Recent political events have caused me to think hard about the type of person I want to lead the country. I have been seeing and hearing a lot about Sarah Palin’s charisma and how she refers to herself as “Joe six pack” and the “average hockey mom.” It actually scares me to pieces to think that “Joe six pack” could be running the entire country! We need leaders who are not “average” people - we need exceptionally smart, exceptionally level-headed, exceptionally reliable and exceptionally moral people to be our leaders. Leaders have NEVER been “average” people. “Average” people are the led, not the leaders.
I was just reading on the BBC.com website that the Beijing Olympic Village has opened to the Olympic athletes. The story was talking about how the buildings the athletes will be staying in are very “green” and modern. Then the story goes on a tangent about how the air quality in Beijing is very bad, and even though China has been trying to eliminate the pollution, it is at the worst level in recent months. That is going to be bad news for the competitors, it is hard to be performing at your best when the air you breathe in is poison!
Anyway, the entire topic reminded me of how this state that I live in is supposed to be such a clean and pristine state, but it has a horrible toxic rain problem because of the toxins pumped into the air from factories from other states that drift downwind into our state. I get aggravated over how the folks “upwind” have the “right” to pollute the air of those of us who live “downwind.” My aggravation grows when I am reminded of how the government has relaxed emissions standards to allow for more air pollution.
It seems like only last week I was reading an article about how a group of Afghanistan villagers protected their group of humintarian volunteer workers from being abducted by the Taliban. Today I read in the Time.com website that two French humanitarian workers were kidnapped from the house they were sleeping in during the night. There were guards posted outside the house but they had been overpowered and tied up. The aid group, Action against hunger has 150 volunteers in Afghanistan, helping the Afghanistan citizens in various ways. In response to this kidnapping all activities in Afghanistan by this aid group have been suspended.
Exactly HOW is this kidnapping supposed to bring support to the Talibans?
Ruling through terror is effective in the short term, but eventually a bigger bully comes along and beats you up!
I was so glad to hear a few days ago that President Bush is planning to attend the opening ceremony at the Summer Olympics in China. I think that is a smart move. I was concerned that the loud calls for boycotts of the Olympics were actually going to result in the USA boycotting the games, and I think that would have been a really big mistake. The Olympics are supposed to be about athletic competition, not about politics! Good move, Mr. President!
The news this evening was talking about how Senator Ted Kennedy returned to the Senate today. The story was breaking “live” when I turned the television on. I saw how when he entered the chamber, all of the fellow senators that were there gave him a standing ovation. It was very touching, to see that kind of affection and respect and support that they were giving him. Seems politicians can show their human side from time to time! I’m afraid that I didn’t hear the whole story, I’ll have to do some research and find out the specifics - there are some important bills that are/were being voted on today and Senator Kennedy wanted to vote on them, which is why he made the effort to attend the session today. Good for him! I wish him well.