This post may be a bit contentious, but I have to say I'm not feeling too patriotic at the moment. Right now I feel like my blood is boiling and I've vented to my mom and I've vented to my husband and now I have no one to vent to but you.
I'm finishing up "Daughter of Destiny", the autobiography of Benazir Bhutto, the former Pakistani prime minister who was assassinated in December of 2007. And I'm outraged at the role the United States unintentionally played in planting the seeds for terrorism--first with our role in Afghanistan in arming the Mujahideen to fight off the Soviets and then in showing blatant disregard for democracy in Pakistan by supporting two military dictatorships. As Bhutto put it: "A democratic Pakistan, free from the yolk of military dictatorship, would cease to be the petri dish of the pandemic of international terrorism."
While reading this book inflamed anger in me, it's also impassioned me to make the right decision on Nov. 4th. But that is a daunting task, as I look at the past four presidents and realize that they all contributed to the growth of terrorism in some way. My only hope for the future is in knowing that there was a woman who saw her father and two brothers die at the hands of dictators and terrorists and still she never gave up hope for a government of the people. And that same woman gave her life in the fight for democracy.
So maybe there are some people who aren't in it just for the politics and power, there might be some who truly believe in a fair and honest government, and those are the people I want to support.
My disclaimer: I know that this book is an autobiography and that it's only one side of the story, so my thoughts don't solely rest upon her book. Daughter.
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