At Least We are Still Smarter Than You.

So I've been thinking, why are we still in Iraq? The reasons we had originally for going there, WMDs, imminent threats, have all turned out to be incorrect, yet we are still there.

The Iraqi people are doing little to nothing in the order of actually helping us and their president has asked that we leave, yet we are still there.

Republicans, some of them at least, keep espousing the philosophy that if we "cut and run" we will be showing ourselves as cowards to the terrorists and they will attack us even worse than they did before. They also like to point out that we haven't been attacked on American soil since we have gone into Iraq (at least that the public knows of), of course we also haven't been attacked since I moved to Illinois so it could just be that they are still searching for me and the government should post troops outside my house to defend me against psycho terrorists and Mormons.......and Jehovah's Witnesses.

But even so, we are still there. It seems that we are making decisions out of fear, 3 fears to be precise:

1. Fear that we MIGHT get attacked here again, so we trade the fear of being attacked with the certainty of our troops being killed, then we say, "well, they signed up for this job though! I'm just a fat, lazy coward who wants to watch American Idol and complain about gas prices!" Seems rather selfish to me.

2. Fear of losing face in front of the rest of the world. If we leave Iraq, even though we have no real reason for staying, it will look like we are cowards to the rest of the world....seriously, when was the last time we have cared what the French think? Tony Blair is stepping down already because of his support for this undeclared war and the approval ratings for President Bush are Jimmy Carter-esque numbers. Again, it seems that sacrificing the lives of young men in order to not look bad is REALLY selfish, that is what the villain does in our movies we like to watch.

3. Fear that we might have to admit that the Democrats were right about something. This one is the big one I think. We no longer care about the facts or the truth, all the Republicans care about now is not having to say that the Democrats were right about Iraq and that we shouldn't have gone there. I used to be a Republican so I know how this works. We tell ourselves all the time that we are smarter than those stupid Dems. The only reason we ever lose elections is because there are so many stupid people out there. If only everyone were as smart as we are then all the jobs would be filled by Republicans and the world would be saved from sin again!

That's right! No need for a Second Coming of Christ, the Republicans are here and in charge! No thank you, God. We are in Heaven already!

That is why it is so hard to admit that an obnoxious, disgusting person like Rosie might be right about something. It is ok though, even Balaam's ass spoke wisdom once in it's life.

I think we need to get passed the need to be correct and our enemies to be wrong. Instead of picking candidates and sticking with them no matter what truth comes out, like they are NASCAR drivers in a race and we want "our" guy to win, we need to test our leaders constantly and see if they are truly doing what is best for our country, if they are doing what GOD would have them do, and I believe those two things are tied together more securely than anything else.

What is best for us is what God wants, that is always the case, that is why when you vote for the lesser of two evils you are still voting for EVIL. Not good, not God. Look at the example of Israel, when they followed God whole-heartedly good things happened to them, when they fell away they were punished. As I look at our society I see a rotten fruit that could crumple in on itself at anytime.

God told the Israelites that the slaughter of children as offerings to gods was horrible and evil in His sight, today alone thousands of babies will be sacrificed to the gods of selfishness and laziness.

Seems instead of worrying if some terrorists MIGHT attack us again we should be more worried about the certainty of God punishing us.

2 Samuel 24:11 - 14

11 Now when David arose in the morning, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, 12 “Go and tell David, ‘Thus says the LORD: “I offer you three things; choose one of them for yourself, that I may do it to you.”’” 13 So Gad came to David and told him; and he said to him, “Shall seven^[a] years of famine come to you in your land? Or shall you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ plague in your land? Now consider and see what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.”
14 And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”