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Warning: Political Post

So, I'm making enchiladas and listening to the radio after work. I love making enchiladas. I make them as messy as I possibly can and I use 30.5 pounds of cheese. Anything that involves spiciness, cheese, and cheese is wonderful.

There I am. Making a huge red mess in our too-small kitchen. And I turn on the radio for background music. NPR. And I listen for a few minutes. And I remember that W. spoke today about Iraq. Let's ignore the fact that he did it from an army base. Okay, let's not ignore it. Of course you know the army is going to say "Yeah!" and clap at the appropriate sections. W. should have given the speech from San Francisco or New York or Iraq. C'mon. Give the speech from Iraq. Then maybe I'll really listen.

So most of my life I've been fairly conservative. I like less government (so far as I can tell, the government usually cocks things up at a huge price). And I think we should kick ass. Just as a general rule. Big stick and all. And I'm not ashamed to admit that when we first began the whole destructor Afghanistan thing, I was pretty supportive. The Taliban weren't really nice guys. And if we invaded Saudi Arabia tomorrow, I might even back that, given their record towards women (oh yeah, and because the Tyrant is from there).

And even when we went into Iraq, I was pretty supportive. Because I believed Colin Powell. And Saddam did kill all those Kurds, and dissidents, and generally did BAD stuff. (Please keep in mind I'm not a great political analyst. I'm just saying what I felt at the time.) And of course I think genocide is wrong, and we should have intervened earlier and with more troops in places like Rwanda and Bosnia. So, Iraq, okay.

But as the years (G-D, years) progressed and no WMDs were found and no real progress was made and our leaders kept repeating inane comments, I became deeply worried. It didn't seem like we had very good plans. And it seemed like too many people were dying. And not really achieving much in the end.

So basically, I stopped supporting the war. At least in my head.

And some folks seem shocked by this. Or angered. My parents think I have turned to the Dark Side (liberalism). Folks who always thought the war was a bad idea seem either surprised that I changed my mind or seem angry that it took me so long.

It seems to me that people don't like when other people think. They just want you to agree. And if you change your mind, you're a turncoat. Or a latecomer to a party where everyone already has a girlfriend. And they are way hotter than you are.

And I don't think it is traitorous to acknowledge that things are not going well. That we aren't helping. I'm not even sure I dislike the military action. It's how we did it. With such arrogance and so little thought.

Jeff doesn't watch the news anymore. I think he is going to spend the next three years pretending the outside world doesn't exist. That may be the way to go. But days like today remind me making enchiladas is actually a very wonderful, great thing.

posted by Jen @ 7:50 PM