Iraq...Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan

That 70’s Show has been offering a realistic depiction of life in America in the l970’s. The question is, “Is this still a valid model of life for the mainstream?” Since it is well known the mainstream in America has become obscured, would it be problematic to view American life in a decade almost thirty years ago as valid and relevant to our own? Could it be that in certain ways that way of life could be more quintessential to American culture? The disappearance of the mainstream is important to the future of America. When asked the question, “What are the ties that bind a country together,” what will the answers be? If America has always been a “melting pot” of different immigrating nationalities, how did the country arrive at a mainstream to begin with? Could it be that television helped mold that image? Someone decided. Was it small businesses? Was it domestic life? Was it churches? Was it the public schools? Was it the government, or was it media? Could it be that media in the Golden Era of Film and Television was art, and its portrayals of American life were projections of the dreams of foreign immigrants? The good business model has always been, “Plan your work and work your plan.” America could be viewed as a product as such, because representing the vast array of virgin territory some model had to be used. As in the case of the movie “Dances with Wolves” or “Lord of the Flies,” would man sink to the lowest common denominator of civility if faced with a vacuum of cultural humanity? Do we as human beings have it within us to rise above the primitive existence of cave men and create culture? The obvious answer is yes, because the history of the world is dotted with cultures that serve as evidence. The ancient Greeks, the Mayan Indians, and the Egyptians all left artifacts that documented stellar intellectual achievement. This proves that the human mind is capable, as in Eastern religions, to continue to learn and grow despite primitive living conditions. That proves that the human being is the liaison of evolution. It is up to us to carry the torch of existence. What seems to be curtailing this evolution? The obvious answer again is war. When the human race is overwhelmed with the need for violence for self defense, it becomes an all encompassing existence. It becomes hard to justify greater artistic and intellectual achievement when we are operating at the base level of civilization. Although it may seem an unworthy analogy, skating died quite a few deaths in the history of America. If one looks at the chronology of political events in America, they seem to coincide with the “crash” of pop culture activities. It is hard to justify recreation and pleasure at a time when so many in the world are living in squalor, fear, violence, and political unrest. The arts by definition must have a stable infrastructure upon which to grow and thrive. Without that they can exist, but there is no vehicle to present them to the mainstream. Society becomes so disparate with basic human survival they are unable to absorb a common feeling representing the good of humanity. Media in this way can be advantageous to society if the responsibility is taken. That responsibility is to take a heightened social standing concerning life in America. That means leadership. While everyone may not view “Leave it to Beaver,” “The Andy Griffith Show,” and “I Love Lucy” as models of American life, at the time they were produced they were representative of a mainstream way of life. The country of America had not become so polarized so not to be able to depict some kind of domestic life. It could be said these shows and their depictions of American life lead the country. There was a time in television history when writing for TV was an art form. Artists used its medium as the most sophisticated and expedient way to reach mainstream America. Viewed in such perspective television became the media representing the pulse of the nation. At that time the social conscience of the nation never was compromised. Media was highly regulated and its content was edited for the good of the nation. How was that done? The standards of historical civilization simply were applied to the programming. Did these shows represent solid American values? At that time the ideals of the nations had not become both abandoned and extreme. The words in the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution said it all. There was not a question about the roots of America. There was no debate. Everyone living in America believed in and attempted to abide by the laws of our land as delegated by these documents. It is unfortunate over time a conscious attempt has been made to undermine these principals of life and government. Lawmakers have continued to humiliate the Constitution instead legislating power for themselves over policy for the good of the people. This is corruption, and no nation is immune to it. We, like every other older nation, must deal with corruption. To keep the ideals of America in place justice by the people needs to be carried out swiftly and keenly. The problems must be located and the personnel eliminated from the formula of government. In the last week the ensuing presidential political campaign made fair strides in doing this. For the first time in six years a conscious effort was made actually to understand what is happening in Iraq without spin. General David Patraeus, commander of the Multi-National Force Iraq, gave testimony for both the House of Representatives and Congress. Here he was questioned without the intervention of the White House. With the presidential election looming in November of 2008, presidential hopefuls finally are becoming aware this is the “basket of eggs” they will inherit upon being elected president. It stands to reason trying to effect change now will make for a smoother and easier transition of power into the White House. It was good to see actual intellectual commentary on the state of affairs in Iraq. An understanding of the challenges related to sects, government, security, and infrastructure is becoming more streamlined. This is the only way an exit strategy can be formed. What is interesting is the question of fundamental premise of the War in Iraq. Why would the Bush White House think so highly of the Iraqi people? Could it be President Bush feels guilt for his blundering of a nation? Does he look at his post-Rumsfeld mine field and feel remorse for having destroyed a foreign country? If this were the case it seems fitting ex-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld should be offered to the Iraqi people as the sacrificial lamb. It was his departure from traditional military strategy that childishly and selfishly pinpointed the Iraqi infrastructure and systematically destroyed it as a way of circumventing immediate loss of American life. Was he wise enough to know that an insurgency would develop and the lives of almost four thousand soldiers would be on the hands of someone else? Is this why he resigned? He, like Mike Nifong in an a politically motivated campaign tainted with delusions of grandeur, sat in a room in the dark and masterminded a plan to sneak into Iraq and cut their umbilicus. He had no plans to see the enemy eye to eye. He had to plans to be involved with the revolution that resulted. Selfishly and without regard for human decency and evolution this man created chaos for millions. It would be nice to think it was for this reason President Bush seeks to support the Iraqi people. This man was one of his deputies, and it is his responsibility. It is also true George Bush comes from an oil family. The next question presidential candidates must ask is, “How many American civilian contractors are there in Iraq, and who are they? What are their jobs, and what are they attempting to accomplish?” Again it would be nice to think similarly to post World War ll, America prospered by rebuilding the very nations we destroyed. Tooling which was used for warfare easily was modified and American contractors help rebuild Europe. Is this what is happening in Iraq? No one seems to be asking that question. Is spin at play again? Is there and has there been a covert mission in Iraq? Until these question are answered America will never be the same. Our culture will continue to dissolve and corruption in government will fester. It would be nice if an internal system of checks and balances would right this wrong, but revolutions do seem to purge huge pockets of political puss.