I have been out of the game here for a long time. I realize I am terribly overdue for an update. Recent events have propelled me back here and I would like to write about something I am taking issue with. Last week, the US Senate voted against the Safe Communities, Safe Schools Act, AKA S 649. Of course, during that week we also had a series of tragic events in Boston that dominated much of the news. However, in the wake of Wesnesday's Senate vote I came across a lot of misinformed opinions regarding the bill, and I would like to comment on them.
Now, I personally was disappointed by the results of that vote. However, I have seen, read and heard enough about the matter already that I don't feel compelled to discuss the details of it right now (however you can read the text of it here, which may help in completing my challenge below). What I want to talk about is a culture in this country that seems to take a hard line on a broad subject and generously apply it across a board of issues and variables. This makes its way into various subjects that I can discuss at another time: gun control, civil rights, abortion, etc.
There is a culture of reaction in this country, and I often see people get very vocal about subjects which they know little about. This bill was no exception. After the Senate vote went down, I heard from many people who were thrilled at the "victory", and who knocked President Obama for calling the legislation "common sense." These same people who called out the President and said the legislation was anything but common sense showed no knowledge of what the bill actually entailed. I even had a person insert legislation into the bill that was not in the bill but is already current federal law. In short, people have been knocking this legislation without even knowing what is in it. That is an unfortunately common trend I have noticed with people these days. I have read the bill myself, and can say that everything in it makes sense to me. I have asked everyone who has expressed their negative opinion of the bill to explain ONE single thing that is not common sense about the bill, and as yet no one has been able to do it. I am writing this blog to turn it over to all (three?) of you: what is uncommon sense about S. 649?
Monday, April 22, 2013
Friday, June 29, 2012
(Very belated) Update, Part 3
The final, and probably most challenging portion of my time in Louisiana, involved a complete change of assignment for me. About two weeks before my tour in the Gulf was to end, we picked up a new member to Division 13. This person, unbeknownst to me initially, was being brought in to take over as Division Supervisor of 13/14. At the time, our current supervisor was preparing for demobilization and would be leaving in just a few days. When I found out about this, although I liked this person, I was quite upset at the prospect of somebody else coming in and becoming supervisor. I felt that, having been in this Division for six weeks, and being the most experienced in terms of time there, I was the obvious choice for Division Supervisor. When I mentioned this to the current supervisor, who then talked with the Operations Section Chief (this is the person who runs all the operations for every division), he was told that I was being reassigned to Division 16, Breton Island, and this is why they were bringing somebody else in to supervise Division 13 (he still had over a month left, while I was on my last two weeks).
When I found out I was to be reassigned as Division Supervisor of a new post, I initially fought it. I was not interested in re-learning a whole new system and being put in charge with only two weeks left. I wanted to stay with what I was accustomed to. Let's face it -- I didn't want a challenge. I was going to be in charge of a 1st Class Petty Officer and a Chief (both outranking me; I was a 2nd Class at the time), along with over 60 contractor personnel, assigned to oversee the cleanup and protection of Breton Island, the most environmentally sensitive area of our jurisdiction, with an impending encroachment of oil coming in from the south. This island was home to tens of thousands of birds of all types, especially pelicans. The Dept. of Fish and Wildlife were frequently on-scene, and in fact had full access to the island, while my team had limited shore access. Essentially, anything that happened around the island was my call, with on-island access being limited to Fish and Wildlife due to the sensitive nature of the island.
Needless to say, I took the assignment. On the one hand, after thinking about it, and talking with my wife back home, I finally warmed up to the idea and realized this was a chance for me to show some leadership. My supervisor told me that I had a strong track record with the Section Chief and that I was specifically chosen for this assignment because of my knowledge and expertise. I'm not saying this to brag, but to explain how this helped convince me to take on the task. Also, I had no choice.
Breton Island proved to be difficult and stressful, but it was also rewarding. Overnight, I went from assisting with supervising a crew of two to leading as the supervisor of 60. The best part of this time was that the storms had passed, and for my last ten days we had clear blue skies. This meant we were able to get a lot of work done without it being reversed by the weather. I think my biggest fear going into this assignment was supervising Coast Guard personnel who outranked me, and coming across as if I didn't know what I was doing. But my six weeks already being there seemed to pay off, and I fell into the routine fairly easily. A few of the boat crew people were a little obnoxious with their sense of humor, but once we got accustomed to each other I enjoyed working with them.
The best part of my time in Breton Island, and Louisiana in general, was learning how to make decisions in the field, and being confident in my expertise and experience that I could make the right call, without having to ask somebody else for guidance. The biggest experience I can point to regarding decision making was when the Incident Commander (this is the person in charge of the whole operation in Venice) made a spot check of our island, and with her standing right next to me, I made an order of vessels and contractor personnel to relocate based on the needs of the wildlife. I did this without consulting with the IC, because I knew this was the thing to do, and I explained this to her. I had a chance to meet with her a few times before I left Louisiana, and she always expressed appreciation for my leadership and service to Breton Island and the operation in general.
A few weeks ago, I saw Jeff Corwin on TV(who I met while I was in Venice when he came to our operation) visiting Breton Island. I was happy to see that the island was completely clean and all the boom had been removed two years later.
When I found out I was to be reassigned as Division Supervisor of a new post, I initially fought it. I was not interested in re-learning a whole new system and being put in charge with only two weeks left. I wanted to stay with what I was accustomed to. Let's face it -- I didn't want a challenge. I was going to be in charge of a 1st Class Petty Officer and a Chief (both outranking me; I was a 2nd Class at the time), along with over 60 contractor personnel, assigned to oversee the cleanup and protection of Breton Island, the most environmentally sensitive area of our jurisdiction, with an impending encroachment of oil coming in from the south. This island was home to tens of thousands of birds of all types, especially pelicans. The Dept. of Fish and Wildlife were frequently on-scene, and in fact had full access to the island, while my team had limited shore access. Essentially, anything that happened around the island was my call, with on-island access being limited to Fish and Wildlife due to the sensitive nature of the island.
Needless to say, I took the assignment. On the one hand, after thinking about it, and talking with my wife back home, I finally warmed up to the idea and realized this was a chance for me to show some leadership. My supervisor told me that I had a strong track record with the Section Chief and that I was specifically chosen for this assignment because of my knowledge and expertise. I'm not saying this to brag, but to explain how this helped convince me to take on the task. Also, I had no choice.
Breton Island proved to be difficult and stressful, but it was also rewarding. Overnight, I went from assisting with supervising a crew of two to leading as the supervisor of 60. The best part of this time was that the storms had passed, and for my last ten days we had clear blue skies. This meant we were able to get a lot of work done without it being reversed by the weather. I think my biggest fear going into this assignment was supervising Coast Guard personnel who outranked me, and coming across as if I didn't know what I was doing. But my six weeks already being there seemed to pay off, and I fell into the routine fairly easily. A few of the boat crew people were a little obnoxious with their sense of humor, but once we got accustomed to each other I enjoyed working with them.
The best part of my time in Breton Island, and Louisiana in general, was learning how to make decisions in the field, and being confident in my expertise and experience that I could make the right call, without having to ask somebody else for guidance. The biggest experience I can point to regarding decision making was when the Incident Commander (this is the person in charge of the whole operation in Venice) made a spot check of our island, and with her standing right next to me, I made an order of vessels and contractor personnel to relocate based on the needs of the wildlife. I did this without consulting with the IC, because I knew this was the thing to do, and I explained this to her. I had a chance to meet with her a few times before I left Louisiana, and she always expressed appreciation for my leadership and service to Breton Island and the operation in general.
A few weeks ago, I saw Jeff Corwin on TV(who I met while I was in Venice when he came to our operation) visiting Breton Island. I was happy to see that the island was completely clean and all the boom had been removed two years later.
Where Have I been?
I just came back to look at my blog for the first time in years. I realize that not only have I neglected updating this in almost two years, but I've even neglected to continue the final part of a series of posts. My previous posts, Update Parts 1 and 2, related to my time in Louisiana for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill response. I never got around to finishing my summary, probably because of a perceived lack of interest by people I know. That's not to say that people weren't interested, but at the same time I really wasn't asked by anyone about my experiences. However, the purpose of this blog is for self-reflection, so that's no excuse.
With that being said, there are a few people who I know who will read this, and who have shown interest, so in the interest of self, and of those few people, I will continue with my trilogy.
With that being said, there are a few people who I know who will read this, and who have shown interest, so in the interest of self, and of those few people, I will continue with my trilogy.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Update, Part 2
After about a week of this situation, where I was assigned to different divisions each day, the entire system was changed for us. Instead of being assigned to a particular job, we were assigned to a particular division (location), where we would work each day. This meant that our mission would be based on whatever the needs of our division were, and our job could vary day to day accordingly.
My assigned division was 13 and 14, where I was partnered with an O'Briens representative who was contracted through BP, and assigned to a Chief who was my supervisor. Division 14 consisted of several islands covered with tens of thousands of pelicans, seagulls, and other birds. These islands, which were miles away from land, were a sanctuary to these birds, and were under imminent threat of destruction from the oil. Our job in Division 14 was to monitor these islands and make sure they were sufficiently protected. When we started in 14, these islands were already boomed off, but the boom was tangled and weathered. We had an assigned work crew who would go in and fix up what needed maintenance, and deploy new boom where needed.
Division 13 was part of our jurisdiction too, but there was less for us to do in that area. We had one small section of the bay where there was a collection of oyster beds, and this area was boomed off as well. Other than that, Division 13 was viewed as a low priority compared to some of the much more environmentally sensitive areas of the other divisions. Most of our days were spent focusing on Division 14, with just a little bit of reconnaissance in 13.
However, our job changed again quite a bit after about a week. The command decided to pass off Division 14 to another group, and kept us focused solely on 13. Suffice it to say, our job turned from largely one of protection to largely reconnaissance. As I said, we had just one section of 13 where we were allocated to place boom. But doing maintenance even on this section became impossible after our work crew was reassigned to another division as well. At this point, our job consisted of long trips across the bay all day, surveying and reporting any new oil we observed coming into our area.
At some point, probably about a month into my tour, weather became a serious issue impeding our ability to get any work done. Tropical Storm Alex formed near the southern region of the Gulf, and the question was whether it would hit us head on. We were prepared for evacuation if it headed our way, but it veered to the west toward Texas and Mexico. That didn't stop us from feeling some of the effects, however. For several weeks, due to Alex and other various thunderstorms throughout our area, we had many days of severe lightning storms which kept us on the docks all day. This hurt our ability to make progress; in fact, it reversed our progress because the storms tore apart boom we already had laid out. We were right in the middle of hurricane season, and of course the biggest fear was that a major storm would sweep through the Gulf and bring all the oil up to us a lot quicker than it already was coming.
We continued doing the best we could with what we had, and although our supplies and manpower were limited, we were providing a valuable service nonetheless. We made several reports of oil that had gone unnoticed in varying areas, and were able to ensure that the birds and other wildlife in our division stayed safe.
To be continued.
My assigned division was 13 and 14, where I was partnered with an O'Briens representative who was contracted through BP, and assigned to a Chief who was my supervisor. Division 14 consisted of several islands covered with tens of thousands of pelicans, seagulls, and other birds. These islands, which were miles away from land, were a sanctuary to these birds, and were under imminent threat of destruction from the oil. Our job in Division 14 was to monitor these islands and make sure they were sufficiently protected. When we started in 14, these islands were already boomed off, but the boom was tangled and weathered. We had an assigned work crew who would go in and fix up what needed maintenance, and deploy new boom where needed.
Division 13 was part of our jurisdiction too, but there was less for us to do in that area. We had one small section of the bay where there was a collection of oyster beds, and this area was boomed off as well. Other than that, Division 13 was viewed as a low priority compared to some of the much more environmentally sensitive areas of the other divisions. Most of our days were spent focusing on Division 14, with just a little bit of reconnaissance in 13.However, our job changed again quite a bit after about a week. The command decided to pass off Division 14 to another group, and kept us focused solely on 13. Suffice it to say, our job turned from largely one of protection to largely reconnaissance. As I said, we had just one section of 13 where we were allocated to place boom. But doing maintenance even on this section became impossible after our work crew was reassigned to another division as well. At this point, our job consisted of long trips across the bay all day, surveying and reporting any new oil we observed coming into our area.
At some point, probably about a month into my tour, weather became a serious issue impeding our ability to get any work done. Tropical Storm Alex formed near the southern region of the Gulf, and the question was whether it would hit us head on. We were prepared for evacuation if it headed our way, but it veered to the west toward Texas and Mexico. That didn't stop us from feeling some of the effects, however. For several weeks, due to Alex and other various thunderstorms throughout our area, we had many days of severe lightning storms which kept us on the docks all day. This hurt our ability to make progress; in fact, it reversed our progress because the storms tore apart boom we already had laid out. We were right in the middle of hurricane season, and of course the biggest fear was that a major storm would sweep through the Gulf and bring all the oil up to us a lot quicker than it already was coming.
We continued doing the best we could with what we had, and although our supplies and manpower were limited, we were providing a valuable service nonetheless. We made several reports of oil that had gone unnoticed in varying areas, and were able to ensure that the birds and other wildlife in our division stayed safe.
To be continued.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Update, Part 1
It has been a long time since my last update. In fact, I have not been on this blog in the year 2010. When I started this website, the plan was for it to motivate me to get more involved in the news by commenting on it frequently. Clearly, I have not been doing that.
Over the summer I was activated with the Coast Guard for a two month tour in Louisiana in response to the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion in April. Before I left, I had planned on keeping a journal during my time there and updating it frequently. Alas, I did not stick to that plan either. The days were quite long and busy, and when I got finished the last thing I was thinking about doing was writing what I had just done. But I am back home now, and the events are still fresh in my mind, so I can give a good overall vision of what I saw down there.
I departed for Louisiana on the evening of May 28th. I arrived in New Orleans the next morning, Saturday, at 9am. Upon checking in at the in-processing hotel, I was told by the Coast Guard representation that I would begin indoctrination on Monday, so to enjoy the rest time over the weekend. On Monday morning, I dressed up in uniform and hopped on a bus which took a group of about 50 of us over to the Coast Guard station just outside of New Orleans, where we were to begin JITT - "Just In Time Training". This consisted of all the medical/dental/administrative items that are required to be taken care of before starting any period of active duty. This whole first day was devoted to these items, which took all day. We got back to the hotel about 5 pm that evening. The next morning, we returned to the same place, but this time to participate in Hazardous Waste Operations refresher training, which was an 8 hour version of the usually 40 hour course. After passing the training, we were told that sometime either that night or the next day we would be given our assignments. I was called about 10:30 that night and notified that I would be headed to Venice, Louisiana. I had a lingering idea that this was going to be where I'd be assigned, as it is the closest landmark to where the sunken rig was located, and a lot of people were being assigned there out of New Orleans.
The next morning, I headed to Venice. Initially, I was told that I, along with a group of five or six others, were going to take a bus to Venice. However, after about twenty minutes on the road, we were called back to the hotel and told to arrange to get rental cars. They split us into teams, and since I was ineligible to get a rental car because I hadn't yet received my Government travel card, my partner had to rent one. We drove the two hour ride to Houma first, where we checked in to the Incident Command Post, filled out all in-processing paperwork, received our badges, and were given any last minute instructions and tips. Finally at about 4 in the afternoon, after a day which started at 7 in the morning, we headed to Venice. We had to back track a large part of our journey to Houma, and after a two hours ride we arrived at what was going to be our home for the next two months.
My partner and I were assigned as roommates, and after checking in at the Venice Coast Guard Station, were given keys to our room at Venice Marina. As we drove onto the property, we noticed lots of large houseboats and houses along the shore with great views of the water. Unfortunately, our home was at the far end of the Marina, and we were given a trailer. We each had our own room, however, and we had all the basic necessities, save for a washer and dryer. Doing laundry was difficult because we always had to go to other people's houseboats who were fortunate enough to have laundry facilities available. Living in a trailer wasn't the most luxurious or enjoyable experience, but you learn to make do with what you have, and appreciate the fact that it could always be worse (one of my colleagues who lived a few trailers down had a sewage leak under his trailer and had to be moved out, not before waking up to a cockroach crawling across his face).
The next morning we started our first official day at work. We arrived at the Safety Brief at the BP Compound site at 5:45am. Mornings during this tour consisted of a series of briefs. You had the Safety Brief at 5:45, the Coast Guard brief at 6:00, the Operations brief at 6:30, and then each particular division would break out into their own briefs at 6:45. Actually, this schedule got re-worked several times through my time there, but always with the briefs starting earlier and lasting longer.
When I first arrived, there were three areas of work for the Coast Guard on site: Protection, Reconnaissance, and Recovery. Protection was tasked with protecting the most environmentally sensitive areas by laying out boom before oil could encroach on the land. Reconnaissance was involved with riding in boats all along the waters in our jurisdiction and reporting to the Command any new oil sighted. Recovery was the second half to Protection's job: recovering boom, oil, and other materials after the boom had worn out and was no good.
I was assigned to the Protection Division. At the time, you would be assigned to a particular job (Protection, Recon, Recovery) and that's what you would do, every day, wherever that needed to be done. A few weeks later, the system was changed so that you were assigned a designated area, and you would do whatever jobs needed to be done there. The first few weeks were pretty exciting, because I was seeing new things each day. I was assigned to a specific task force, so I got to know all the people I was with, but we were doing new jobs at new places every day. Surprisingly, I saw almost no oil during this time, because it hadn't yet reached the areas we were assigned to protect. However, one day I was assigned to Myrtle Grove, a marina about thirty miles north of Venice which had been hit by heavy pockets of oil. This was my first experience responding to oil during this tour. I was assigned a new task force for the day, and was the only Coast Guardsman attached to them. We spent the day laying out new boom as well as repairing and replacing old boom all over our area, called Hospital Bay. We noticed a few severely oiled pelicans, and called Fish and Wildlife to pick them up and take them to Fort Jackson, where they would be taken care of.
To be continued.
Over the summer I was activated with the Coast Guard for a two month tour in Louisiana in response to the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion in April. Before I left, I had planned on keeping a journal during my time there and updating it frequently. Alas, I did not stick to that plan either. The days were quite long and busy, and when I got finished the last thing I was thinking about doing was writing what I had just done. But I am back home now, and the events are still fresh in my mind, so I can give a good overall vision of what I saw down there.
I departed for Louisiana on the evening of May 28th. I arrived in New Orleans the next morning, Saturday, at 9am. Upon checking in at the in-processing hotel, I was told by the Coast Guard representation that I would begin indoctrination on Monday, so to enjoy the rest time over the weekend. On Monday morning, I dressed up in uniform and hopped on a bus which took a group of about 50 of us over to the Coast Guard station just outside of New Orleans, where we were to begin JITT - "Just In Time Training". This consisted of all the medical/dental/administrative items that are required to be taken care of before starting any period of active duty. This whole first day was devoted to these items, which took all day. We got back to the hotel about 5 pm that evening. The next morning, we returned to the same place, but this time to participate in Hazardous Waste Operations refresher training, which was an 8 hour version of the usually 40 hour course. After passing the training, we were told that sometime either that night or the next day we would be given our assignments. I was called about 10:30 that night and notified that I would be headed to Venice, Louisiana. I had a lingering idea that this was going to be where I'd be assigned, as it is the closest landmark to where the sunken rig was located, and a lot of people were being assigned there out of New Orleans.
The next morning, I headed to Venice. Initially, I was told that I, along with a group of five or six others, were going to take a bus to Venice. However, after about twenty minutes on the road, we were called back to the hotel and told to arrange to get rental cars. They split us into teams, and since I was ineligible to get a rental car because I hadn't yet received my Government travel card, my partner had to rent one. We drove the two hour ride to Houma first, where we checked in to the Incident Command Post, filled out all in-processing paperwork, received our badges, and were given any last minute instructions and tips. Finally at about 4 in the afternoon, after a day which started at 7 in the morning, we headed to Venice. We had to back track a large part of our journey to Houma, and after a two hours ride we arrived at what was going to be our home for the next two months.
My partner and I were assigned as roommates, and after checking in at the Venice Coast Guard Station, were given keys to our room at Venice Marina. As we drove onto the property, we noticed lots of large houseboats and houses along the shore with great views of the water. Unfortunately, our home was at the far end of the Marina, and we were given a trailer. We each had our own room, however, and we had all the basic necessities, save for a washer and dryer. Doing laundry was difficult because we always had to go to other people's houseboats who were fortunate enough to have laundry facilities available. Living in a trailer wasn't the most luxurious or enjoyable experience, but you learn to make do with what you have, and appreciate the fact that it could always be worse (one of my colleagues who lived a few trailers down had a sewage leak under his trailer and had to be moved out, not before waking up to a cockroach crawling across his face).
The next morning we started our first official day at work. We arrived at the Safety Brief at the BP Compound site at 5:45am. Mornings during this tour consisted of a series of briefs. You had the Safety Brief at 5:45, the Coast Guard brief at 6:00, the Operations brief at 6:30, and then each particular division would break out into their own briefs at 6:45. Actually, this schedule got re-worked several times through my time there, but always with the briefs starting earlier and lasting longer.
When I first arrived, there were three areas of work for the Coast Guard on site: Protection, Reconnaissance, and Recovery. Protection was tasked with protecting the most environmentally sensitive areas by laying out boom before oil could encroach on the land. Reconnaissance was involved with riding in boats all along the waters in our jurisdiction and reporting to the Command any new oil sighted. Recovery was the second half to Protection's job: recovering boom, oil, and other materials after the boom had worn out and was no good.
I was assigned to the Protection Division. At the time, you would be assigned to a particular job (Protection, Recon, Recovery) and that's what you would do, every day, wherever that needed to be done. A few weeks later, the system was changed so that you were assigned a designated area, and you would do whatever jobs needed to be done there. The first few weeks were pretty exciting, because I was seeing new things each day. I was assigned to a specific task force, so I got to know all the people I was with, but we were doing new jobs at new places every day. Surprisingly, I saw almost no oil during this time, because it hadn't yet reached the areas we were assigned to protect. However, one day I was assigned to Myrtle Grove, a marina about thirty miles north of Venice which had been hit by heavy pockets of oil. This was my first experience responding to oil during this tour. I was assigned a new task force for the day, and was the only Coast Guardsman attached to them. We spent the day laying out new boom as well as repairing and replacing old boom all over our area, called Hospital Bay. We noticed a few severely oiled pelicans, and called Fish and Wildlife to pick them up and take them to Fort Jackson, where they would be taken care of.
To be continued.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Tragedy at Fort Hood
So we all know about the shooting at Fort Hood last week that killed 13 American soldiers and injured 29. We also know that the shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, was a Muslim who allegedly proclaimed "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great) before he shot everyone up. As it turns out, he survived the shooting, and investigators are beginning to probe the situation to determine his motives. Preliminary reports state that Hasan acted alone in the shooting. While most people tend to say they're upset that the murderer survived while so many of his victims were killed, I actually am glad he survived.
After his name was revealed, and especially once witnesses said he had shouted God is Great beforehand, the attacks on Islam continued (I'm obviously not saying beginning because they never actually stopped). It seems very easy for people to point the finger to Islam when a radical extremist acts out on his own insane tendencies. In fact, in my mind, not only is it unrepresentative of what Islam is about, it lessens the severity of the acts of the man himself to allow him to cop out on the excuse of religion. Would you really want to blame Timothy McVeigh's actions on his Christian heritage? Seung-hui Cho was raised in a Christian household. His actions aren't a result of any mental or psychological problems, but simply his warped religion. Now that Hasan is alive, hopefully the FBI can probe into his warped mind enough that people can see that he is in fact a psychopath, and not a true Muslim.
And by the way, if people really believe that Islam promotes this kind of violence, what is their ultimate goal? What would they have happen to Muslims? There are people who refuse to believe or accept that Islam does not condone these kinds of actions, regardless of their ignorance of the Quran. They believe the religion promotes war and violence. So what I want to know is, what do they want to have happen to the religion? To Muslims? Since it doesn't seem possible to some people for a person to just be a murdering psychopath, and it must be their religion, what is the solution?
And for all the people who are sad that Hasan didn't die, don't worry. He will be Court Martialed and given the death penalty, as he is subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
After his name was revealed, and especially once witnesses said he had shouted God is Great beforehand, the attacks on Islam continued (I'm obviously not saying beginning because they never actually stopped). It seems very easy for people to point the finger to Islam when a radical extremist acts out on his own insane tendencies. In fact, in my mind, not only is it unrepresentative of what Islam is about, it lessens the severity of the acts of the man himself to allow him to cop out on the excuse of religion. Would you really want to blame Timothy McVeigh's actions on his Christian heritage? Seung-hui Cho was raised in a Christian household. His actions aren't a result of any mental or psychological problems, but simply his warped religion. Now that Hasan is alive, hopefully the FBI can probe into his warped mind enough that people can see that he is in fact a psychopath, and not a true Muslim.
And by the way, if people really believe that Islam promotes this kind of violence, what is their ultimate goal? What would they have happen to Muslims? There are people who refuse to believe or accept that Islam does not condone these kinds of actions, regardless of their ignorance of the Quran. They believe the religion promotes war and violence. So what I want to know is, what do they want to have happen to the religion? To Muslims? Since it doesn't seem possible to some people for a person to just be a murdering psychopath, and it must be their religion, what is the solution?
And for all the people who are sad that Hasan didn't die, don't worry. He will be Court Martialed and given the death penalty, as he is subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Correction: A "Jackass"
You see, this shows you just how much more intelligent and detail-oriented this President is than I am. I merely called Kanye West an ass for what he did.
In all seriousness, what President Obama said was 100% true, and because it was an off-the-record comment that was inappropriately leaked, he has no obligation to explain himself or apologize. In fact, the only reason I think this story merits a comment is that I believe someone needs to be fired because of the leak. ABC News Reporter Terry Moran was interviewing the President when West's actions were brought up. Moran knew Obama's comments were off the record, but he still tweeted the information for millions to see. He needs to be fired, or whoever actually tweeted the message. If it was in fact Moran himself, he should be held especially accountable because, as the interviewer, he knew the exchange was off the record.
This is one of those situations where he was not talking as the President, he was talking as a human. He is allowed to have opinions, thoughts, words - as long as he is not addressing the public as the President. Somebody needs to take a fall for this leak, and it isn't the President.
In all seriousness, what President Obama said was 100% true, and because it was an off-the-record comment that was inappropriately leaked, he has no obligation to explain himself or apologize. In fact, the only reason I think this story merits a comment is that I believe someone needs to be fired because of the leak. ABC News Reporter Terry Moran was interviewing the President when West's actions were brought up. Moran knew Obama's comments were off the record, but he still tweeted the information for millions to see. He needs to be fired, or whoever actually tweeted the message. If it was in fact Moran himself, he should be held especially accountable because, as the interviewer, he knew the exchange was off the record.
This is one of those situations where he was not talking as the President, he was talking as a human. He is allowed to have opinions, thoughts, words - as long as he is not addressing the public as the President. Somebody needs to take a fall for this leak, and it isn't the President.
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