Bush Steers New Course In Iraq; Should Have Taken Driver's Ed
Standing in the White House rose garden, wearing a crown of thorns, President George W. Bush announced today an end to the sectarian violence in Iraq.
"There will be no more sectarian violence," the president told the press corps, assuringly. "After all," said Bush, "Iraq is a Democracy. They have a new constitution and a democratic form of government. There has to be a seperation of church and state."
Straining himself to think for a moment, the president concluded, "From this day forward, there will only be non-sectarian violence in Iraq."
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
Actually, we're not here to talk about sectarian violence, Bush banter, or the misery in Iraq. We could talk about that until we're blue in the face and those who don't get it won't get it.
What we are here to discuss is your participation in the day-to-day of community; the raising of individual and collective voices on issues from property taxes to school funding, affordable housing to the shenagigans of the special taxing districts.
You see, if we -- that's all of us, folks -- don't get up off our posteriors, question the status quo, roll up our sleeves, and begin to rant and rail in the public arena, then all we'll accomplish is to stay the course.
And you know where staying the course gets us. Nowhere. Or worse, Iraq.
Here at The Community Alliance blog, we offer you not only daily affirmations of community -- the good, the bad, and the downright ugly -- but more than this, the opportunity to think about the issues, to question the way local, state and federal government conduct our business and spends our money, and to speak out on the issues that impact upon your wallets, your childrens' education, your neighborhood, and your future.
We offer you the opportunity not merely to share our views, as brilliant and profound as they may be, but, through publication of Guest blogs and reader comments, the opportunity to posit and post your own thoughts, ideas, and ruminations.
Our objective in writing this blog, as often expressed here, is to get you -- that's all of you -- to question, to think, and, dare we ask, to suggest.
Mission accomplished?
Not nearly.
For the most part, the masses -- and we count you among them -- continue to be docile, timid observers of community, and not the outspoken, in-your-face, take-no-prisoners participants that community needs to survive and endure.
You are, to a lesser or greater extent, the potted plants, so deeply rooted in what was and what is, that you have all but lost the mobility required of you to put one front in front of the other, shaking off the dirt to advance into what could be.
Silence, dear friends, is acquiescence. It is acceptance of today's mediocrity; a nod to failed policies and protocol; a collective resignation that we can do no better, so why bother to try.
Nonsense!
Today, we empower you -- that's all of YOU -- to take a deep breath, get off your kiesters, brush the cobwebs away, and take a giant step forward for community.
Surely, you have an opinion or two on the issues we've been been so rancorous about in these many blogposts. Perhaps you even have a few issues of your own.
Don't hold back. Speak your minds here. Question, think, suggest, Guest blog. Be a part of the process that finds tomorrow's answers, and not a part of the "deer-in-the-headlights" crowd that addresses today's problems by remaining frozen in the tired, old stagnation of yesterday.
Write us at GuestBlog with your wit, witicism, and even unwitting thoughts.
Take the initiative -- or create one. It is, after all, YOUR community that's on the line!
Standing in the White House rose garden, wearing a crown of thorns, President George W. Bush announced today an end to the sectarian violence in Iraq."There will be no more sectarian violence," the president told the press corps, assuringly. "After all," said Bush, "Iraq is a Democracy. They have a new constitution and a democratic form of government. There has to be a seperation of church and state."
Straining himself to think for a moment, the president concluded, "From this day forward, there will only be non-sectarian violence in Iraq."
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
Actually, we're not here to talk about sectarian violence, Bush banter, or the misery in Iraq. We could talk about that until we're blue in the face and those who don't get it won't get it.
What we are here to discuss is your participation in the day-to-day of community; the raising of individual and collective voices on issues from property taxes to school funding, affordable housing to the shenagigans of the special taxing districts.
You see, if we -- that's all of us, folks -- don't get up off our posteriors, question the status quo, roll up our sleeves, and begin to rant and rail in the public arena, then all we'll accomplish is to stay the course.
And you know where staying the course gets us. Nowhere. Or worse, Iraq.
Here at The Community Alliance blog, we offer you not only daily affirmations of community -- the good, the bad, and the downright ugly -- but more than this, the opportunity to think about the issues, to question the way local, state and federal government conduct our business and spends our money, and to speak out on the issues that impact upon your wallets, your childrens' education, your neighborhood, and your future.
We offer you the opportunity not merely to share our views, as brilliant and profound as they may be, but, through publication of Guest blogs and reader comments, the opportunity to posit and post your own thoughts, ideas, and ruminations.
Our objective in writing this blog, as often expressed here, is to get you -- that's all of you -- to question, to think, and, dare we ask, to suggest.
Mission accomplished?
Not nearly.
For the most part, the masses -- and we count you among them -- continue to be docile, timid observers of community, and not the outspoken, in-your-face, take-no-prisoners participants that community needs to survive and endure.
You are, to a lesser or greater extent, the potted plants, so deeply rooted in what was and what is, that you have all but lost the mobility required of you to put one front in front of the other, shaking off the dirt to advance into what could be.
Silence, dear friends, is acquiescence. It is acceptance of today's mediocrity; a nod to failed policies and protocol; a collective resignation that we can do no better, so why bother to try.
Nonsense!
Today, we empower you -- that's all of YOU -- to take a deep breath, get off your kiesters, brush the cobwebs away, and take a giant step forward for community.
Surely, you have an opinion or two on the issues we've been been so rancorous about in these many blogposts. Perhaps you even have a few issues of your own.
Don't hold back. Speak your minds here. Question, think, suggest, Guest blog. Be a part of the process that finds tomorrow's answers, and not a part of the "deer-in-the-headlights" crowd that addresses today's problems by remaining frozen in the tired, old stagnation of yesterday.
Write us at GuestBlog with your wit, witicism, and even unwitting thoughts.
Take the initiative -- or create one. It is, after all, YOUR community that's on the line!
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