or as the canadians, aussies and brits call it Rememberance Day.

i was totally impressed how it’s not really a “day” where you put the old flag up next to the mail box, or get the day off, but in Vancouver, and i suspect, most of Canada, the good people actually think about the horrors of war and give props to the veterans who died for them.

what you do, apparently, is buy a red poppy from a old vet for a buck or two and pin it to your jacket or shirt or cap and it’s like the ribbons that we sometimes wear except not as cheesy.

dare i say, it came across to me as classy.

americans talk alot about supporting the troops but i wonder if they ever feel like sometimes the best way to support the young men and women who volunteer for the service is to *not* send them to every single war that a few men in power usher them off to as living pawns.

for such an intelligent and diverse nation, im often shocked at how simpleminded so many can be, especially when it comes to something as serious and life-changing as war.

what i learned from the Canadians was that even though far fewer of them have perished on the battlefield, that they respect life so much that they really respect those who will give their lives in the name of their nation.

and therefore they respect war so much that they would hesitate from entering into it for foolish reasons.

on this veteran’s day i believe its right to say that i think we are wrong to be in iraq. i feel like the best thing we can do for our soldiers, who we support, is to get them the hell out of there, especially our national guardsmen who should be defending our borders.

i believe that you can support the troops and disagree with certain wars, this one being a foolish one.

and i believe that in a free country, especially in America, it is not only your right to stand up and disagree with the leadership when you have a valid point, but it is your duty as a patriot.

when i was younger i very much wanted to be a pilot in the Air Force. strangely enough it was Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA that inspired me to want to protect our country. obviously i had not read the words clearly, so i will print them out now so you can read along to one of the best war anthems around. its semi-anti-war, as its about the dark side of false wars based on fears of an enemy who is not doing us any harm.

but i know that if i had joined the air force and was sent off to a unjust war, i would have hoped that my fellow americans at home would have stood up for me if they had known that my selflessness had been abused by the State.

which is why today i ask virtually that the President withdraw our troops from iraq.

Born down in a dead man’s town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
You end up like a dog that’s been beat too much
‘Til you spend half your life just covering up

[chorus:]
Born in the U.S.A. (x5)

I got in a little hometown jam
And so they put a rifle in my hands
Sent me off to Vietnam
To go and kill the yellow man

[chorus]

Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man says “Son if it was up to me…”
I go down to see the V.A. man
He said “Son don’t you understand…”

[chorus]

I had a buddy at Khe Sahn
Fighting off the Viet Cong
They’re still there, he’s all gone
He had a little girl in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms

Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I’m ten years down the road
Nowhere to run, ain’t got nowhere to go

I’m a long gone Daddy in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
I’m a cool rocking Daddy in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.

in flanders field + edwin star – war + our president does not support the troops

about blogging. during my trip to new york city we ate green eggs and ham and i had a great idea about a book that would be a best seller and she agreed. it would focus on politcal bloggers.

lets just say i have a million ideas that i aint even rocked yet, and at the time that was a good idea but last night after reading welch’s page, and then dennis the peasant’s page, and then luke ford’s page, and then the lgf page, about how Luke Ford was kicked off the Pajama Media cadre, it made me sick to my stomach.

i know i can come across as a liberal sometimes. but the truth is i voted for the first George Bush, and Reagan. i believe in small government. i believe in capitalism and the right for americans to be as rich as they can. i also believe, somewhat in trickle-down economics – to the point that i think that when people get rich they will, on their own accord, naturally give to the poor and start new businesses and invest in their community.

but this administration isnt the Republican party of Reagan, this is dont-tax and spend, this is the immoral majority, this is the bastardization of the american GOP.

and thats why i rally against it. and i would think that other Republicans would do the same.

however thats not the case. the phenomenom during the W era is to back the party no matter what nonsense they do. be it torture, or going to war over lies, or outting a CIA agent as a form of childish payback, to taking the largest surplus ever and making the largest deficit ever, etc etc.

but because i believe that all parties have the right to their own opinoin i am a registered Independent and i dont knock the individual parties for their point of views, but i do knock the individiuals when they are either 1)corrupt, 2)fucking liars, or 3)not actually representing their party and/or constituants.

for those of you who dont know, Pajamas Media is a collection of mostly right-wing bloggers and writers who, it seems, want to form an answer to the suprisingly successful Huffington Post, which is a collection of mostly left-wing non-bloggers.

each week Charles from Little Green Footballs and the Instapundit announce who has joined the Pajama Media and if you read the comments on LGF they usually say, “oh yeah, hes great” but something weird happened when they announced Luke Ford… one of the commentors recognized him as the Matt Drudge of Porn.

yes its true Luke used to have a very successful web site where he covered the Adult video industry inside and out, so to speak. Ultimately quitting when he became disgusted by the people who run the biz.

Little did I know that he was now back to covering porn on his site lukeisback.com, and apparently Pajama Media didnt know either, but as soon as they found out they took back their decoder ring and kicked him to the curb.

now just like most people, Luke isnt one-dimensional. in fact hes a complicated man. after his exit from the xxx world he found God and converted to Judiasm. however he had a hard time finding a temple who would accept him because of his past. keep in mind, Luke never made any films or starred in any, he simply reported on the industry, and yes, he dated a few of the lovelies… as if you wouldnt.

although in the handful of times that i got to chat with Luke i never really got into the bible with him, i did find him knowledgeable about the Good Book, and sincere in his faith.

but apparently, just like the judgemental Temples, Pajama Media was not interested in a journalist who covered that part of American consumerism in their little clubhouse. even though it’s an industry that’s legal, vibrant, and ever-growing.

proving to all of us who are paying attention, that Pajama Media will accept you if you defend American Terrorism, torture, perjury, outting of CIA agents, deficit spending, lies, traitors, and foul play… but titties on dvds is over the line.

the book that i was going to write was going to be completely objective. allowing several heavy hitters from the left right and center to explain their process of blogging. but at this point, just like abraham who insisted that there were a few decent souls in Sodom, im not sure i could find one just voice on the Right.

so why pay attention to them? why give them ink? why allow them to continue to shrink their circle tighter and tighter, while falling into the stereotype that the GOP is indeed the party of exclusion.

yes i know PM has a handful of libertarians, including Luke’s bff Cathy Seipp, but if i were her i’d step down in protest… or at least blog about her displeasure in their actions – something that she has yet to do. (Is Pajama Media, an echo-chamber of Yesmen and women?)

but what hurts me the most is that it appears Charles Johnson, a man who ive respected for years, is allowing this to happen. yes he wont return my emails, yes many of his commenters are reactionary predictable flagwavers, but ive met the man and just like Luke, Charles is more complicated and real than people give him credit for being.

and as all of us are, outside the two-dimensional world of our blogs, we are far more dynamic and human than these zeroes and ones could ever depict. which is one reason i love going to Blogger and Buzznet meet-ups – because when you allow humans to really just be humans, most of the time you will be pleasantly suprised.

we are not our skin color, we are not the car we drive, we are not the zip code we hang our hat in, we are not the political party we typically vote for.

we are multi dimensional children of God.

or, if you prefer: beautiful accidents from the dust of the big bang.

this entire post makes me sad because grade school ended for most of us a (very) long time ago.

but you wouldnt know it watching them play in the sandbox called the blogosphere.

blogebrity + just a girl + dave navarro + pink is the new blog + lukeford.net