This is a slight departure from the norm. Right now, I am not ranting or raving.
Right now, I'm just nervous.
In less than an hour and a half, I will be sitting down to take the Foreign Service Officer Test, step 2 in the process of becoming a member of the U.S. Foreign Service. I can't remember the last time I wanted something this badly, nor can I remember ever being nervous about a test, an audition, an interview...anything.
What if I just don't know as much as I think I do? Or, what if I remember all the wrong things? I feel like I am going to walk out of this test and immediately email my PG 279 professor from university and apologize for not taking her class more seriously. In fact, I may do that beforehand -- a preemptive quest for absolution as I pray that I won't have to remember Chi-square or Spearman's rho and how to use them.
I've been getting mixed responses when I tell people that I've begun this process. Most people are just politely interested, but one of my close friends posed this question: "How will you feel working for an administration with whose policies you disagree?"
I'll admit, I struggled with this one briefly. After all, I've been a card-carrying Democrat since before I was even old enough to vote. I believe that the government has a responsibility to help society at all levels. However, in the last year or so I've realized that my point of view has shifted rightward. And while I can't bring myself to "come out" as a Republican, I have to be honest and say that I am not a true Democrat. At the end of the day, though, I have to do what's right for the country. Being a Foreign Service officer to me is about more than serving the administration in office. Presidents and Congresspersons come and go, and regardless of their party or platform I will nearly always disagree with something they do.
But that's not what this is about. This is about the people who make up this country. This is about being a part of international dialogue. Basically...this is what I've wanted my whole life, even before I really knew it.
That's what scares me. But that's also what will (hopefully) get me through this test, and the process.
Send good thoughts.
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Showing posts with label government. Show all posts
Showing posts with label government. Show all posts
05 October 2009
27 February 2009
War Games
Fox News "war games" - the coming civil war
To play the home version of war games and idiotic punditry, watch this video clip of Glenn Beck's "War Room" before reading the description of it and follow-up comments, and consider when this episode likely aired. (By no means should you ignore the commentary, however, as Glenn Greenwald provides an excellent explanation of what exactly a "bubba" militia is and why we should be so concerned at the idea.)
Give up?
February 22, 2009. That's right, kids -- less than a week ago, and just over a month into President Obama's administration.
Now humour me, and if you haven't already, read Greenwald's commentary.
I have to admit, I'm partially amused in a sick and morbid fashion that right-wing commentary has already degraded itself to foreshadowings of civil uprisings and revolts against the state of the world. One of his commentators estimates that income tax in the higher brackets (never mind the brackets where most viewers of FOX News fall) by 2014 could be as high as 95 per cent. Of course, the response to this sort of economic upheaval and the continuing problems of the world will lead the citizenry to violent action.
With 3:40 left in the video clip after the jump, pay attention to Glenn Beck's statement that the government has "betrayed the Constitution" -- but keep in mind that this clip leaves the ground and launches itself into the stratosphere of wacko-paranoic thought within the first 10 seconds. In fact...any rational person should pause at the idea that this or any edition of the "War Room" is focused on "war games" that suggest the imminent arrival of civil war.
Another sound bite: "tyranny of incompetence", approximately 2:30 remaining.
And this second sound bite brings me back into cold hard reality, where I am no longer amused but simply disgusted. Where were these dire predictions of civil war throughout the last five to six years of the W. administration? As Greenwald points out, the cult of the "bubba militia" turned a collective blind-eye to the human rights violations and indignities carried out by their champion after scoffing at the less offensive (and far less illegal) attempts of his predecessor. Greenwald writes:
In sum, they dressed up in warrior clothing to fight against Bill Clinton's supposed tyranny, and then underwent a major costume change on January 20, 2001, thereafter dressing up in cheerleader costumes to glorify George Bush's far more extreme acquisitions of federal power.
What this means, boys and girls, is hypocrisy. It is hypocrisy of the lowest order to not only apply selective indignation to the actions of our leaders, but to suggest that after one month (does this need any more emphasis?) the American people have suffered so terribly under President Obama (who, dare I point out, is not the cause of any of what is happening now) that by 2014 -- two years after he comes up for reelection -- the people of this country will fight to "take back their government".
Look. When W. took his imaginary mandate and created a clusterfuck of a national position for us...when his administration facilitated many of the very measures that leave us mired in the economic bog now...the American people did not rise up and revolt against the government machine. Hell, if that was the case then W. should have never won reelection in 2004 (which is the case regardless, but I digress). You didn't see left-leaning commentary suggest that the United States would be heading for a civil war, even in the last two years of the administration when it seems that people finally started to wise up.
What happened? People demanded change through the government. That's right, and allow me to repeat it: people used the government to get the change they sought. The change we sought and continue to fight for today. We continue to fight because of people like Glenn Beck and other faithful devotees of the "bubba militia", who are not concerned for what is right, only that they win their war games.
Rants and Raves home
To play the home version of war games and idiotic punditry, watch this video clip of Glenn Beck's "War Room" before reading the description of it and follow-up comments, and consider when this episode likely aired. (By no means should you ignore the commentary, however, as Glenn Greenwald provides an excellent explanation of what exactly a "bubba" militia is and why we should be so concerned at the idea.)
Give up?
February 22, 2009. That's right, kids -- less than a week ago, and just over a month into President Obama's administration.
Now humour me, and if you haven't already, read Greenwald's commentary.
I have to admit, I'm partially amused in a sick and morbid fashion that right-wing commentary has already degraded itself to foreshadowings of civil uprisings and revolts against the state of the world. One of his commentators estimates that income tax in the higher brackets (never mind the brackets where most viewers of FOX News fall) by 2014 could be as high as 95 per cent. Of course, the response to this sort of economic upheaval and the continuing problems of the world will lead the citizenry to violent action.
With 3:40 left in the video clip after the jump, pay attention to Glenn Beck's statement that the government has "betrayed the Constitution" -- but keep in mind that this clip leaves the ground and launches itself into the stratosphere of wacko-paranoic thought within the first 10 seconds. In fact...any rational person should pause at the idea that this or any edition of the "War Room" is focused on "war games" that suggest the imminent arrival of civil war.
Another sound bite: "tyranny of incompetence", approximately 2:30 remaining.
And this second sound bite brings me back into cold hard reality, where I am no longer amused but simply disgusted. Where were these dire predictions of civil war throughout the last five to six years of the W. administration? As Greenwald points out, the cult of the "bubba militia" turned a collective blind-eye to the human rights violations and indignities carried out by their champion after scoffing at the less offensive (and far less illegal) attempts of his predecessor. Greenwald writes:
In sum, they dressed up in warrior clothing to fight against Bill Clinton's supposed tyranny, and then underwent a major costume change on January 20, 2001, thereafter dressing up in cheerleader costumes to glorify George Bush's far more extreme acquisitions of federal power.
What this means, boys and girls, is hypocrisy. It is hypocrisy of the lowest order to not only apply selective indignation to the actions of our leaders, but to suggest that after one month (does this need any more emphasis?) the American people have suffered so terribly under President Obama (who, dare I point out, is not the cause of any of what is happening now) that by 2014 -- two years after he comes up for reelection -- the people of this country will fight to "take back their government".
Look. When W. took his imaginary mandate and created a clusterfuck of a national position for us...when his administration facilitated many of the very measures that leave us mired in the economic bog now...the American people did not rise up and revolt against the government machine. Hell, if that was the case then W. should have never won reelection in 2004 (which is the case regardless, but I digress). You didn't see left-leaning commentary suggest that the United States would be heading for a civil war, even in the last two years of the administration when it seems that people finally started to wise up.
What happened? People demanded change through the government. That's right, and allow me to repeat it: people used the government to get the change they sought. The change we sought and continue to fight for today. We continue to fight because of people like Glenn Beck and other faithful devotees of the "bubba militia", who are not concerned for what is right, only that they win their war games.
Rants and Raves home
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