I was asked today why I haven't posted lately. While a part of it was the fact that I'm almost constantly busy, the other part was that I've had a hard time putting anything together to post that wasn't based purely on anger. In all honesty part of my anger was frustration with myself and where I was that I was redirecting at others. That's one of the reasons I held off posting because I do NOT want to use others as a scapegoat for my personal frustrations. Since I've managed to work myself past that point I'm back to posting.

What I'm going to touch on briefly tonight and will, hopefully, have time to address in more detail tomorrow is something that became apparent to me only recently. What I've noticed is the fundamental problem in modern politics and, by extension, policies. There are basically two types of people out there right now. Those who see reality for what it is and try to deal with it rationally, and those who ignore reality as it is and insist that the world is how they think it should be despite mountains of evidence to the contrary. If you're feeling defensive right now then you are probably in the latter category.

One prime example is on the matter of gun control. There's been a lot of hoopla lately over Martin's declaration that he will call for a ban of handguns in Canada. A quote from the article on the Liberal party's website states that "By banning handguns and enforcing a comprehensive policing efforts, the Liberal government will get these dangerous weapons off our streets and help to stop gun crime." For the logical readers the obvious flaws in this statement need no explanation. For those that are 'rational-thought challenged' I'll spell it out for you. Gun crime is, by definition, committed by criminals. Criminals, again by definition, are those who have ignored and broken the laws of the society within which they exist. Making yet another law for them to break will NOT decrease gun crime.....unless you count the citizens who will refuse to turn in their guns for fear of having no way to protect themselves when one of those criminals shows up on their doorstep. This is an example of someone who defies reality as it is and is insists that the world MUST be as they see it instead of as it actually is. Those in the US in favor of gun control should take note. I, for one, will refuse to abide by any legislation that takes away my ability to protect myself from someone who is threatening me or mine. Period.

Another example is the war in Iraq. Despite many positive changes in Iraq, despite the number of soldiers and Iraqis proclaiming that Iraq is better off than it was and is becoming a nation of people proudly involved in the direction their country is heading the mass media in this country insists that Iraq is a 'quagmire' and that the entire war is a farce designed to strengthen Bush's administration. Given Bush's approval ratings this is demonstrably false. If Bush wanted to simply strengthen his adminsitration he would have stopped after Afghanistan. The invasion of Iraq was political suicide. The politicians do NOT care how many people in Iraq Saddam had killed. They do NOT care about actually furthering democracy in the world. All they see is a chance to score points with the voters with carefully chosen soundbites. They refuse to accept the facts of what is truly going on and instead insist that what they believe to be happening is actually the truth no matter what evidence you use to prove them wrong.

The final example I'm going to use tonight is the group of loud-mouths on the far right crying out about a 'War on Christmas.' They say that people using 'Happy Holidays' or 'Seasons Greetings' is proof that there's a vast conspiracy against those of the Christian faith. Get it through your skulls that Christmas is NOT the only holiday to be celbrated at this time of year. The world does NOT revolve around you and your 'sacred' institutions. I could just as well proclaim that Christians are involved in a war against the Roman celebration of Saturnalia. That statement would actually be more accurate, all things considered.

Learn to face facts and deal with the world AS IT IS. You'll find that you can accomplish more of actual value that way.