ext_31857 ([identity profile] inmyriadbits.livejournal.com) wrote in [personal profile] liz_marcs 2005-08-11 06:26 am (UTC)

I think what most aggravates me (and, I think, you) about this "Freedom Walk" is not the act of walking or the country music or even the plausible reasoning that we should celebrate the lives rather than mourn the deaths of 9/11 victims -- it's the fact that it is so blatantly a PR move. If I felt that this event was genuinely desired by anyone who was personally affected by a loss on 9/11 in order to honor that loss, I would be fine with it. I wouldn't go, but I wouldn't feel affronted by its existence. As it is...it feels crass, and it is simply propaganda for war and for more death rather than the aforementioned flimsy "celebration of life" excuse.

I have come to realize that the most infuriating thing about occurences like Cindy Sheehan's protest is the utter lack of understanding many Americans have of free speech. So many conservatives, while preaching the fight for freedom, lose touch with what exactly freedom entails. They seem to forget that free expression of one's opinions (even if they alter, or are abhorrent to the listener, or clash with society's general views on what is right) is the very first fucking thing we put in our constitution, and they criticize the hell out of people who exercise that right, calling them traitors; in fact, they are simply brave enough to claim their birthright. Then again, I know many liberals who come across the same problem when dealing with conservatives. Is it so wrong, so difficult to ask each other to justify our opinions and, in the president's case, life-and-death decisions? So far, the problem is that he doesn't seem to be doing a very good job of justifying, not that we're asking him to do so in the first place.

I hate that O'Reilly denigrated Sheehan's opinion by implying that she is a) acting crazy due to grief, and b) being manipulated by the eeeevil liberals. That cheapens her perfectly valid anger and sorrow, and ignores her admirable perserverance. Shame on you for being such a blind, self-centered little man, Bill O'Reilly. Shame on you. For that matter, shame on the people who listen to you, don't question you, and don't think for themselves. That's what makes me angry with America. I could deal with the stupidity of government for a while (that's what term limits are for), but the gullibility and lack of respect for true freedom that so many Americans display terrifies me far more than the Shrub's presidency, because the people do still have the power in this country. We're just too lazy and too ignorant to wield it most of the time, and that infuriates me. Even if we are fighting for "freedom," I don't think enough people know what that truly is. And that is a travesty.

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