Think for Yourself

Today I received an email from a friend of mine.  And keep in mind that when I say this,  I love the guy to death.  While some people may consider me excessively outspoken and overly critical of the government, my friend is miles ahead of me.  He generally agrees with everything that Alex Jones says.  He’s always on InfoWars and the like.  And quite often he will send out mass emails making sure that we’re aware of  “alternative” interpretations of events.  Many people find this endlessly annoying (as discussed in a brief “these email are stupid” flame war).  So while I might agree with his views on government, the manner in which we choose to be informed and inform others is, let’s just say… different.

Like I said, many hate getting his “spam.”  Sometimes, admittedly, they’re not all that great, but this one I thought was actually pretty good.

The title of the post is his closing line.  It was also my reply to the purplestates.tv/ CNN front page thing.  It’s a reminder to question your sources, no matter how “trusted” they are.  And that you don’t always have to agree.

We often forget that we are not just students, wives,  workers; but rather that each one of us is an arbiter of truth.  We have a moral responsibility to determine the truth.  And if we begin to listen to only one voice we fail in that duty.

“Do not believe what I said simply because I said it; but rather because you have examined it for yourself and find it to be true.”

-Siddhartha Gautama

While I didn’t even click any of the links, the message is strong and I encourage you all to read it.  What follows is his email, unedited, and in its entirety.

Title: some context for today’s news

Body:

Today, an angry man flew a small plane into an IRS building in Austin, TX… allegedly…

Not long after his approximately 10am CST impact, a ‘manifesto’ attributed to him was found on a website.  click this link to read it.

I’m sure there’ll be a lot more to come from this story in the next few days and I urge you to question the validity of anything that’s reported.  Think for yourself.  Do not automatically buy in to what Chris Matthews, Glenn Beck, or your corporate media shill of choice have to say about it.  This may very well be a man who’d had enough, and took it out on who he believed to be his persecutors… or it may be something else entirely.  It doesn’t matter in either case.  Because this incident, like many others, a few of which are discussed below, will be used as an excuse to further eliminate privacy rights and demonize well-meaning, ‘freedom’ oriented groups and label them as extremists.

This is not okay.

“Those do not forget the events of the recent past:  Ft. Hood is just north of Austin, TX and that psychiatrist/gunman was allowed military clearance for MONTHS after it was fully known that he had intimate contact with Islamist extremists …why?  And while I wholeheartedly disagree with torture interrogation, if we wanted Hasan to lead us to an Al-Qaeda big fish, whatever happened to water-boarding?

The underwear bomber was able to board an international flight without having any luggage or a PASSPORT! (<<< notice the same explanation/excuse of ‘we wanted to allow him to operate so he could lead us to a bigger fish’ was used for this guy as well)  …why?  Our security agencies detain students, grandpas, and disabled toddlers, all the time, so why not this clearly suspicious guy who, were it not for courageous/fast-acting citizens sitting nearby, would have killed people!

And who was the ‘sharp-dressed man’ who helped him get on the flight? Why aren’t our journalists asking these questions? (<<< the previous link is from the eye-witness’s own blog) Why have these stories gone away so quickly?

Ask yourself.

Odd-balls come from the left too, not just Islamic extremists and right wing nut-jobs.  The Alabama-Huntsville shooter was “obsessed with Obama” and ‘accidentally’ killed her own brother some years ago.

I hope these incidents and the offenders, victims, and witnesses involved his have demonstrated that this has nothing to do with political party.  The media has swept these incidents under the proverbial rug before getting to the bottom of things.   More laws and restrictions inspired by these events do not keep you and I safer.  Having our naked bodies scanned and hands swabbed does not prevent terrorism, it just set the precedent for more invasions on freedom and privacy.

Whatever your political affiliation, talk to your friends and loved ones about this stuff.

Share information with each other.

Think for yourself.

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