Come september

I've had this post stashed as a draft for awhile. Son Isaac has this long, long, long post HERE that is a speech from Arundhati Roy of India entitled "Come September." I had to print it out on paper to read it, and it is 11 1/2 pages, but it is some pretty powerful stuff. I know that some who read here will not like what it has to say, but... it is what it is. It's nothing personal.

I finally decided to post this because John McMahon sent me an email trying to convince me to vote for him for President. He said I should vote for him because he cares about the American people more than anyone else. I will be the first to admit that I am not the most politically knowledgeable person in the room, nor do I care about politics all that much. And please don't get the idea that I am un-American either, because I am not. But I am first and foremost a Christian, and that means I am pro-God, and therefore pro-people. So my concern is not someone that just cares about the American people, but someone who cares about ALL PEOPLE in general, and even all of the planet. And that's what scares me about Mr. McMahon.

Anyway, I thought this was an interesting speech. I appreciate Isaac posting it. I don't understand all this stuff like he does, but I think it's hard for people of any nationality to try to look at things from someone else's perspective. So it's not that I think someone from another country knows any more or any less than someone from America... but it doesn't mean we do either.

Here are some random quotes I thought particularly interesting:

"...'The American Way of Life' (Donald Rumsfeld's reasoning for the War on Terror) is simply not sustainable. Because it doesn't acknowledge that there is a world beyond America."

"...today the world is run by three of the most secretive institutions in the world: The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization, all three of which, in turn, are dominated by the U.S. Their decisions are made in secret. The people who head them are appointed behind closed doors. Nobody really knows anything about them, their politics, their beliefs, their intentions. Nobody elected them. Nobody said they could make decisions on our behalf. A world run by a handful of greedy bankers and C.E.O.'s whom nobody elected can't possibly last."

And, the closing remarks from the speaker (who is from India):

"I just want to say that, you know, I was so terrified of coming to America, because, when you read the papers and when you watch whatever you get to see on TV, which is Fox News, you know, in India, you know... this corporate media just makes out as if everybody in America is, you know, a clone of George Bush. I'm just so glad that I came because it just reaffirms my faith in humanity to see you here and to not have tomatoes thrown at me."

Peace out; and in.