Are your blinds open or closed?

[Kablewizard]

This was sent to me.


The other day, my nine year old son wanted to know why we were at war...
My husband looked at our son and then looked at me. My husband and I
were in the Army during the Gulf War and we would be honored to serve
>>>>and defend our country again today. I knew that my husband would give
>>>>him a good explanation. My husband thought for a few minutes and then
>>>>told my son to go stand in our front living room window.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>He said, "Son, stand there and tell me what you see?"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"I see trees and cars and our neighbors' houses," he replied.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"OK, now I want you to pretend that our house and our yard is the United
>>>>States of America and you are President Bush."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Our son giggled and said, "OK."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"Now, son, I want you to look out the window and pretend that every
>>>>house and yard on this block is a different country," my husband said.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"OK Dad, I'm pretending."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"Now I want you to stand there and look out the window and pretend you
>>>>see Saddam come out of his house with his wife, he has her by the hair
>>>>and is hitting her. You see her bleeding and crying. He hits her in
>>>>the face, he throws her on the ground, then he starts to kick her to
>>>>death. Their children run out and are afraid to stop him, they are
>>>>screaming and crying, they are watching this but do nothing because they
>>>>are kids and they are afraid of their father. You see all of this,
>>>>son.... what do you do?"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"Dad?"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"What do you do, son?"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"I'd call the police, Dad."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"OK. Pretend that the police are the United Nations. They take your
>>>>call. They listen to what you know and saw but they refuse to help.
>>>>What do you do then, son?"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"Dad....... but the police are supposed to help!" My son starts to
>>>>whine.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"They don't want to, son, because they say that it is not their place or
>>>>your place to get involved and that you should stay out of it," my
>>>>husband says.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"But, Dad... he killed her!!" My son exclaims.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"I know he did... but the police tell you to stay out of it. Now I want
>>>>you to look out that window and pretend you see our neighbor who you're
>>>>pretending is Saddam turn around and do the same thing to his children."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"Daddy... he kills them?"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"Yes, son, he does. What do you do?"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"Well, if the police don't want to help, I will go and ask my next door
>>>>neighbor to help me stop him," our son says.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"Son, our next door neighbor sees what is happening and refuses to get
>>>>involved as well. He refuses to open the door and help you stop him,"
>>>>my husband says.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"But Dad, I NEED help!!! I can't stop him by myself!!"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"WHAT DO YOU DO, SON?" Our sons starts to cry.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"OK, no one wants to help you, the man across the street saw you ask for
>>>>help and saw that no one would help you stop him. He stands taller and
>>>>puffs out his chest. Guess what he does next, son?"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"What, Daddy?"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"He walks across the street to the old lady's house and breaks down her
>>>>door and drags her out, steals all her stuff and sets her house on fire
>>>>and then... he kills her. He turns around and sees you standing in the
>>>>window and laughs at you. WHAT DO YOU DO?"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"Daddy...."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"WHAT DO YOU DO?" Our son is crying and he looks down and he whispers,
>>>>"I'd close the blinds, Daddy."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>My husband looks at our son with tears in his eyes and asks him. "Why?"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"Because, Daddy... the police are supposed to help people who need
>>>>them... and they won't help... You always said neighbors are supposed to
>>>>HELP neighbors, but they won't help either.. they won't help me stop
>>>>him... I'm afraid.... I can't do it by myself, Daddy ...... I can't look
>>>>out my window and just watch him do all these terrible things and ...
>>>>and ... do nothing ... so ..... I'm just going to close the blinds ...
>>>>so I can't see what he's doing . And I'm going to pretend that it is
>>>>not happening."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>I start to cry. My husband looks at our nine year old son standing in
>>>>the window, looking pitiful and ashamed at his answers to my husband's
>>>>questions. He says....
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"Son....."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"Yes, Daddy?"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"Open the blinds, because that man...... he's at your front door...
>>>>"WHAT DO YOU DO?"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>My son looks at his father, anger and defiance in his eyes. He balls up
>>>>his tiny fists and looks his father square in the eyes, and without
>>>>hesitation he says, "I DEFEND MY FAMILY DAD!!! I'M NOT GONNA LET HIM
>>>>HURT MOMMY OR MY SISTER, DAD!!! I'M GONNA FIGHT HIM, DAD, I'M GONNA
>>>>FIGHT HIM!!!!!"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>I see a tear roll down my husband's cheek and he grabs our son to his
>>>>chest and hugs him tight, and says.... "It's too late to fight him, he's
>>>>too strong, and he's already at YOUR front door, son... you should have
>>>>stopped him BEFORE he killed his wife, and his children, and the old
>>>>lady across the way. You have to do what's right, even if you have to
>>>>do it alone, before it's too late," my husband whispers. "THAT scenario
>>>>I just gave you is WHY we are at war with Iraq. When good men stand by
>>>>and let evil happen, son, THAT is the greatest mistake, believing that
>>>>the atrocities in the world won't affect them. "YOU MUST NEVER BE
>>>>AFRAID TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT! EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO DO IT ALONE! BE PROUD
>>>>TO BE AN AMERICAN! BE PROUD OF OUR TROOPS!! SUPPORT THEM!!! SUPPORT
>>>>AMERICA SO THAT IN THE FUTURE OUR CHILDREN WILL NEVER HAVE TO CLOSE
>>>>THEIR BLINDS..."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>This should be printed in every newspaper and posted in every school in
>>>>America. Of course, that won't happen, so we'll use the Internet. If
>>>>your blinds are closed, do nothing with this email. If they are open I
>>>>do not need to tell you what to do.

[Kablewizard]

This was sent to me.


The other day, my nine year old son wanted to know why we were at war...
My husband looked at our son and then looked at me. My husband and I
were in the Army during the Gulf War and we would be honored to serve
>>>>and defend our country again today. I knew that my husband would give
>>>>him a good explanation. My husband thought for a few minutes and then
>>>>told my son to go stand in our front living room window.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>He said, "Son, stand there and tell me what you see?"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"I see trees and cars and our neighbors' houses," he replied.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"OK, now I want you to pretend that our house and our yard is the United
>>>>States of America and you are President Bush."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Our son giggled and said, "OK."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"Now, son, I want you to look out the window and pretend that every
>>>>house and yard on this block is a different country," my husband said.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"OK Dad, I'm pretending."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"Now I want you to stand there and look out the window and pretend you
>>>>see Saddam come out of his house with his wife, he has her by the hair
>>>>and is hitting her. You see her bleeding and crying. He hits her in
>>>>the face, he throws her on the ground, then he starts to kick her to
>>>>death. Their children run out and are afraid to stop him, they are
>>>>screaming and crying, they are watching this but do nothing because they
>>>>are kids and they are afraid of their father. You see all of this,
>>>>son.... what do you do?"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"Dad?"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"What do you do, son?"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"I'd call the police, Dad."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"OK. Pretend that the police are the United Nations. They take your
>>>>call. They listen to what you know and saw but they refuse to help.
>>>>What do you do then, son?"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"Dad....... but the police are supposed to help!" My son starts to
>>>>whine.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"They don't want to, son, because they say that it is not their place or
>>>>your place to get involved and that you should stay out of it," my
>>>>husband says.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"But, Dad... he killed her!!" My son exclaims.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"I know he did... but the police tell you to stay out of it. Now I want
>>>>you to look out that window and pretend you see our neighbor who you're
>>>>pretending is Saddam turn around and do the same thing to his children."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"Daddy... he kills them?"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"Yes, son, he does. What do you do?"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"Well, if the police don't want to help, I will go and ask my next door
>>>>neighbor to help me stop him," our son says.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"Son, our next door neighbor sees what is happening and refuses to get
>>>>involved as well. He refuses to open the door and help you stop him,"
>>>>my husband says.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"But Dad, I NEED help!!! I can't stop him by myself!!"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"WHAT DO YOU DO, SON?" Our sons starts to cry.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"OK, no one wants to help you, the man across the street saw you ask for
>>>>help and saw that no one would help you stop him. He stands taller and
>>>>puffs out his chest. Guess what he does next, son?"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"What, Daddy?"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"He walks across the street to the old lady's house and breaks down her
>>>>door and drags her out, steals all her stuff and sets her house on fire
>>>>and then... he kills her. He turns around and sees you standing in the
>>>>window and laughs at you. WHAT DO YOU DO?"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"Daddy...."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"WHAT DO YOU DO?" Our son is crying and he looks down and he whispers,
>>>>"I'd close the blinds, Daddy."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>My husband looks at our son with tears in his eyes and asks him. "Why?"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"Because, Daddy... the police are supposed to help people who need
>>>>them... and they won't help... You always said neighbors are supposed to
>>>>HELP neighbors, but they won't help either.. they won't help me stop
>>>>him... I'm afraid.... I can't do it by myself, Daddy ...... I can't look
>>>>out my window and just watch him do all these terrible things and ...
>>>>and ... do nothing ... so ..... I'm just going to close the blinds ...
>>>>so I can't see what he's doing . And I'm going to pretend that it is
>>>>not happening."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>I start to cry. My husband looks at our nine year old son standing in
>>>>the window, looking pitiful and ashamed at his answers to my husband's
>>>>questions. He says....
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"Son....."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"Yes, Daddy?"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"Open the blinds, because that man...... he's at your front door...
>>>>"WHAT DO YOU DO?"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>My son looks at his father, anger and defiance in his eyes. He balls up
>>>>his tiny fists and looks his father square in the eyes, and without
>>>>hesitation he says, "I DEFEND MY FAMILY DAD!!! I'M NOT GONNA LET HIM
>>>>HURT MOMMY OR MY SISTER, DAD!!! I'M GONNA FIGHT HIM, DAD, I'M GONNA
>>>>FIGHT HIM!!!!!"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>I see a tear roll down my husband's cheek and he grabs our son to his
>>>>chest and hugs him tight, and says.... "It's too late to fight him, he's
>>>>too strong, and he's already at YOUR front door, son... you should have
>>>>stopped him BEFORE he killed his wife, and his children, and the old
>>>>lady across the way. You have to do what's right, even if you have to
>>>>do it alone, before it's too late," my husband whispers. "THAT scenario
>>>>I just gave you is WHY we are at war with Iraq. When good men stand by
>>>>and let evil happen, son, THAT is the greatest mistake, believing that
>>>>the atrocities in the world won't affect them. "YOU MUST NEVER BE
>>>>AFRAID TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT! EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO DO IT ALONE! BE PROUD
>>>>TO BE AN AMERICAN! BE PROUD OF OUR TROOPS!! SUPPORT THEM!!! SUPPORT
>>>>AMERICA SO THAT IN THE FUTURE OUR CHILDREN WILL NEVER HAVE TO CLOSE
>>>>THEIR BLINDS..."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>This should be printed in every newspaper and posted in every school in
>>>>America. Of course, that won't happen, so we'll use the Internet. If
>>>>your blinds are closed, do nothing with this email. If they are open I
>>>>do not need to tell you what to do.

[SeeTheUSA]

Open . . . always have been, always will be!

[Sweet40FD]

Mine are always open also and will remain that way.

["007"]

No blinds or shades always open to stop the evil in this world.

[WOW.... look at that view!!!]

I have 2 sig lines that I use.
"Evil succeeds when good men do nothing."
"Mayve the reason History repeats itself so often, is that no one listened the 1st time."

I'd say that both are appropriate, and give my answer.

I've been criminally prosecuted because I made a complaint against a police officer for beating a black man in our communitty. (Yes, that still happens!)
I'm just now beating the city back on my criminal charges for using mulch in my yard. I made a lot of people angry by buying my family home from my father's trust. They wanted it to go on the market so they could have a chance at it. Now, they're trying to harrass me into selling. NO WAY! Evil succeeds when good men do nothing!

[jspande]

I regret to say that I find the initial post in this thread to be 100% emotion and 0% rationality.

In fact it, and the Bush administration, appear to have their window shades down, at least on those windows where the negative consequences of the intervention are visible.

Many thoughtfull persons tried to be helpful, and cautioned those ****-bent on military intervention of possible problems that might ensue, but they were vilified. At the very least shouldn't they have been listened to for the purpose of developing contingency plans, just in case? Now the people living in "Sadam's house" are killing each other, the level of violence and suffering is massively increased over what it was before. Haven't you noticed? Or have you pulled down your shades to avoid seeing the carnage?

Please don't misunderstand - I actually suspect we would have eventually needed to intervene, given Sadam's nature. But we went in too soon with inadequate planning and preparation.

[Blaster]

I think some people would rather wait till evil is knocking on their door,and cuss Bush while he is at least trying to do something about it! I hope if the time comes, My blind's will be wide open and I will find the nerve our President has, GOD BLESS HIM. Also not sorry if I affend someone!

[ruby2sday]

Jspande, I agree with you.

We didn't go in and help when we should have. We sent no where enough unprepared children in without the proper equipment. Then let them be picked off one by one instead of putting a full force in and getting the job done.

I agree Sadam needed to be stopped, but the whole war has been terribly mishandled.

I think the story is nothing but flag waving rhetoric.

[Richard n Shirley]

Was it not a man by the name of Chamberlin that turned his head, closed his blinds, and said I will do nothing? Call it what you will but you speak English dont you?

I proudly served when it was not so proud to serve. Viet Nam vet and I like to speak English!!!

R

[j2detoit]

I feel that the President had an idea even before the election was over that he was sending troops to Irac to finish the undone for his father The troops during Desert Storm were not alowed to finish the job the last time I see many similarites to the end of Vietnam The troops did their job and took care of buisness ,but were never allowed to finish the job Our troops all arount the world deserve all of the support and respect that EVERYONE can show and feel.They are doing a hard tough dangerouse job and they do it with pride and patriotism Thanks to all of them.and pray for their safe return

[ruby2sday]

You are right, and they aren't being allowed to finish it now either, because they aren't given the tools to do so.

I admire and support our troops, I feel our administration is letting them down.

[Vegascpl]

What an incredible Fairy Tail! Don't you think its better that we tell our children the truth?

The United Nations did their job and they found no weapons of mass destruction. Bush choose to ignore our own intelligence and lie to the American people. The Iraq war was not about a threat to Americans or about terrorism. It wasn't about the thousands of Sadam's own people that he killed, 15 years ago. We are in this war because Sadam threatened Daddy Bush, and because we thought we get all the oil!

When you tell your children about how bad Sadam is don't you think they might just ask about all the women and children that we hear about every day being killed by our American troops? What do you say when they ask about the torture that our troops are inflicting on Iraq prisoners? Is it somehow better when we torture?

If we are so concerned about killing and abuse of others why aren't we in Darfur where hundreds of thousands are being tortured and killed? Is it because they are black or is it because they have no oil.

Every time I hear the Republican catch phrase "it's better to fight them there than here"� I want to throw up. It is true that there were no terrorists that were a threat to us in Iraq before the war and there are thousands of terrorists in Iraq now. We gave them a reason to hate us when we invaded and destroyed their country. Does that mean we should attack other completely innocent countries so that even more people will hate us?

Anyone with any brains should have understood that civil war would break out as soon as Sadam was removed from power. This is what you do when you plan an invasion. You have to know what will happen when you disrupt the power structure of a country and be prepared to control it. If we would open our blinds we'd see that 40, 50, or 60 innocent people are dieing every day in Iraq. Do you really think the people of Iraq are better off without Sadam? More people have died since we destroyed their country and taken Sadam out of power than ever before. Our kids are smart enough to see the things we choose to ignore.

We all know some of the direct costs of the war in Iraq. 2,500 families who won't sit down to Thanksgiving dinner with all their children, and hundreds of billions of dollars that could be better spent on schools and roads here in the good old USA. Then there are the indirect costs like the price of gas. The terrorism threat we have created doubled the price of a barrel of oil. Of course we can all be proud of the billions we have all contributed to Halliburton, for nothing!

Possibly the biggest down side of this war is the threat from North Korea and Iran. These are real threats. They also know that our military is stretched way too thin and that there is nothing we can do about them!

Fairy Tails maybe be good for four year olds, but what happens when your children are old enough to think on their own?

Michael
2005 Dutch Star 40 w/ 4 slides
2005 BMW K1200LT motorcycle on lift
2006 Ford Escape Hybrid

[Jimmy Jam]

Hopefully they will be loyal and patriotic enough by listening to their upbringing to be willing to stand up and fight for their country and preserve your's and other liberals like you, the continued privilege (not right) to ride around in your new RV's and automobiles and criticize those who believe in defending freedom...