I receive lots of email regarding this blog-column. Some people agree with me; others do not. I’d expect nothing less. Most of them are nicely written, thoughtful, and sincere.

 

Like ALL folks who write for public consumption, I receive my share of kook responses. They’re from grammatical felons that demonstrate the symptoms of chronic intellectual halitosis.

 

I have a special folder (named MORONS) for such mail. It’s auto-filtered. I peruse it about once every three months before I erase its contents.

 

According to some of these folks, I am, variously, a “Muslim-loving Liberal faggot,” a “Rite-wingged nut job,” a “Godless atheist,” a “baby-killer,” a “pro-abortion queer lover,” and a “terrorist-loving trater.”

 

It’s amazing how some people see me as a “Muslim-loving Liberal faggot” and a “Rite-wingged nut job” at the same time.

 

How do people reading the same words within the same column, come to diametrically opposite conclusions regarding my political, social, and patriotic positions?

 

So, I thought it would be interesting if I took the next couple of weeks to clarify some of my positions. Perspective is important!

 

My background is science. My love affair with it blossomed at around the age of twelve. I spent my entire working life in the research fields of science and engineering. As such, I’m an avowed empiricist.

 

This means that I draw my conclusions from material evidence and objective observation. Scientific theories are cool and all, but the scientific community always elevates them from “just a theory” to “ROBUST” in direct proportion to the amount of empirical evidence that supports them.

 

Once I reach a conclusion in this manner, I’m not going to back off because it conflicts with some dogmatic scripture and “common” sense.

 

Some people are content with simply surrendering their lack of “knowing” to a force called ignorance and blame it all on a power called God; I’m NOT. And, while I plead guilty to not giving God any credit, neither do I assign any blame.

 

On the matter of patriotism, it’s important to understand how it differs from mere nationalism.

 

Patriots love their country. They’ll defend it against all enemies, sacrificing their lives if necessary. But, patriots are never proud of EVERYTHING that their political leaders do.

 

And, patriots are unsympathetically vocal about it, too. By this definition, I’m a patriot!

 

Conversely, while nationalists may love their country, too, it never seems to transcend their disdain all other countries. Nationalists say stupid things, like “My country… right or wrong.” No self-respecting patriot would EVER say this.

 

This nation’s elected leaders are but human. They’ve done their share of irresponsible (if not outright stupid) things in the past. Even as I write this, some irresponsible stuff goes on. And, undoubtedly, our future leaders will continue the tradition.

 

The question of torture is a prime example. Forget about the theories as to whether or not it works and whether or not it’s immoral. Let’s review some of the more relevant issues.

 

America not only signed the Geneva Conventions; we helped to write them. Certainty, real or not, made it easy to be “moral.” Our enemies were people, clearly identifiable.

 

Both Liberals and Conservatives have traditionally condemned torture. Then, dawned that awful morning: September 11, 2001.

 

Nothing has been the same since. Today, even though some Conservatives and Liberals still say “NO” to the use of torture, others, on both sides, have modified their positions to “Not usually, but under some circumstances… yes.”

 

But, as has been political business as usual over the past eight years, we’ve reduced the question to a typical Left/Right hissy fit.

 

In principle, I don’t think that any country should resort to torture. But they all have and still do, including this one. It’s been going on for decades. And there’s a reason for it: human nature.

 

I was too young to serve during WWII and Korea. But, I know people who did serve and they’ll tell you in a heartbeat that both sides resorted to some degree of torture.

 

I DID serve in Viet Nam and I can tell you for a fact that both sides engaged in torture. I served on two military courts martial boards relative to such charges and, in both instances, those boards reached unanimous guilty verdicts with relatively LITTLE debate.

 

We didn’t like it. The whole business sucked. “They” do unspeakable things to our captive troops. Passions run high and it’s human nature to retaliate. And, in spite of what the theorists tell us, sometimes we receive valuable intelligence as a result.

 

None of this means very much, though, unless we include context. Some dictatorial regimes torture not only outsiders, but also their own citizens as a means of keeping the helpless in line. Besides, some people “get off” on it.

 

We don’t do this. And, hopefully, we’ll rid ourselves of any political leaders that “get off” on torture. But, even for America, context is critical.

 

The attacks of 9/11 brought to the fore unprecedented feelings of naked vulnerability. For the first time in our lives, we witnessed a direct attack on our soil. We didn’t have a lot of time to analyze it, either.

 

We declared war on a tactic. Suddenly, anyone looking of Arab heritage became a potential enemy. We saw our way of life hanging in the balance. And, nothing brings out impulsive behavior like fear, real or perceived.

 

Frankly, our using torture on some extremely radical terrorists dedicated to killing as many Americans as possible and destroying our way of life has not bothered me nearly as much as the way we did it.

 

When a President of the United States tells the world, “We don’t torture,” and we find out that we DID and he knew about it, it means he lied. And, by him lying on OUR behalf, WE lied.

 

Hiring obfuscating lawyers to redefine the meaning of “is,” does not change a thing. Torture, as officially defined by the Geneva Conventions, is still torture.

 

The President of the United States would have better served this nation with a simple declaration to the world.

 

“Henceforth, the United States of America will defend herself and her allies using whatever means necessary, including the use of intense physical and mental interrogation techniques to procure intelligence data.”

 

This, given the nature and the avowed intentions of our current enemies, would have garnered far more world support than condemnation. Lies just kick the teeth right out of claims to the moral high ground.

 

Now, let’s turn our attention to those claims of impending socialism and its first cousin, socialized medicine.

 

This one’s a no brainer. No United States President could, singlehandedly, convert this country to Socialism. We citizens will do it all by ourselves. Here’s how.

 

Much of the economic lower class already sees more merit in socialism than in capitalism. And, as increasing numbers of our economic middle class start feeling “unloved,” socialism begins to look ever more attractive to them, too.

 

Recently, a Rasmussen poll undertaken for The Week magazine, found that only 53% of Americans believed that CAPITALISM is better than socialism. And, while only 20% said SOCIALISM is better, an alarming 27% were not sure.

 

At the rate we’re going economically, the 53% pro-capitalism will shrink, thus increasing the 27% of “unsure’s,” as well as expanding the 20%, “I’m sure that socialism is better” crowd.

 

It always happens this way. Yes, man does not live by bread, alone. Until, of course, there is NO bread. Here’s more bad news.

 

According to AARP, in 1993 there were 37-million Americans without health insurance. By 2008, there were 46-million.

 

In 1993 we spent $912.5-billion on health care. In 2008 our spending reached $2.5-trillion. In per capita terms, we went from $3,486 per person in 1993 to $8,160 per person in 2008.

 

Worse, this is twice as much, per capita, as the rest of the industrialized world and we still have lower life expectancies and higher mortality rates among children.

 

We don’t have nearly enough nurses; primary care physicians are dropping off like flies, and our hospital emergency rooms are beyond capacity. Bush’s response in his last year was a proposed cut of 21% in Medicare spending.

 

Something is not working. I’m no fan of McMedicine. But, like it or not, it’s coming unless we take positive steps to avoid it.

 

Remember those percentages I quoted above: 53% pro-capitalism, 20% pro-socialism, and 27% not sure. Of course, those numbers pertain to right NOW and assume that things don’t get worse.

 

Next week, I’m going to clarify some more stuff. But, hell, for now just keep on blaming everything on Obama OR Bush if it makes you feel better.

 

Joe Walther is a freelance writer and publisher of The True Facts. You may comment on his column by clicking.