurehead for no better reason than nationalistic ballyhooing is demoralizing. That some would justify disregard for the rule of law, rationalize the intrusion of civil liberties, and still call themselves Americans at the end of the day!
"Do as I say, not as I do", is evidently the motto.
Take abortion, for example. Most people I talk to are unaware of the very obvious attempts to illegalize abortion. Because it is not a right set in stone, you see. It is an "expanded" right implicit in the right to privacy, predicated by regional tolerance and, on the national level, defendable only if the current jurisprudence is in the right mood. Which doesn't seem to be now.
Don't get me wrong - I entirely support an individual's right to a belief. You may believe that abortion is wrong. You can believe in the tooth fairy, for all I care. Just don't tell me that I have to behave a certain way or live by a certain rule because your belief dictates that it be so. As much as I hate knee-jerk reactivism, at this point I really want to slap a huge Darwin sticker on my bumper.