Search ENP

Powered by Blogger.

Weather

Social Connect


Get it on Google Play

Upcoming Events

February, 2016:

Friday, February 20

ART247 Black and White Exhibition


March, 2016:



Advertise Your Event on ENP!
More info here

Wednesday, November 18, 2015


I have started to move away from Facebook because it is hard for me to comprehend the unbelievable level of stupid that permeates Facebook. Here are just a few examples.

“Well at least Russia and France are bombing ISIS. Someone has to because we sure aren’t.”

My Reply: The United States has been bombing ISIS for well over a year. We are probably the people who gave France the targets to bomb.

“I’m voting for Donald Trump because he says what I am thinking.”

My Reply: How do you know that what you are thinking is what is best for the country? Donald Trump is a salesman. He is telling you what you want to hear in a language that appeals to the lowest common denominator. Stop falling for it. When I see any intellectual come out in support of Trump, I will reconsider my stance.

And then Paris blew up and the United States divided itself even further. President Obama was seen at the most recent G20 summit talking to Vlad Putin about the good job Vlad has been doing bombing ISIS. I highlighted the response from the average American to Obama’s praise of Putin at the start of this discussion, and it is embarrassing to see that this is the way American’s think.

Then the president started to talk about how much of a mistake it would be to put boots on the ground in Syria and Americans, on cue, lost their minds. Hasn’t anyone in the United States been paying attention to the Middle East for the past 14 years? The more we do in the Middle East with our military, the more extremists we create. Did toppling Saddam stop terrorism? No, it didn’t. Did taking out Al-Queda stop terrorism? No, it didn’t and Al-Queda is working on their comeback album that promises to have some big hits on it. So what would we accomplish by putting boots on the ground in Syria by ourselves?

I agree with the president that the United States alone putting boots on the ground in Syria is a mistake, but I disagree with him when it comes to a coalition of countries that could go in and put a stop to this stupidity. If the rest of the Western World has not figured it out by now, then they need to flick on their televisions and see that we are all in this together. Russia and China have been dragged into this as well, and that means that we are all in the same boat. If we all banded together, we could create a single international force that could probably take out ISIS and Al-Queda in the Middle East relatively easily. But human nature will not allow that to happen, and that is probably why the president does not want to go into Syria with troops.

Then the story about one of the Paris attackers being a Syrian refugee came out and, on cue, Americans lost their minds. The states of Texas and Alabama are refusing Syrian refugees, but they are doing it for the wrong reasons. I understand the need for people to find refuge from a dangerous situation, and I completely understand the beacon America shines that attracts people looking to get away from injustice. But my reason for opposing taking in any refugee group has nothing to do with terrorism and more to do with doing the right thing.

The monetary resources of the United States are limited, believe it or not, and getting stretched very thin. Throughout our country’s history, we have asked our young people to go off and fight in wars they did not start, and probably did not believe in. But what do we do for those veterans when they come home and have to live with what they saw, what they did, and what happened to them? We do almost nothing.

Until military veterans get the medical care they deserve through the disbanding of the inefficient Veteran’s Administration system and the opening up of unlimited healthcare in the nation’s best hospitals to our veterans, I refuse to support comforting any refugee group. Until the government of the United States applies its dwindling financial resources to housing and feeding our military veterans, then I do not support comforting refugees. As long as there is one homeless and starving military veteran living on the streets of a United States city, I do not support spending one thin dime on comforting people from other countries.

This country’s priorities are all wrong. We give billions to other countries while our own states are going bankrupt. We comfort tens of thousands of refugees from around the world while the people who put their lives on the line for our freedom suffer in our own streets.

What is wrong with this country? Why do we HAVE to be the solution to every single problem in the world? Will it take hundreds of Russians, Brits, Chinese, and Germans dying in terrorist attacks before these other countries start to take this seriously?

This world is messed up – badly. But I cannot support a policy that feeds and comforts foreign refugees at the expense of the people who fought for my right to write opinions such as this. I cannot do it, and I won’t do it.

If we cannot take care of our own, then how are we supposed to take care of the rest of the world?

+George N Root III is a Lockport resident who understands the plight of refugees, but cannot condone comforting refugees while veterans suffer. Follow him on Twitter @georgenroot3 or send him a message at georgenroot3@gmail.com.



East Niagara Post is the official media sponsor of Hockey Day in Lockport.

1 comment:

  1. So by your reasoning concerning voting who says your ideals and your choice are whats best for the country either. Just saying

    ReplyDelete

Comments are always appreciated. Your comment will be reviewed for approval before being made public.