Pride...in the name of what?

Somebody...I'm not naming any names ***coughhillarycough* needs to suck it up and give up already!! This is driving me nuts! We are wasting valuable time watching this slug fest. You are defeated....go back home.

I just had to throw that in this morning, but what I really wanted to blog about was the tragedy in Myanmar. I have meant to blog about it for days but like a true American I have been too wrapped up in my own life to bother...did I just say that out loud? (pardon me, I have a bit of PMS...:0)

Can you imagine being a citizen of this destroyed country, surrounded by death and destruction, perhaps even dying yourself because of the water borne diseases and infections, knowing that nobody is coming to help you? And I wonder if these people know that there are so many people around the globe just waiting to step foot into their country to help? There are people that could arrive within minutes by choppers if only their government would allow it. There are thousands of aid workers in the neighboring countries just waiting for word that they can enter....but this military dictatorship turns a blind eye. They will allow foreign aid but not workers....this makes no sense to me. How do they intend to deal with all the destruction, all the illness, all the corpses? How are they going to put these relief items to use without the hands to distribute them? Who will feed the hungry mouths and soothe the wounds?

I hate to sound unpatriotic, but I usually do anyway, so here goes. Perhaps we need to look at ourselves and our government for a moment to examine why this crisis has occurred. The fault does not lie with the citizens of Myanmar, they don't have the option to vote for their leaders and the opportunity to push for change. However we as Americans do. This crisis is rooted in the long standing disdain for the American government, who tends to stomp all over the little man (countries such as Myanmar)- refusing to consider humanitarian efforts and good political relations. In my humble opinion, our government ignores these countries (until there is a major crisis) because they have no natural resources that are of value to us. They have no significant financial contribution to make. So unless they are suffering on a grand global scale, we turn our backs on them. The citizens don't trust us. Their government doesn't trust us because we have a long history of forcing our democratic ideals on such countries and using lethal force to do so. (example - Iraq) Now I know there are going to be people who want to argue that point with me, and I have so much more to say about that than that one simple statement, but this blog will get to be 20 pages long if I do. I am trying to stick to topic. The simple fact is their government hates us and their people don't trust us....not just Americans-but we are top on their list of loathing.

So are we not in some way to blame? Not that I am expecting Americans to be sitting at home wrecked with guilt, I am just saying that we are the Land of the Free right? We have the right to choose our leaders and demand that they follow through on their promises and listen to the will of the people. It's time the people made sure our government was looking out for more than just their financial interests. In my opinion it's time our government stopped restricting the resources we have, technology, education, industry and aid - limiting them to only countries we see of value to us. It's time we looked at the people of the world as a common brotherhood and raised our children to carry these values so that humans of all countries could count on each other and work together to stop starving, raping, waring, dying and injustice throughout the globe. Maybe it's an impossible dream....but it's mine. And I don't think it's impossible.

Back to the lady who will remain unnamed and the government of Myanmar....one definition of pride is the refusal to be humiliated. It's time to set aside your pride. NOW!