For those who may still need a wake up call

I really try to keep politics out of my blogging, but I make no secret about the fact that I am not happy with the way things are run in the country. I have to admit it is getting harder to keep quiet when I see what is going on.

I came across this statement by Kevin Tillman, brother of Pat Tillman, the professional football player who enlisted in the Army and was killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire. Kevin served as well, and now recently discharged made a statement upon the coming birthday of his brother. Readers can find the complete statement over at Truthdig. I am taking the liberty of posting some excerpts, if for no other reason, with the hope that some people may start waking up and realizing it's time to change a few things around here.

Somehow we were sent to invade a nation because it was a direct threat to the American people, or to the world, or harbored terrorists, or was involved in the September 11 attacks, or received weapons-grade uranium from Niger, or had mobile weapons labs, or WMD, or had a need to be liberated, or we needed to establish a democracy, or stop an insurgency, or stop a civil war we created that can’t be called a civil war even though it is. Something like that.

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Somehow those afraid to fight an illegal invasion decades ago are allowed to send soldiers to die for an illegal invasion they started.

Somehow faking character, virtue and strength is tolerated.

Somehow profiting from tragedy and horror is tolerated.

Somehow the death of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people is tolerated.

Somehow subversion of the Bill of Rights and The Constitution is tolerated.

Somehow suspension of Habeas Corpus is supposed to keep this country safe.

Somehow torture is tolerated.

Somehow lying is tolerated.

Somehow reason is being discarded for faith, dogma, and nonsense.

Somehow American leadership managed to create a more dangerous world.

Somehow a narrative is more important than reality.

Somehow America has become a country that projects everything that it is not and condemns everything that it is.

Somehow the most reasonable, trusted and respected country in the world has become one of the most irrational, belligerent, feared, and distrusted countries in the world.

Somehow being politically informed, diligent, and skeptical has been replaced by apathy through active ignorance.

Somehow the same incompetent, narcissistic, virtueless, vacuous, malicious criminals are still in charge of this country.

Somehow this is tolerated.

Somehow nobody is accountable for this.

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Luckily this country is still a democracy. People still have a voice. People still can take action. It can start after Pat’s birthday.