My Crazy Times

Consistently throughout our marriage, Lauren and I have had some of our heavier discussions late into the night…actually how it tends to work is that just as I’m about to drift off into sweet dreamland Lauren will ask, “Hey, you want to talk?” and then a bedtime of 12am turns into 2am.  Let me also note that while I will at times give my wife a hard time (in the most loving of ways) about these talks and release one of my trademark sighs when I hear that question penetrate my ears as my head rests comfortably on my pillow, I would not trade any of the talks we’ve had for a moment of rest and I look forward to the talks that wait ahead…as long as they’re scheduled according to our predetermined “Talk Time Table”.

A couple months back we had one of these late night discussions, and while this instance is an exception to the typical scenario I still give Lauren a hard time about it for bringing up politics at 1am, as we laid there for a few minutes just going over our day Lauren began to tell me of an interview she heard on NPR with William Ayers…yes that Bill Ayers.  Without going into all the sordid little details I’ll just say that our point of contention lie in the difference of what we each consider an “act of terror”.

I thought of our heated little debate when I read the following A.P. story yesterday:

Bush: Hamas attacks on Israel an ‘act of terror’

As of yesterday more than 400 Palestinians have been killed in this latest round of attacks.  You know how many Israelis have been killed?  Wait for it…….four.  Yeah that’s right, four…as in “I could count on one hand…”.  My question is, how are Israel’s attacks, that are killing innocent children, women and men, not acts of terrorism and how can the American government claim an ounce of moral authority when they choose to not even denounce Israel’s clearly disporpotional response.  For a good lesson on proportional responses check out this clip from The West Wing Season 1, Episode 3…(brief summary: an American relief plane has been shot down over Syria and on board was the military doctor who was going to be assigned to the President…hell hath no fury like Jed Bartlet scorned):

and then you have this:

Man, if only we had a person like Leo in the White House over the last eight years who would have talked to President Bush like that.

I love it where the President asks Leo if what they are doing is good (as a form of retribution) and Leo responds with “Of course it’s not good…there is no good, it’s what there is.  It’s how you behave if you’re the most powerful Nation in the world.”  Far too long has the Nation of Israel operated under the misguided assumption that they could gain respect and credibility or at the very least invoke fear through the might of their military.  When in reality all they have done is perpetuated the cycle of hatred, bitterness and violence that has enslaved that entire region for thousands of years.

And in attempt to practice my own bit of proportionality…I’m not of the opinion that Hamas is the guiltless victim in all of this, they adhere to the same faulty logic that through violence they will find peace.  The true victims are the women and children murdered by an irresponsible government and those that will now only know a life of hatred and revenge because their father, mother, child, brother, sister were killed when a rocket slammed into their house.

However, here in America we don’t question our allies…especially evangelical Christians because after all Jesus was a Jew, and that means Israel can do just whatever the hell they want.   Israel should reconsider their approach to dealing with the world, because the whole childish bully thing is really unbecoming.

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These videos were created by Community Christian for a teaching series. Creative and interesting, check them out:

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By: Holden Jeerson

Ladies and gentlemen I present to you, those who help to run this great country of ours:

It has been a few days since the annual White House Correspondents dinner and this video has been viewed and posted on many times. I’ve been debating about whether or not I was going to write anything but I just can’t keep silent about this. This administration continues to embarrass the country with each passing day.

The Correspondents dinner has become a staple in D.C., coming off as a ridiculous publicity stunt where politicians attempt to show they have a sense of humor. It’s no wonder why most of the civilized world has no respect for America’s leaders. Our leaders wage unnecessary wars, refuse to listen to anyone who has a differing idea, help multi-millionaires become billionaires while innocent men and women continue to perish and then honor their mistakes with a special dinner where they joke about how they’ve fucked things up.

Many argue that by continuing to do the meaningless yet traditional events we show the terrorists that they haven’t disrupted our lives. How about this though; how about the Commander in Chief act with a little dignity when he has ordered troops into a war zone. It wouldn’t take much, just politely decline these asinine events out of respect to those who are away from their families.

But then again, this is America.

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Four years ago today my wife and I were visiting Florida and had been invited to a friends house for dinner. We enjoyed a nice dinner and some wine, and then just as we were sitting down after the meal it was announced on the news that the U.S. military had begun to attack Iraq. I remember this so well because at the time my brother was stationed in Kuwait and obviously I was concerned for him.

There have been many debacles by the current administration throughout this war, but perhaps the most idiotic of them all was the President declaring “mission accomplished” from aboard that carrier. I can’t imagine that those involved just don’t cringe and hang their heads when they see this.

Further reading:

Christians Worship, March in Protest of Iraq War

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I realize I’m a week behind with this bit of news, but last night I watched Craig Ferguson’s monologue from Monday Feb. 19th. Seriously, I was quite stunned with the passion and honesty with which Ferguson spoke, sharing his own struggles with alcohol. It’s well worth the time to watch this clip if you haven’t seen it already.

Here are a couple articles written about Ferguson’s monologue. I found the L.A. Times article interesting; suggesting that Ferguson may have caused major harm to his career and claiming that because these people “signed up for the fame, they have to put up with the jokes.” Should that really be the case though? This is a difficult decision because celebrities can do some ridiculous things, but then I think of ridiculous things I may have done today. Then again perhaps they’re on different scales?

Here are the articles and the clip from The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson on CBS:

What’s wrong with Britney jokes?

Resist making fun of others

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I heard this audio clip this morning on the radio of an interview CNN had with Charlize Theron concerning the documentary East of Havana, which she co-produced. Honestly, the documentary sounds interesting. It’s about the Cuban Hop-Hop movement and the obvious struggles the artists face under a dictatorial government. So far, so good that is until Ms. Theron compares the lack of freedom in Cuba to the lack of freedom here in America.

Many people I’m sure are or will be outraged at her remarks, she’ll be made fun of and ridiculed on conservative talk radio, hell I wouldn’t be surprised if people started to boycott her movies, but all I could do was shake my head in disappointment and then laugh at her not-so-subtle attempt at changing the subject. I don’t agree with what she said but I think I understand the place where those sentiments come from. This is why most celebrities need to stop trying to make controversial political statements and just stick to creating movies, preferably good ones. Censorship is an extremely important issue and has and will continue to come under attack here in America, but to compare America to Cuba…that’s a bit over the top.

What is most unfortunate is that, what will probably be a good documentary will be overshadowed by these flippant remarks.

Here’s the clip…

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and personally I’m leaning toward not! It’s quite funny to see something I absolutely love and something I actually despise mixed together. And in case you were wondering it’s the Drowning Pool song that I love. Enjoy!!

- Holden Jeerson

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