Anti-Bush Protestors Throw Rocks

And call him a barbarian:

“The turnout is much bigger than we’d expected. This is a polite response to Bush’s barbarity,” said Ernesto Medina, a march organizer.

Is it just me, or does that seem a tad hypocritical? A group of protestors tries to STONE the Chilean anti-riot unit, who was armed with water cannons and tear gas, and Bush is the barbarian? I mean sure, I’m a Bush supporter, anyone who has read this blog knows that. I know that, in my support of the President, I am not popular in foreign circles or in many social circles. But since when have I ever done the “in” thing? I do my own thing. It may not make sense to a lot of people, but that’s what I do.

I had a conversation about this earlier today. One of the folks in my class noticed that I still have my bush-cheney sticker in my binder and asked me why I voted for him. I asked her, “Why did you vote for Kerry?”

Her reply was, “Well, I’ve got friends over there in Iraq and I want them to come home.”

My answer to her was, “Isn’t that awfully selfish of you? I want my friends to come home too, but I’m more interested in them coming home alive than having them come home in body bags. I’m not going to vote for the guy who refused to give my friend body armor while he was fighting for our country, weather I agree with the reasons for going or not. War is expensive, it’s messy and it’s ugly. No one likes it. We’re already in the war, Kerry wasn’t going to change that. What I was left with was a decision about whether or not I wanted my friend fighting this war with hand-me-downs out of a bargain bin. I decided that I didn’t.”

America spoke pretty loudly when it re-elected George Bush by a landslide. That had the unfortunate side effect of giving the EU and other nations around the globe the finger… but.. since when have we ever done the popular thing? No, it’s not pretty. No, it’s not all neat and tidy and you can’t stick it in a box and put it away. Things like this aren’t designed for that and shouldn’t be.

Everyone makes mistakes. And as I look at Al-Qaeda I think that they’ve made theirs and now they are paying for it. As I look at Hussein and the people in Iraq even now that still support him, I feel that they are reaping what they have sown. And as I pay close attention to Iran and Syria, I can’t help but think that these nations too will one day pay for the mistakes they have made.

What sets people apart from one another, is not the act of making mistakes. It is how they choose to rise above those mistakes. Do you move on, blundering through life as you always have, or do you endeavor to change it? These are the choices that define individual character.

So, to the Chilean protestors I say.. throw your rocks. Speak as loudly as you like and say what you want. We’ve already made up our minds and America will accept the consequences for that, just like everyone else who has ever made a decision about anything. I will also remind you that the decision was never yours to make. Anything you say or do about it now will not change that fact.