A Time of Uncertainty

Every generation grows up differently. As technology changes, and the world gets flatter every day through mediums such as Facebook, Twitter, and the iPhone, we are flooded with more news and information at an ever increasing rate. For me I have my own personal interests. Take sports for example. I have to keep up with what the Cowboys are doing in off season. What teams have traded for who. I have to keep up with the trades going on in the NBA. I have to keep up with Federer and the tennis world (which is sometimes very hard to do thanks to poor programming). How is Tiger doing in the PGA tour? These are all things in which I keep up to date.

There is also my friends and family with which for some reason I also think I have to keep up to date. So I “have to” check Facebook multiple times throughout the day.I have to keep up with the market. How is Bank of America doing? Did AIG announce their earnings? Man, GE stock went down 6.3% today!I keep up with world headlines. I check out ABCnews.com, and Foxnews.com, and sometimes CNN. Usually this all just depresses me. I check up with the multiple missions agencies I am interested in to see the horrible world of persecuted Christians throughout the world. Voice of the Martyrs, and Open Door provide me with a glimpse into the world so that I may obey Hebrews 13:3 which tells us to remember those that are in bonds, as bound with them.

I also keep up to date with the day to day political world. I am a NYTimes.com addict. Thomas L. Friedman helps me keep things in perspective. I read up on the daily rubbish that goes on every day at the expense of the American taxpayer. There is so much to keep track of though. There is the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is the economy. There is the judical branch. Not only do I have to keep up with the current President, but I also have to keep up with the previous President as well. Well, both Bush and Cheney I have to keep up with now that their war crimes are being exposed a bit to the public.

It is an interesting time to live. There is no doubt about it. I have a 11 year old brother. All he remembers is a time post-9/11. What an interesting way to grow up as a kid. He has grown up with an administration telling us to live in fear. He has lived in a period of time where we have always been at war with terrorists under the control of bloodthirsty Republicans. I grew up in the Clinton years. What a big difference. But now, we are all living under the Obama administration. He has been scrutinized and chastized and praised and worshiped. Some people hate him, some people love him. All I know is that he is trying to do what is best for the country in his eyes, and what he believes is best for the American people. That seems to be his goal. Right now he wants to be focused on health care, the economy, and education. But Bush’s dirt soiled his goals. Cheney’s army, a.k.a. the CIA, screwed up big time a few years back and now it is really coming back to bite us. Ironically, it puts America in a very awkward position, and Obama in an even worse position.

The things that we should be focusing on right now, such as the present and the future, have to be put on hold because we have to go back and look at the evil done under Bush. We have to go back and look at the people we murdered. We have to go back and look at the people we tortured for the “safety” of America. But in doing so, we are admitting war crimes to the world. The United States of America, the police force of the world, committed war crimes which need to be addressed. Obama fears, and rightfully so, that if we bring much more light to this we would be endangering our troops. And that is not to mention that attention on all this takes away the attention from what we really need to be focusing on.

What should be done in my opinion?

We need to take the time here and go back and admit that we were wrong. Admit we killed and tortured people we should not have. Admit that it was horrible. Prosecute those who did it, and especially those who commanded for it to be done. We have to promise that we will never do it ever again. America made a big mistake. We were revenge seeking, bloodthirsty Americans trying to eliminate evil with evil, fire with fire. We went about it in illegal ways, and those involved will be punished. To show that we are serious, we are willing to punish all that knew of these crimes and did nothing, even including those in high government jobs, even the President of the United States.

Is it unfortunate that we should have to do this? Yes. Is it really bad timing? Yes. Is it the right thing to do? Yes. Is it going to hurt the United States of America? Yes. Will it be worth it? Hopefully.

So that is that. Every day things seem to progress (or degress) quickly. Let’s see how all this plays out. Let’s see how Obama deals with this unfortunate situation. As I read the headlines, I really do not know what to expect next. Because right now, these first almost 200 days of Obama I think can be defined as a time of uncertainty. The only way we can know what is going to happen tomorrow is by waiting for tomorrow to happen.