Oliver Stone and I disagree - 9.29.2006.1

I don’t understand Mr. Oliver Stone. While I accept that he is quite good as a director of notable films, such as the recent World Trade Center, I do not accept his world views. I respect that he is outspoken in his views. His convictions are without question the cornerstones of his life. That much can be seen from his movies and his public words.

But I have little compassion or agreement with his latest commentary against the President and the nation. I disagree in saying that the U.S. reaction to the 9/11 attacks was disproportionate. I disagree that America has been set back 10 years. I find fault with is his reasoning that "We did not fight back in the same way that the British fought the IRA or the Spanish government fought the Basques here. Terrorism is a manageable action. It can be lived with.”

We should not respond like the British or the Spanish governments. While hundreds, perhaps thousands have died in those long-term struggles with terrorism there has never been an incident that killed so many at one time besides what occurred on our shores. I do not agree that terrorism is manageable, such an opinion strikes me as appeasement. Such a strategy was employed with Germany and it failed. It is the strategy of those afraid to fight, or incapable to do so, in my mind. And I must wonder if Mr. Stone would feel the same if he was in NYC when the planes struck, or had friends and colleagues and family die, or had to run from the towers themselves. I do not know if any of that applies to Mr. Stone, if it does he is a far different man than I am.

There is no living with terrorism. None of those he mentioned live with terrorism, they live with the consequences of it being a reality. I mean that you can live without a car, or a broken window in your house through a winter, being blind, or having the measles. We all live with the consequences of a bomb killing a school bus of children, car bombs, hijacked planes and other such acts. Not one nation on the face of the planet lives with terrorism, accepting it as if it were part of the course of the day. Each nation fights terrorism, through political and military means, every day as best they can.

Mr. Stone may feel “disgraced” and “ashamed for my country” but I do not. I see no reason to. I may disagree with some of the policies and actions of the nation, but I recognize that America cannot just hide from those fanatics that would see us all dead, including Mr. Stone. I recognize that some efforts of the nation are not what we would have preferred; and it is our obligation to elect leaders on local and higher levels to ensure that future efforts are better. It is the people that must guide our leaders, and we do. Voting, polls, letters and calls to elected officials all done without violence is the means to change any aspect of America.

I would say this to Mr. Stone, I have lived overseas as a civilian. I have seen how life is in other nations, and am thankful to be a United States citizen, even with all the problems our nation has. Our nation gives us many freedoms, one of them being choice. I would say to Mr. Stone, and others who feel as he apparently does, that you are free to leave this nation at any time. If the embarrassment is too great, if you feel we are falling back to far, if “a neo-cabal inside our government hijacked policy” then leave. See what nation will accept you and how you are treated there. And don’t complain about returning as it would be a choice you made, and I wouldn’t want you back if you made it.

This is what I think, what do you think?