[Ragtime Cowgirl]

I rather like the directness of this letter (are you CLOSE friends?):

Easy to Protest (Great letter to the Editor)
The Witchita Eagle  | March 9, 2003 | Danielle Stuewe

It is easy to say "Peace at any price" when you are not paying the price.

It is easy to criticize the president when you know he is not going to send soldiers to kick in your door and gang-rape every female inside, no matter how young; when you know you are not going to have to watch your children being tortured in ways that cannot be described in this newspaper.

It is easy to call the president evil when you know he is not going to have your tongue ripped out and have you stripped, manacled and fed alive to specially trained dogs.

Terrorists trained in the heart of Baghdad go to the Philippines, Israel and Europe to blow up civilians, but you live in New York, California and the Midwest.

The United Nations' Oil for Food Program would be better named the Oil for Palaces Program, because while the women and children starve, Saddam Hussein builds huge palaces. But you live in a free society with a McDonald's on every corner and an attorney right next door. You will have your day in court.

Say what you want, but unless you are willing to pay the price, I won't listen.

DANIELLE STUEWE
Wichita

[aloysius89]

(rant warning)
I need to say something. There is something that needs to be made completely clear.
The most important thing is TRUTH. We (I hope and pray) seek the truth. We seek the truth about the nature of man and the truth about the right ordering of man’s life. We seek the truth about the nature of the universe and our place in it. It is the truth that sets you free.
We value free speech because the free exchange of ideas is an invaluable tool in the pursuit of truth. The presentation of argument and counter-argument is a method for clearing away the fog of imperfect human vision and getting at the truth.
We value freedom of association because it is by our teaching one another and being taught that we correct and refine our vision of the truth. It is by free association that we counteract our individual errors.
We maintain that all men are created equal because the truth is not partial to race or sex or geographical accident.
We value individual freedom because in each of us pursuing our own ways we can poke and prod at reality, weedling the truth out of the vastness of the universe.
We know we are human and prone to error. We know we are human and hence not perfect. We may differ in our understanding of the truth, but as long as we all agree to present our differences in a calm and rational fashion we may go forward together in this journey of discovery. Freedom is the tool that allows us to proceed. Freedom is not primary, it is the means to an end and that end is the discovery of the truth.
There are those who believe there is no Truth with a capital “T”. There are those who believe that Power is primary and that what is purveyed as “truth” is only in service of and is only a function of, the exercise of POWER. They will not be able to understand at all our assertion that we are only saying and doing what we do because we believe it is right and true and just. They will accuse us of self-serving arguments and self-serving actions. They may, because of their allegiance to the exercise of power, see all statements and acts as guided only by selfishness and self-interest. That is the critical difference.
The Truth has nothing to fear from Freedom. Power has everything to fear from Truth unless it is the right-ordered exercise of power in the service of the Good, the Right, the Just, the Beautiful, the TRUTH.
I believe our efforts to free the people of Iraq do serve the truth that we love; the truth that men are best off agreeing among themselves on how they should live (by free association, by democracy and the rule of law.) I believe we can safely disagree about methods and details as long as we, and they, endeavor to serve the truth. I believe we can all co-exist in freedom and peace even though we believe in different religions as long as we both cling to the belief in the existence of truth. I believe that truth is not cultural, that loving your children and wanting to see them grow up healthy and strong and happy is not limited by language or skin color or local geography.
I implore the people of this new nation of Iraq and the people of this old nation of the United States to cling desperately and hopefully to the pursuit of truth. I pray that we all can make some little progress toward a world where we may truly live together in peace and prosperity. If you disagree with me in some particular or think I have misspoke or even lied, then, by all means, (and I do mean by ALL means) seek to discover where I have erred. If you believe that there is wrong being done or lies being spoken, ferret out the mistakes and trumpet them to the world. It is only Freedom that will allow you to do this and it is only a common commitment to the Truth that will allow your nation and our nation and all the nations of this world to move forward toward a planet where all our babies will be safe to grow up and laugh and play and learn and love in Peace.

(end of rant)
I apologize if I have wasted your time or bandwidth.
Have a nice day.