|
|
|
|
Doubt Fully
New Member
USA
1 Post |
 Posted - 01/09/2003 : 14:46:14
|
The year had drawn to a close. Everyone looked back and pondered how it had gone. For the great masses of the American public the year had began with fears of terrorist attack and international uncertainties. But now things had pretty much resolved themselves. The Taliban was no more and terrorism seemed to have been dealt a major blow. Though everyone recognized that the world had changed. Nothing could ever be the same as before. People would have to return to the true values of America. All good Americans would display the flag, return to church, and back the current administration. Everyone would cease thinking about those troubling notions like evolution, civil rights, and especially free inquiry into taboo subjects. These complex times were confusing enough. It was a good thing that the answers to these trying times were so simple. You didn't even need to think about them or question them at all really.
Everyone settled in to a new fear of the world. It wasn't such an odd feeling, it fit like an old comfortable pair of shoes. After all the cold war wasn't such a dim memory in the collective consciousness. The godless communists were no more but they had been replaced by the pagan Arabs. Just as before the struggles here on earth mirrored those being waged in heaven. Though surely if everyone worked hard enough and sacrificed enough then good would prevail over evil. Our cherished freedoms set down in the Bill of Rights were seen in a renewed light and taken with a grain of salt. The founding fathers were after all devote Christians to a man. Was there any doubt to their real intent for this nation founded under God? Besides if we had to lose some of our freedoms wasn't that okay? Life is just a passing thing, there would be time enough for freedom and joy in heaven. Things finally made sense again and everyone was happy to rally around our true values. Looking back on it all real Americans agreed 2002 had been a good year.
The average American wasn't the only one that thought 2002 had been a good year. The president thought so to. Everyone knew that you couldn't trust liberal politicians to wage a war. And war waited around every corner... war with Iraq, the War on Terrorism, even the war the president was waging against Evil itself. The latest elections had positioned the president's party in a positive majority. He planned to use this position of strength to continue and expand upon his many great changes for the nation. Social programs would have to be cut. Such gross expenditures as government funded school lunch programs really weren't appropriate in these times. The country was preparing to fight for its very survival after all. Besides if a generation of poor kids grew up malnourished what was wrong with that? Certainly no one in power wanted energetic young minds challenging the status quo. They might apply critical thinking to the problems facing the nation and the assumptions they were based on.
The president wasn't against helping children to learn though. Certainly not! Hadn't he had helped put the school voucher program into place? Now tax dollars flowed into religious charter schools all across the country. The best part was that the money for the charter schools was taken directly from the budgets of secular public schools. This left the public schools under funded and encouraged even non-religious parents to enroll their children in the religious based charter schools. This was really a good thing since secular education all too often encouraged students to ask so many pesky questions. Religious schools on the other hand provided easy answers. Everyone liked easy answers and that's what the president had for them. The president had to agreed, 2002 had been a good year.
The president wasn't the only one that thought 2002 had been a good year. Defense contractors and other businesses that survived off the defense department thought so to. Destroying the Taliban meant deploying large numbers of troops to Afghanistan. Thousands of pounds of explosives had been directed against targets via air missions and cruise missiles. Fleets of warships had been brought into the region. All of this and more cost billions of tax dollars which these businesses dutifully accepted in return for replacement munitions, spare parts, and not least of all oil. These companies didn't want to profit from the violence of war or the death of Afghanistani citizens. But they did have a patriotic duty to perform. Now that the U.S. had bombed the Taliban out of existence surely things would quite down again. If Iraq didn't behave they would suffer the same fate. All of these businesses recognized that violence almost never leads to retaliation of any sort. You would have to be a skeptic to doubt that. If anyone should retaliate these companies they would be ready to discharge their patriotic duty for their usual fee. The defense contractors and suppliers had to agree, 2002 had been a good year.
And so all across America the citizens, the politicians, and the business community agreed... 2002 had been a good year!
|
|
|
Gorgo
SFN Die Hard
USA
5310 Posts |
 Posted - 01/09/2003 : 20:36:31 [Permalink]
|
| Well said. |
I know the rent is in arrears
The dog has not been fed in years
It's even worse than it appears
But it's alright-
Jerry Garcia
Robert Hunter
|
 |
|
|
@tomic
Administrator
USA
4607 Posts |
|
|
chainsaw
Skeptic Friend
USA
63 Posts |
Posted - 01/10/2003 : 09:11:10 [Permalink]
|
Good year NOT.
My father died in Jan, RIF'd from a six figure salary job in Mar, rear ended twice in my little Miata May and again in Aug, and then my five year old daughter announced she was pregnant in Oct (upon closer questioning, she was misinformed and had only overeaten her Halloween candy).
Hope 2003 is better. |
You can "believe" what you want, but you do have to get your science right or you'll flunk science. |
|
|
|
Gorgo
SFN Die Hard
USA
5310 Posts |
Posted - 01/10/2003 : 11:24:45 [Permalink]
|
Sorry about your father.
Glad about your daughter.
I don't know what RIF'd is, but if I'd had a six figure job for any part of any year I'd think that was a great year. |
I know the rent is in arrears
The dog has not been fed in years
It's even worse than it appears
But it's alright-
Jerry Garcia
Robert Hunter
|
|
|
|
chainsaw
Skeptic Friend
USA
63 Posts |
Posted - 01/10/2003 : 12:42:53 [Permalink]
|
| RIF'd is corporate speak for laid off (Reduction In Force). Maybe that is the tax reduction that Dubya talks about. |
You can "believe" what you want, but you do have to get your science right or you'll flunk science. |
|
|
|
 |
|
Topic Locked
