Rick Perry's "Strong" Ad

Vice President Mikhailovsky Wànsuì!

Before beginning I should note that I really am started to fall in love with this Rick Perry. I was originally a Bachmann supporter, but really Perry is winning me over. The man just fills me with an utter sense of joy. If he manages to actually win the primary he will have my vote.

Okay, let us (since you are an active participant in this construction) analyze Rick Perry’s campaign ad “Strong.” I place “Strong” in quotes not because it is a title, but to represent a halo. Now then, this analysis will be a point-by-point attack dissection of the ad in question. 

I attempted to embed the ad so that you would be able to view the ad itself and so that I would not have to summarize it. Unfortunately, I could not figure out how to do so on Blogger (Go being tech illiterate؟!). Instead, I will simply link you to the video. This means that I am still not going to summarize it. Win-Win to my mind. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PAJNntoRgA 

Why should anyone be ashamed to admit they were of any religion? Why Christianity specifically?

Gays were only allowed to openly serve in the military for less than a year at the time of this commercial.[1] It hardly shows some long running current in American policy as suggested by the commercial.

What does the proposition “Gays serve openly in the military” and the proposition “Children cannot pray in school or celebrate Christmas in school” have to do with one another? One describes a countries policy towards sexual orientation and military service, the other describes a countries policy to religion and education. They seem completely unrelated. I could just as easily say “There is something wrong with this country when heterosexuals are allowed to openly serve in the military, yet Santeria practitioners are not allowed to kill chickens at school.” There is no connection between the two ideas. One may be true, the other may be true, but there is no reason for them to be connected.

Children are allowed to pray in school.[2] Teachers cannot lead children in prayer, but as long as a student is not being disruptive students can pray as much or as little as they want (side note: Only for public schools, I have no idea how private schools deal with this). Also, Christmas is a federal holiday.[3] A day celebrating the birth of Christ is one of the few federal holidays. So, I am kind of curious how Christian children are unable to openly celebrate this holiday in school. Is he saying that now-a-days schools try to be more inclusive of other holidays which fall on or near the Winter solstice, or that schools try to emphasize the secular aspects of these holidays? The horrors of respecting the beliefs (or lack thereof) of others؟

 How does not allowing prayer in school or allowing the celebration of Christmas (both false claims) equal Obama’s war against religion? Did Obama start this process of secularization? No as far as I know he did not. In fact, to my knowledge Obama has yet to do anything that some religion or another would not support. In fact, this brings up an interesting point. How is a war against Christianity a “war against religion?” Throughout the entire video he emphasizes the horrors inflicted upon a group of people who make up over 70% of the population and over 80% of the Congress (Christians), yet not once does he mention those of other religions.[4][5] Why does he not complain about the status of Muslims being unable to have a federal holiday based off their religion? 

This brings us to the finally and most important point ؟  WHY IS THE MUSIC IN THE BACKGROUND SO HORRIBLE. I cannot think of more stereotypical “I am a lying politician but am trying to appear concerned” music. 

Again, all of this simply makes me support the man more. It takes real talent to be this incompetent (trust me, I know).

-A.D.

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[1] http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/its-official-dont-ask-dont-tell-is-history/2011/03/03/gIQAq93yfK_blog.html

[2] http://www.adl.org/religion_ps_2004/prayer.asp

[3] http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/5/6103.html#FN-1REF

[4] http://b27.cc.trincoll.edu/weblogs/AmericanReligionSurvey-ARIS/reports/ARIS_Report_2008.pdf

[5] http://pewforum.org/Government/Faith-on-the-Hill--The-Religious-Composition-of-the-112th-Congress.aspx

The War on Islam

December 7th, 1941; blue skies blanket the alluring island of Hawaii as morning rises. It seems as if this small collection of land is the final lasting haven for peace in the World during these unsettling times. This peace, like all good things, was destined for a rather atrocious termination. Without proper warning, 353 aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy flew over and opened fire on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The results of this hideous attack? 2,402 men were killed, and another 1,282 wounded. The United States took immediate aggressive action against the Japanese, including the innocent ones in America. Oppression and injustice prevailed in "The Land of the Free."






The same blue skies of sixty years past now carpet New York on the morning of September 11th, 2001. The World Trade Center, the two tallest buildings in the World, pierce through the horizon as they did for the past thirty years. And, although these steel giants have been attacked unsuccessfully in the past, nobody expected what would happen at about 8:45 am. A pair of Boeing 767s flew directly into both Trade Centers 1 and 2, the two attacks being about 20 minutes apart. The results of this appalling act? 2606 deaths, a number slightly more than that of the Attack on Pearl Harbor. President George W. Bush, 8 months into his first term, declared "The War on Terror." If you ask me, the "War on Terror" quickly turned into "The War on Islam."


Do you see any similarities between these two events? Of course you do. Both are horrible acts of hate where thousands lost their lives, and later for which the innocents of the same culture had to pay. The only difference between the two is that the oppression of the American Japanese is long gone, whereas American Muslims are still misunderstood and hated. They say history always repeats itself, but nobody told me it would happen almost purposely.


What do I mean by purposely, you ask?

• September 11th, 2010; In protest of what it calls a religion "of the devil," a nondenominational church in Gainesville, Florida, plans to host an "International Burn a Quran Day" on the ninth anniversary of the September 11th, 2001 attacks [1].
• August 28th, 2010; A mosque in Nashville is set ablaze [2].
• August 24th, 2010; Ahmed Sharif, a Muslim cab driver, is stabbed [3].
• August 24th, 2010; A California mosque is vandalized with graffiti making reference to Ground Zero [4].

These and several other acts around America are exactly what I mean by purposely. It comes as no surprise that foreigners consider Americans stupid. How did we not learn from our previous mistakes? This is where my question is posed. Are Americans antagonistic towards Muslims because of 9/11, or are we hated because of our beliefs and cultures? Or, perhaps, Americans feel like they need a common enemy in order to be true Americans. Remember, it is better to light a candle than to curse the dark!


This post will be continued and reflected upon in future posts. Feel free to email me your opinions and perspectives, nzrmhmmd72@aol.com.


1: Adapted from CNN
2: Adapted from CBS News
3: Adapted from NY Daily News
4: Adapted from Newsweek