Liberty dreams


Serving the Dream
Coyote Blog has a a great piece on the 4th.

Sure, our leaders, our military, and sometimes the nation as a whole screws up.  I and others are quick to point these screw-ups out and sometimes we find ourselves wallowing in them.  But at the end of the day, unlike in the majority of countries in the world, these screw-ups are treated as such, talked about and debated, and dealt with rather than treated as the norm. 

Take the US military in an occupying role in Iraq.  Out of 100,000 or so people, you are going to have some criminals who commit criminal acts, even in the military.  The US army, unlike nearly every occupying army in history, generally treats its soldiers' crimes as crimes, and not as the inherent right of victors to rape and pillage.  US soldiers who have committed crimes in Iraq will generally go to jail, while worse malefactors in most armies, even the holier-than-thou UN peacekeepers who seem to be engaging in rape and white slavery around the world, generally go unpunished.  For all the crap the US military takes around the world, I bet you that if you took an honest vote on the question of "Which world army would you choose to occupy your country if you lost a war" most people would answer the US.  If for no other reason because, despite all the charges of imperialism, our armies eventually leave rather than remain on as lingering masters.

Mr. Meyer and I agree on a lot.

I'll be the first to admit that the United States makes mistakes. I still think opinion polls aside, this is the place where liberty will live or die. To paraphrase Captain America, I'm loyal to nothing, except the Dream.

We mostly get it right, because it's in our individual nature to leave other people alone. A pity our government can't remember that.

Believe me, if America really was interested in Empire, Europe would long since have been conquered. We usually build allies, not subjects.

Happy Independence. I'm going to go find a barbecue and some fireworks.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Tue - July 4, 2006 at 04:34 PM  Tag


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