If you’ve wondered why I don’t hang out with friends from my alma mater, UC Santa Cruz (or rather why they don’t hang out with me), the Iraq War and the disagreements with alumni is why. <\/p>\n
I won’t recant my opinions in the face of left wing pressure in San Francisco. But I also lament the fact that so many innocent civilians have died. I have family and friends who are Moslem, so don’t lecture me on being detached from it.<\/p>\n
You can always identify a free thinker: no friends if any because his or her version of truth is chosen over personal gain.<\/p>\n
This is the email I sent to in reply to a call to protest and oppose the war in Iraq:<\/p>\n
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 03:04:00 -0500
\nFrom: barce
\nTo: UCSC Alumni, Berkeley Bicyclists and Soon-to-be-ex-friends
\nSubject: Re: Fwd: [Berkeleymass] CALLING ALL BICYCLISTS!<\/p>\n
Why should I oppose a war that intends to free 24 million Iraqis
\nfrom tyranny? Simply because those in charge are doing the right
\nthing for the wrong reasons? <\/p>\n
Personally, I think all the protests have been useless spectacles,
\nand that the left has been more reactionary than pro-active since
\nthe Reagan Era. For the most part, I’m pretty disappointed in the
\nintolerance and unwillingness to compromise that the left breeds.
\nThere isn’t any united discourse or common metaphors that unites
\nthe left in a way that is compelling and meaningful as the right. <\/p>\n
What has been appealing to me as far as politics on the right goes
\nis this: lower taxes, moral clarity, and an acceptance of the United
\nStates as both Empire and Police Man of the World. The right’s emphasis
\non winning greatly appeals to me, and I’m pretty sick of being on a
\nlosing side. <\/p>\n
I know a lot of your feel alienated. What better way to get over
\nthat than by joining the winning side. <\/p>\n
If you don’t want to be a loser, you won’t go out and protest on
\nyour bicycles. Instead you should cut loose, go to a sports bar
\nand watch the war: More booze, more booty and more fun. <\/p>\n
Yours truly,
\nA free thinker <\/p>\n
PS I’ve read Howard Zinn, and I’ve read tons of Chomsky,
\ntoo. I’m a San Francisco native, who went to UCSC and has heard it all.
\nPlus, some of you know me as a bridge biker, so please don’t
\nthink I’m in need of your special leftist enlightenment. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you’ve wondered why I don’t hang out with friends from my alma mater, UC Santa Cruz (or rather why they don’t hang out with me), the Iraq War and the disagreements with alumni is why. I won’t recant my opinions in the face of left wing pressure in San Francisco. But I also lament … Continue reading March 2003: Iraq Invasion and Friends Lost<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bracketthis.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bracketthis.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bracketthis.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bracketthis.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bracketthis.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.bracketthis.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":231,"href":"https:\/\/www.bracketthis.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions\/231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bracketthis.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bracketthis.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bracketthis.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}