Wednesday 27 July 2016

 
An open letter from the American voter

Dear Hillary and Donald

Please stop telling us about who you are running against.
We already know who you are running against.
We know you don't like them and we know why you don't like them.
We can make up our own minds about them without your constant whining.

What we want to hear from you is what you stand FOR.
We realize that it is hard for you to tell us, given the negative bias of our media.
We realize that anything nasty that you say about the other side gets headlines.
While anything good you say or do or plan to do gets ignored or buried.
But please try.

We really want to know just three things:
   What positive goods you wish for America
   How you plan to achieve them
   How you will pay for them

Please stop trying to make us afraid.
American voters are not cowards.
We are not intimidated by terrorists, Muslim or otherwise
We are not intimidated by bankers or other big businesses
We are not intimidated by migrants
We are not intimidated by the other party, who are merely fellow Americans with different ideas.
We are not even intimidated by representatives who care more for campaign donors than for us
  (Frustrated yes, intimidated no.)

We are willing to take risks:
We support universal car ownership, even if that kills 33,000 a year
We support universal gun ownership, even if that kills 35,000 a year.
We support offering charity to war-zone refugees, even if 0.3% of them may wish us ill.

So please stop whining about how bad things are.
Instead, tell us how you will make things better.
(And how you will pay for it)


French Army Asks Citizens To Enlist — But No Muslim Headscarves, Please
Headline deliberately mis-represents the French position, which is "no religious symbols at all" and applies equally to Christian, Jewish, Muslim or any other religion.
That is, Jewish men would be asked to remove their yamulkas, Christians would be asked to put any crosses inside their clothes, (not on open display), turbanned Sikhs would not be accepted. The deliberate mis-representation is to try and stir up conflict, as "Muslim girl enlists in military after Nice" is deemed too positive to serve as a headline.
It is interesting that one sister declined to serve without her fashion statement (the Hijab is not required by Islam) that she wears to associate herself with her religious community and distinguish herself from her fellow citizens. The other sister recognized that the French find the Hijab disrespectful and offensive to their local cultural values. (Its the equivalent of a French woman entering a mosque with bare head and a tank top.)
I have much more respect for the sister who will serve. The non-serving sister seems both selfish and ill-mannered.


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