Heh.

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Shane Nickerson@shanenickerson
Putin's op-ed piece in the Times makes sense to me. Am I a commie?

0:12 AM - 12 Sep 13 Reply Retweet Favorite
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Wonderful to see those out there "doing journalism" keeping busy ... dialoguing directly with Vladimir Putin's NYT op-ed today.

(A 'Dear Putin' letter being the print equivalent of looking directly into the camera and spilling your innermost thoughts by personally demonstrating your heartfelt connection, no?)

You see,
while very often the polls show the majority of the country here indeed disagrees with the idea the policies coming out of Washington are always 'exceptional' -- think Obamacare, domestically, or our major misgivings about invading Iraq, which read like a child's make-your-own-adventure book -- we have an abiding faith in our basic Constitutional framework upon which the entire ship of state sails...

Or sinks, depending upon how much we deviate from that common-sense, shared balance of power ideal.

So while Putin's right: -- our policies, foreign and domestic, which are continually evolving, are in no way guaranteed to be exceptional, we are exceptionally blessed to live within a system that gives voice to those who would choose to make theirs heard.

Our First Amendment, guaranteeing both the Freedom of Speech and the freedom to practice -- or not practice -- one's religion of choice, unmolested by the State, to me is key. (Others from totalitarian countries might especially appreciate the right to bear arms...)

If you've had roots in a country where the Church and State shared power, or where civilians' weapons were banned and only in the hands of State, or where merely speaking of controversial social ideas can bring State blowback, you get an idea of some of the many things we are thankful for, when we go around the Thanksgiving table counting our blessings...

Freedom -- the freedom to be an exceptional individual; the freedom to fail; the freedom to rise again and the freedom to write a whole Second Act to one's life (or third, or fourth...)

We hold these truths to be self evident -- that within us all is the power to determine our futures via the choices we make, the timing, and naturally, luck. We can limit our freedoms in pursuit of 'security'; we can have our freedoms limited for us, like so many socially immobile class-based societies around the globe.

Most importantly, we have mechanisms built into the system to ensure our intellectual elites, our most well to do, and our most distinguished bloodlines have an equal say over the country's policies as the majority, the 99 percent. 

Just because we don't get it right the first time always, doesn't mean we can't self correct in directing our collective course...

God Bless America, again...