Thursday, April 9, 2009

MR. OBAMA'S NEIGHBORHOOD

Fred was a popular, college educated man. Like all humans, he wasn't perfect, but in most instances, his friends and neighbors knew that he could be counted on to help out in a pinch. Fred lived in a remote community far from any metropolitan city, and secluded in a mountain valley. The size and remoteness of his town made the hiring of a police force both impractical and impossible. Because his neighbors were friendly and respectful of each other, this was never an issue, even when there were disagreements among the citizens. Yet even though there were no police, the people had all agreed to form a watchdog group of people from the neighborhood, just in case there were ever any "trouble".
Fred's life was moving along smoothly until he started to notice things about his next door neighbor Bill. Every day when Fred would come home from work, Bill would give him the finger. When he asked him why, his Bill replied, "I want to". Not wanting to cause a scene, Fred went on with his daily routine.
Weeks later, he learned that a few years ago, Bill had attacked another neighbor across the street with a baseball bat, breaking his nose and an arm. He also found out that Bill had a history of violent outbursts and a criminal record to back it up. Fred was informed by a mutual acquaintance that Bill had a collection of firearms, knives and other assorted weaponry, despite his prior felony convictions that prevented him from legally owning them.
Fred opted to leave well enough alone and ignore his neighbor. This worked for a while until his friend was hired to fix an appliance in Bill's house. Fred's buddy informed him that while he was working on Bill's fridge, Bill decided to brag about how he was planning to kill Fred and take his house. Though neither Fred nor his friend had actually seen the alleged weapons, they knew Bill was claiming to use them to kill Fred and anyone else who gets in his way.
Fred had the bright idea to ask the watchdog group to do something about Bill. At a town meeting, there was a great debate about how best to deal with Bill. After all, he had threatened others in the town and was known to be prone to violence. The debate went on. Some argued to raise his neighborhood "block association" fees. Others suggested they blockade him from the local supermarket. One guy suggested they call the authorities, but was quickly reminded that in their remote location, there was no such thing as authorities. He was then reminded that they were the authorities.
Fred's family were beginning to get scared. They knew (or at least assumed) Bill was serious, yet Fred made few if any attempts to defend his family. When his son asked him what they were going to do, Fred told him that he was going to reach out to the neighborhood for help yet again by encouraging them to help out. Fred's son reminded him that the neighborhood consisted mainly of pacifists and cowards that were not interested in getting involved, but Fred carried on.
His son then suggested that they get a gun and install a security system, but Fred had a "better" idea.
Fred proudly and defiantly proclaimed that he was going to set an example for the rest of the neighborhood by "reaching out" to Bill. He truly believed that all he needed to do was build a metaphorical bridge and extend the hand of friendship, and Bill would respond in kind. The fact that Bill believed it was his duty to God to kill Fred went right over Fred's head. The fact that Bill had already killed Fred's dog and chopped down his wife's favorite peach tree meant nothing to him.
In an effort to appease Bill, Fred went a step further. In an act of good faith (in his mind only), Fred took the locks off his doors and windows, and even threw his sharp knives and meat cleavers away...just to show Bill that he meant him no harm.
Days later, Fred and his entire family were found shot, stabbed, and bludgeoned to death in their livingroom. They say Bill could be heard laughing hysterically as Fred and his family begged him for mercy while the neighbors hid in their homes and tried to ignore the carnage.

In case some of you haven't figured it out yet, this story is an accurate depiction of President Obama's national security policy toward those who are sworn to destroy us.