When having a conversation one hopes to end pleasantly, it is often wise to avoid one of two topics; politics and religion and any tie that lies therein. Since this isn't a conversation, however, I guess I'll say whatever the hell I feel like about either one.  I still have a lot to learn about politics. There are still aspects of it , from time to time, that are unclear to me, but I'd like to think I'm always learning, I exercise objectivism, and I read/watch/listen enough to have somewhat average or above average knowledge on poltiics, on top of the classes I've taken in relation to the subject. War, however, isn't always about politics... it's also somewhat of an ethical decision and one which I rarely agree with. 

My history with politics stems back to sophomore year of high school. The 2000 presidential debates between G. Dubya and Al Gore were taking place and we regularly watched and analyzed them for my speech class.  After repetitive viewing and research for my summaries, I began to realize how global yet personal politics are, how much of it is wrapped up in charisma and empty promises, and somehow developed this naive fascination that politics were key to making the world better. Growing up where I did (southern West Virginia) probably also helped shape my views and appreciation of politics and the government. A lot of negative stereotypes are aimed in our general direction, but honestly most of the people are stubborn and proud; proud of their heritage and proud of their country. As a result, a large number of those in the military come from this state and that's always been prevalent. Personally, my grandfather is a veteran and my cousin Bruce is in Iraq right now. When we first went to Afghanistan and I kept this in mind I felt like a hypocrite when I thought that the war was wrong or voiced any opposition to it, but I've finally, years later, come to recognize that that's the whole concept of democracy, of America, that you can disagree, that you can try to be some kind of voice for change or what not. And George Bush's presidency, the War, the economy, they've helped me to shape my own political philosophy; the one I DON'T want. When I was fifteen, I wasn't sure how you could separate opposing a war to not opposing the military. Around the hype of Fahrenheit 9/11, I began to realize that it was very possible, and that's been my take on things I guess.

And the more I learned the angrier I got, the more I wanted to do something, really do something. And I've not really figured out what. Whenever I was going to school in Virginia, we wrote letters to our Senators. I know that didn't do any good, but at least Robert C. Byrd sent replies. And it's so easy to think of it as not effecting you personally, but things keep happening, I keep being reminded of examples of how this effects people aside from the news documentaries I subject myself to. Take 2 personal examples...

Example 1. As I was crossing the road to my apartment building last week I was approached by a man in his mid-30s. I should've kept walking and I should've felt threatened, as it wasn't the smartest idea for a lone 20-year-old female to talk to strange men at 1 a.m. in a part of town that isn't necessarily the best (although it's not the worst). I stopped anyway. He told me he was a Marine who had just returned from Baghdad. He was on his way to Morgantown to visit his sick mom in the hospital and his credit card had went over its limit and been turned off and he had $3.00. He looked the part but I know people who are desperate for money do desperate things. He tossed me his license and some sort of military id. It was ..legitimate. I gave him $5.00, which was all I had on me, and I couldn't really afford to even spare that honestly. We talked for a bit about how traumatized he was. He told me he didn't think he'd ever be able to talk about the things he had seen there, that there was no justification for this war. He got overwhelmed. I got overwhelmed. It really crushed me.

Example 2. Josh. Josh is ... a friend, I guess, although we still don't exactly know each other that well. He is one of my best friend Aaron's musical callaborator and an ex-Marine. He spent 13 months in Iraq and I know it's impossible to deal with. I don't really know how to describe that relationship to you. We've been to Marley's together and sometimes craziness ensues afterwards?, but he's inspiring , for his personality and what he's seen and how he doesn't talk about it. Thursday I woke up to find pink hairs and pillows that smelled like menthol cigarattes and hair mousse on my bed and I thought about how he'll always be effected by that, how it won't just...go away.

That was further stressed by seeing Jarhead Wednesday evening with Josh, Aaron, and Marky. I saw the preview to Jarhead during Serenity last month or so and it didn't really look like it had an exact plot and I wasn't really planning on seeing it. Once I began to read the reviews on IMDB though, I started thinking maybe it had substance of some sort, so I had mixed feelings going into the theatre. I was really kind of moved by the film. I could have been moreso, and it wasn't a sort of Life is Beautiful or Sometimes in April moved , but moved nonetheless. It made me angry and helpless. Why are we subjectifying people to that? Why are we letting them go through that and for what? It's fucking insane.