WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS FOUL LANGUAGE AND IS AN ANGRY RANT ABOUT THE STATE OF THINGS FROM MY POINT OF VIEW. I COMPLETELY RESPECT PEOPLE FOR HAVING DIFFERENT OPINIONS THAN I, AND I HOPE NO ONE WHO READS THIS IS OFFENDED. IT IS NOT MEANT TO BE AN ATTACK ON ANYONE BASED ON THEIR OPINIONS, NOR IS IT AN ATTEMPT TO SHOW PEOPLE THAT THEY ARE WRONG. IT IS ONLY MEANT TO HELP ME VOICE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT I FEEL SO STRONGLY. THOSE OF YOU WHO KNOW ME KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT YOU, AND THAT I WOULD NEVER ATTACK YOU. IF YOU WILL BE OFFENDED BY FOUL LANGUAGE OR AN ANGRY LIBERAL VIEW OF THINGS, THEN PLEASE DON’T READ THIS. I WOULD RATHER NO ONE READ THIS THAN HAVE SOMEONE GET OFFENDED.

“Made my bed and I sleep like a baby, with no regrets and I don’t mind saying,
It’s a sad sad story when a mother will teach her daughter that she ought to hate a perfect stranger.
And how in the world can the words that I said send somebody so over the edge that they’d write me a letter saying that I better shut up and sing or my life will be over?”
-Dixie Chicks

Just thinking of those lyrics, and some of the things I’ve heard on the radio, read on the web, seen in the papers, and heard come out of my coworkers’ mouths makes me angry. If you don’t like what they say, or don’t agree with them, then don’t listen to them or buy their albums. Don’t attack them for having opinions different than yours, and having the courage to voice them. Toby Kieth doesn’t get attacked for stating his positive opinions of our current administration or the Iraq war. You can’t have it both ways, either no one should be allowed to state their opinion in public, or everyone should, not just people who agree with you. Is it that hard to respect someone with a different opinion than you? I don’t think so, because most of the people I respect the most totally disagree with me on most issues. So why can’t the rest of the country? It makes me so fucking mad how people who do not support the president or the war or whatever get attacked when they speak out, but no one ever attacks people for speaking out for the war or for the president. Or if they do get attacked then it gets no press time. It’s just not fucking fair.

So the Chicks have a documentary coming out in a few weeks about the “incident”. People are complaining about the press they’re getting because of it and so on. The big issue is that there is a scene where Natalie Maines calls President Bush a “dumb fuck” twice. I have called him that before too. If you do not want to hear her call Bush a dumb fuck, then don’t go see the fucking movie. It’s that simple. If you don’t want them to state their opinion, then stop all public figures from giving their opinion. Otherwise, leave them the fuck alone.

People have told me that I should respect Bush because he’s our president, and he is our leader, and we should respect him because of that. I’ll respect him when he earns some fucking respect. I’m not going to respect someone just because they are a leader, or were elected to an office. I’m not going to support them just because they have power over me. On the contrary, I’m going to subject them to more scrutiny because of the responsibility they have. I refuse to follow anyone blindly. I respect people based on their individual merits and their actions, not based on what their title is. And Bush has not earned my respect. What he has earned is my anger and resentment and frustration. I find that I don’t have the words to truly express how I feel about the war, or the administration (don’t even get me starting on this fucking torture bill). I think the best way I can put it is “Enough is enough. I have had it with these motherfucking snakes in our motherfucking government” (put that on your facebook).

I am so fucking sick of all the hatred in our country (and in the world). I know how easy it is to hate someone for being different, or having a different opinion. I have done it before in the past too, and it took me a lot of work to get over it. But damn it, we’re better than this. If all of the people I’m friends with can accept people for who they are, not based on whether they agree with you, then so can the rest of the world. So someone is different, who the fuck cares? Stop judging people.

A couple disconnected things that piss me off, while I’m ranting. On Sirius Radio, the liberal station is called Sirius Left and the conservative station is called Sirius Patriot. People have been blasting Hollywood for making Death of a President (which features, in documentary style, a fictitious scene where Bush is assassinated), when it was made by two British guys.

I’m sure people think I’m un-American for saying these things, for not supporting the war or the pres (I do completely support the troops, and I pray that they will all return safely and will act bravely to save lives and to protect the weak). That’s total bullshit. Peace is more patriotic than war. Just because we go to war doesn’t mean we have to support them. This isn’t a football game, where you have to root for the Hokies, and if you don’t it means you like the other team better, or that you don’t support the Hokies. This is a war, started on lies, and started against the will of most of the rest of the planet.

Ok, I need to calm down. Writing like this makes me feel so shitty about myself, but today I just needed to, even if I don’t leave this up. I might delete this post tomorrow, I don’t know. Once again, I hope I haven’t hurt anyone’s feelings, or made anyone think badly of me, or offended anyone. I love you all, and my friends and my family are the most important things in my life. I kinda want to close this with something random and more positive. There is a song called “Only in America” by Brooks and Dunn, which I had the pleasure of seeing performed live by the duo, which I think is one of the greatest examples of what rocks about this country (it was also the biggest tear producing moment in the movie “World Trade Center”, for me). I’ve changed a bit of the lyrics to show why I like it so much. I also want to say that I also like the first verse and a half of “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” by Toby Keith, up until he gets into the parts about 9/11 and how the American way involves putting a boot up people’s asses (the most horribly offensive thing I have ever heard in a song, making us out to be bullies, it’s insulting).

“Sun going down on an Richmond freeway
Newlyweds in the back of a limousine
A lawyer’s son and a farmer’s daughter
All they want is everything
Only in America
Where we dream in red, white and blue
Only in America
Where we dream as big as we want to
We all get a chance
Everybody gets to dance
Only in America”