In Which I Work on Restraint: Part 2

Judging by how many hits my blog got immediately after I posted yesterday I'm sure a lot of people were disappointed that they didn't get to hear some crazed rantings. I was actually surprised I managed to hold it all in. I did go off the deep end every now and then but would go back and erase whatever I put and take a deep breath.

I don't like to voice confrontational opinions on Facebook b/c it's an automatic way to have your page bombarded by a lot of people who would rather holler and scream about something they don't understand than take a step back and actually TRY and see someone else's point of view.

So I do it here, because if someone has made it this far, they have voluntarily clicked a link or typed in the address to find the page. It doesn't pop up on the News Feed right in your face where you can't really ignore it unless you ignore the person entirely. People have told me over and over to just click ignore or unfriend people that say ignorant things, but like myself, people don't go off the deep end every day. Those people I DO unfriend. Most people air their ignorance every once in a while when something gives them a window to jump out of.

So I took 36 hours to calm down so that when I do decide to jump, my head is clear enough to say what I want to say as clearly as I want to say it.

So here goes...deep breathe.....and jump


When the news that Osama Bin Laden had been found and killed reached our home via Facebook we immediately stopped what we were doing and turned on the news to get reliable details. After listening to the same story over and over we decided to go back to what we had been doing and check back later when things had developed a little more.

After the initial shock of the news coming out of nowhere, reality set in...everyone seemed to be throwing parties and celebrating and acting like the war was over. I looked at Lincoln and jokingly laughed, "So does this mean your unit isn't deploying in August?"

Of course the answer is no, they're still deploying, the war still goes on.

Someone said I'm just being a realist, others would probably call me a Negative Nancy or tell me I'm raining on their parade. I get that it's a big big deal, I'm glad they finally found the guy but at the end of the day he is only one out of many. In fact he's probably only one out of many men that were involved with 9/11. Don't get me wrong, he's a bad bad man and I hope that the world is a better place without him in it but looking at the big picture it started to feel like an endless battle. One down, thousands to go...and how many more will step up to take his place?

It then hit me that his death was probably going to upset a lot of people...which in turn would cause retaliation. I mean, if they're willing to kill innocent people it seems that they'll definitely be willing to make special plans to avenge the death of one of their great leaders. So my paranoia kicked in and I started thinking about all the little "Be On The Lookout" e-mails base has sent out lately about little things that might be big things.

The last thing I want to vent on is the thing that really set me off the night of and is probably the reason I had to take the full 36 hours to calm down before I started stepping on toes.

First, I hate chain statuses on Facebook. They go around and around and around and apparently if you don't follow the masses it means that you don't love Jesus, or you hate children, or you don't love America enough.

The latest status to make it's way around is this one:

"Just to make my opinion very clear... Obama did not kill Osama... it was OUR "US Soldiers" who have been fighting for Us from day one... and I refuse to listen to anyone give Obama the credit for something our men and women of the Military put their lives on the line to accomplish!! Mission Accomplished by our SOLDIERS!!!!!! Repost if you Agree!!!!"

Obama is the President of the United States, Commander in Chief whether you voted for him or not, that's how it goes. He's like the basketball coach. He may not be out on the court passing the ball and making shots or taking elbows to the face but he's involved with writing and calling the plays. Does anybody get all up in arms when someone congratulates a basketball coach on a successful season or a fantastic win? Were they on the court? Did they make the final shot that won the game? No, but he's the guy at the top, he's the face of the nation, he's going to get some credit, so get over it already.

I haven't heard a single person that has congratulated Obama for the victory and then leave it at that. They've also branched out to include the armed services, the Bush Administration, and even the Clinton Administration. I don't think anybody is under the misconception that Obama single handedly tracked Osama through the desert and took him out. But in the end, he was involved with making that final decision to go in and take him down, he pushed the button, made the call.

Don't get me wrong, a great deal of the victory and appreciation belongs to the men and women in uniform that go and do what most of this country isn't willing to do. Anybody willing to take a bullet for my freedom gets my respect.
I spend way too much time on this website keeping track of the deaths of military service men and women. I say a prayer for their families and send a thanks out that b/c they were willing to die I get to live in a free country. Lincoln doesn't love how much time I spend on it b/c it generally puts me in a funk.

But it seems that no matter what happens, ignorance, arrogance, stupidity, and whatever else you want to call it always come out. Hate breeds hate. If we can't put aside our differences and find SOMETHING to stand UNITED against then we're going to fall. For ONCE I'd like to be able to see all of my Facebook friends agree on something without having to turn it into Bush against Obama, Republicans against Democrats, Liberals against Conservatives.

Why couldn't we all just be happy that Osama bin Laden is gone?

At the end of the day we're all Americans and I think it's about time we wake up and realize we're in this together.



And let's go ahead and throw out there that it really upsets me that people are spouting off Bible verses to try and back up their hatred and disrespect of the President and pretend that it's okay.

Here's a verse, out of the mouth of Jesus:

Matthew 22:36-40

"Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?"

Jesus replied, "'You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments."

I don't really think it gets clearer than that. There are ways to voice your opinions without getting ugly about it.

I'm done....for now.