Why THEY Piss ME Off!

LC recently stated that America has done a lot of crappy things around the world that we should be ashamed of.

He's right. We have messed around in Chile when Allende was in power, we have messed around in Iran when Mossadegh was in power, we have messed around in Central America countless times, and heaven knows where else. We have also messed up things here at home with slavery and it's aftermath, the internment of Japanese citizens for being, well, Japanese when we did nothing to those of German or Italian descent, and our treatment of the Indians has precious little to be proud of.

I do not deny or minimize any of that. As a matter of fact, I think the fact that we admit our shortcomings and try to rectify them (if possible) is one of this country's greatest virtues. There are plenty of other countries who refuse to admit any wrongdoing on their behalf. (Just try to get a Turk to admit to the Armenian genocide and see how far you get.) Our ability to look back, and hopefully learn from our mistakes, is one of the reasons why this country is magnificent.

One of the things I have heard, and not just from LC, is "think about why they hate us". I have. I have come up with plenty of reasons for them to hate my country...and me personally. (As it says on the side of this blog, I'm known there as Desert Blondie.)

But, for a change of pace, let's get to another topic: Why THEY really piss ME off.

I get pissed off when I hear about the mistreatment of women that I am supposed to accept as a "cultural difference", or worse yet, as "the will of God". I refuse to accept things like honor killing of women because they dared to talk to a man, raping women who don't wear hijab, or female circumcision as anything more than evidence of misogyny of the worst kind. The very idea that my testimony would be worth only one-half of a man's, or that I would get a very generous one-half of the inheritance my brother would receive simply because I am a woman incenses me.

(The silence of our so-called "women's movement" on these issues is appalling. Racism is alive and well in that "movement", and you can't convince me otherwise until they start acting like brown and black women's lives in the third world are every bit as valuable as the lives of ladies who lunch. I know....dream on.)

I also get pissed off when I consider that in some parts of the world, daring to preach another religion besides Islam will get you imprisoned or killed. Desecration of books and holy objects for other religions is perfectly acceptable to them (including the priceless statues of Buddha that the Taliban destroyed). They demand, and get, the ability to practice their religion in my country, but feel no obligation to return the favor when my countrymen are putting themselves in harm's way to do the fighting they cannot or will not do. Yes, Saudi Arabia, I'm talking about you.

I'm tired of countries that routinely put gay men and lesbians to death, simply because they are not heterosexual. I don't want to hear this "it's against the Bible/Koran/whatever....", either. (With regards to the Bible, since I am familiar with it.....don't start picking and choosing what biblical laws you're going to respect if you're going to use that as your argument for discriminating against homosexuals or treating them as less than human. In other words, take off that mixed fiber shirt, put down that shrimp you were going to eat for dinner, and be sure to follow the rules regarding the acceptable manner to sell your daughter into slavery. Leviticus, baby. Look it up.)

I'm tired of countries that enslave Africans, Indians and Haitians in the 21st century, countries that treat female guest workers from the Philippines and India as sex slaves for the men of the house.....and the leaders of countries who turn a blind eye as their nationals are being abused in this way.

I'm tired of national leaders who, when their country gets a windfall because of some freak deposit of natural resources, choose to whore around and drink on the Riviera instead of investing in their people. They really piss me off when they turn around and blame the Americans.....or the Jews.....or hell, the American Jews, when their people ask why they still walk around in goat shit and live in a hovel when there is all this wealth coming out of the ground.

Any gang of morons who believes that "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" is anything other than a Tsarist hoax, and thinks that the Jews use the blood of children in their matzoh pisses me off, too. Any of the maggots behind "Zahra's Blue Eyes" should be ashamed of themselves instead of proud of their work.

I'm tired of idiots walking around with Che shirts who have no idea what he really stood for. Idiots walking around with Che shirts who do know what kind of a murdering asshole he was and admire that are revolting.

Anyone who thinks the word "Chomsky" and "intellectual" belong in the same sentence must have been dropped on their heads repeatedly when they were babies. No wonder so many of his fans are anarchists with bylaws. (I mean, WTF??? Were you asleep in political science class, you morons?)

I shed no tears over Lori Berenson and her Sendero Luminoso pals. Peru can keep them in a frigid Andean jail for eternity as far as I'm concerned. (And if they don't get rice pilaf with orange chicken or Mao's little book gets shoved down a toilet, c'est la vie. I save my compassion for those in real gulags, not the Gitmo kind. Ask Natan Sharansky what the genuine article is....he ought to know.)

My sympathy is pretty much shot when I hear Colombians and Mexicans complain about narco-terrorismo....the kidnappings, senseless murders, and now their own children becoming addicts. I guess as long as it was only gringos getting hooked on that shit it was fine with them.

I get damn disgusted with "cultures" that tell their young not to value life, but to glory in death, especially if they take some other poor bastards with them. Their reward? Six dozen virgins who won't laugh at their tiny equipment that couldn't satisfy any earth woman. (Personally, I'd rather have a couple of experienced sluts. They'd probably be more fun. But then again, I'm a perv.)

Ah, who am I kidding....I'm a woman. A woman's reward for turning herself into a walking bomb is to be the head ho. Since they've refused to educate their women and treat them all like prostitutes (or at least, good for only one thing) anyway, their females actually think this is a good idea.

I'm sickened by cultures that press pregnant women to have ultrasounds for the sole purpose of determining their baby's sex, and then coerce them into abortions if the child is not a boy. Some of them are waking up and finding out that their precious sons don't have enough women to marry, now that they have messed with the natural order of things. Call me heartless, but I gotta yuk it up when I hear that. Serves 'em right.

My heart goes out to the little girls given up for adoption only because they are XX instead of XY. I hope that someday one of those abandoned little ones does something miraculous, like cures the common cold. Not that she'd change any minds about the value of women, but it still would be wonderful, don't you think?

Of course, since I am the Jet Set Chick, my blood pressure boils when I think of women who cannot travel without a male escort or allowed to drive. The idea that my husband could toss me to the curb with three little sentences, while I would have to wait for years to maybe, possibly get rid of him....and only if I could bring in male witnesses to prove I was being abused.....pisses me off.

I have no idea if what we are doing in Iraq is worth it. I know that we won't really be able to tell until a decade or two or three has passed and we see the final consequences of our actions. But one thing I do know is that I feel a certain bit of pride when I see pictures of a servicewoman standing proud and doing the same job that a serviceman does......and there are Arabs witnessing this, and others watching it on al-Jazeera. Those young women of every race and color make a hell of an impact just by going about their jobs.

The optimist in me hopes that some little girls and their more adventurous parents might just start to rethink the limits on women in their societies. There's been a few baby steps in that direction. Kuwait has granted the vote to women. Saudi Arabia is discussing the vote for women and allowing them to drive. Occasionally there is an editorial where the blame for their society's backwardness is not placed on the Jews or on the West, but on themselves, and they are asking what they can do to improve the situation.

I categorically refuse to believe that Arabs are too stupid to "get" democracy, or that they couldn't possibly produce something other than oil that the rest of the world would be willing to buy.

Why not? Baghdad was the center of the educated world circa 1100. Why couldn't they be a center of knowledge in 2100?

And finally, I am extremely exhausted with the stupid idea that everything evil emanates from the West. I can't put the argument any better than this article in the Guardian.

What it boils down to is that, for once, George Bush was completely right. Either you're with us or with the terrorists.

Let me expand on that. I choose to be on the side that, even though my idea of a good time probably horrifies the crap outta them, at least doesn't think that I deserve to die for the glory of some deity that may or may not exist. Both sides may not like it when me and a good male friend check out other guys' butts in the library when we should be studying....but only one side can think of ten reasons in that circumstance that justify brutally killing us both for that behavior. Hint.....it's the side that glorifies psychotics named "Osama" and "Yasser".

I am of the opinion that if God really wanted me dead, he sure as hell would NOT require the assistance of some half-educated (I'm being generous here), sexually insecure, inbred semi-illiterate to do the job. He could call down a hurricane or start an earthquake.

Am I comfortable supporting Bush? Are you kidding?

But one thing I do know from my history classes (it was my minor a damn long time ago...), appeasement never works. Plus, it ain't my style.

So, if you want, go ahead and calculate America's faults in excruciating detail. Burn the flag, if you are so inclined. We're tough, we can handle it.

Remember, nobody burns the flag of a country that doesn't stand for anything, anyway.

Maybe I'm weird, but when a bunch of the greatest minds of the 7th century get together and torch Old Glory, I'm proud. Yes, proud. They are making a public statement that everything I hold dear....my freedoms, my rights and yes, my responsibilities as an American....threaten them.

I gotta love that.