Where I'm Coming From

I don't have an about me link on my front page. I never really thought it necessary because I would hope that my readers would know where I'm coming from, get a bit of insight into my thought processes, and my interests. Until now that is - as this posting will hereinafter become my 'about me' link.

Apparently, it isn't enough to write consistently about the rebuilding efforts at Ground Zero that are more properly characterized as a battle for Ground Zero. Or to write about the horrific human rights conditions in the various hellholes in totalitarian regimes from Syria to Saudi Arabia to Sudan to China. Or trying to keep on top of the political situation in the US.

No. I have to lay it out for you in black and white.

So here it goes.

Movies: I'm a huge Star Wars buff. And Pulp Fiction. Especially the quotes. All of them. I think Lord of the Rings as done by Peter Jackson was an amazing piece of moviemaking. Cameron's Titanic was like watching a boat sink with thousands on board over the course of three hours. You knew the outcome and yet I couldn't help but watch it over and over and over again.

I don't get Tom Cruise despite the fact I liked him in Top Gun and thought he was good in Minority Report. I can't stand how the media follows every word that a Hollywood star says on politics, religious, and life in general when they are no closer to having the answers than the guy on the street that walked by you muttering to themselves. Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Al Franken, and Barbara Streisand. I'm talking to you. Just because you've got a soapbox doesn't mean that what you say is any more accurate.

Music: I love NIN. And Metallica. And Rush, Pink Floyd, Genesis, White Stripes, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and Johnny Cash. And any piece of music that doesn't require lip syncing to perform because the 'artist' is too busy dancing and prancing to actually perform the music - no Britney Spears or Madonna for me.

On writing: I write this blog because I can - and because I have to write or else my head explodes with ideas. It's not a pretty thing and Mrs. Lawhawk wouldn't appreciate the mess.

On the Middle East: The Middle East is a mess. Always has been. Probably always will be. That doesn't mean we can't make things a bit safer for nearly everyone in the world.

On totalitarian regimes: Coddling dictators and totalitarian regimes is a surefire way to find a dagger in your back. You wont know it's coming until you find yourself in the ER.

Keeping things as they are isn't a strategy. Maintaining the status quo isn't foreign policy. It's an admission that you don't have any ideas for dealing with complex issues. Expand the problem.

On human rights: Human rights should be more than sufficient to take aggressive action to stop genocide and mass starvation by totalitarian regimes. Zimbabwe, Sudan, North Korea - I'm talking to you.

The war on terror: Islamic terrorism, and Islamofascism is the most dangerous form of extremism today. It threatens to undermine the global economy, kill thousands, if not millions of people, and most people think that the US is the bigger threat. Go figure. Listen to what these Islamic terrorists say. They aren't kidding. And they're more patient than we are with our 15 second attention spans.

Stepping in and dealing with broken states is the best defense against allowing these regions to become breeding grounds for terrorism. Somolia and Sudan are both failed states that breed Islamic terrorism. So is Saudi Arabia. And Iran.

Iraq: It had to be done. WMD? They were there - just read back throughout the past decade. Saddam was a totalitarian despot hellbent on accumulating WMD, and wasn't about to give them up lightly. Yet, that wasn't the only reason to go after Saddam. His slaughter of hundreds of thousands of people should have been sufficient. As was his complete disregard of numerous international agreements, Security Council resolutions, and the 1991 cease fire agreement. Oh, and the payments for various terrorist groups, sheltering international terrorists, and terrorist training camps at Salman Pak. And the troubling reports that al Qaeda and Iraq may have been in close contact, though that contact may not have been in regards to the 9/11 attacks.

On domestic politics: Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio? The Democrats have gone off the reservation. The few sane Democrats are considered outcasts and people are lining up to give 'em the shove off.

There's a distinction between liberals and leftists. The Democrats aren't really liberals. Many of them are Leftists - Communists and socialists by word and deed. Some Democrats talk about liberalism, but their Leftist tendencies shine through. I'm talking about Kerry, Pelosi, and Kennedy - the leaders of the modern Democratic party at the national level. They may claim to be the standard bearers of liberalism, but all their talk about the status quo shows their talk to be just that - talk. They don't take any actions except out of political expediency, and that's an awful place to be politically.

That doesn't mean that the GOP is a bunch of saints. They aren't. Some of them are as bad as the Democrats - political expediency will sometimes do that. Corruption, greed, avarice are part and parcel of the GOP as well, but they have a plan, which is more than you can say of the Democrats at this point in time.

Ground Zero: The rebuilding process has been marred by scandal, controversy, and squabbles over power. I just wish that the hole in the ground can be filled by something worthy of the site sooner rather than later. The victims deserve as much - and frankly so do the rest of us.

New Jersey politics: You will never encounter a more wretched hive of scum and villany. Except maybe in Louisiana, where Mos Eisley has nothing on New Orleans in terms of corruption, danger, and scandal.

Sports: Yankees-baseball. Giants-football. Devils-hockey. The rest? I tolerate the Mets, mostly because of Mrs. Lawhawk. She's a huge Mets fan. Basketball? Not so much.

So there you have it.