Oh boy, controversial toy.

so this brings up a point that was made between dan and i, a couple days back.

if people badmouth the United States, saying how our politicians are corrupt, etc., would we fight back? get annoyed?

dan said that he would shoot back with something.

i agreed that if it was insensitive and stupid enough, i would.

i would not be what you call an outward patriotic american. i don't wave american flags at fourth of july. i don't buy american flags after 9/11.

i am however, an inward patriotic american. i feel for the men and women over in iraq. i put my hand over my heart when the pledge of allegiance is spoken, or the anthem of the usa is played. i stand if the united states flag passes me in a parade. if an invading country is coming to the US, slap an M16 in my hand, give me some training and send me the hell out there, because i will die for my country defending it. i have pride in my country, but i also have humility.

but when a majority of europe feels that bush is a threat to the world, what the hell do you say?

and now this controversial toy.

what do i say? understandably, it's a touchy subject.

my initial response was "big fucking whoop", but as i sit here writing, i take it back.

it's a big deal. this isn't some political cartoon.

but the question is this:

is it mocking us?
or
is it a reminder to us about what happened?

the first thing people tend to do in america is take offense. i'm no better, but in my own defense, i think about it afterwards, and withdraw my reaction from time to time.

but is taking offense appropriate here? if this was just a sick joke, then we should take it as it is and learn from the fact that this is HOW the world perceives the United States, a bunch of touchy bitches who can't recover from what happened. (I know, I didn't lose anyone in 9/11, but what about the people bombed to hell in the Middle East? What the fuck do you tell them? )

if it's not a joke and is designed to teach and remind children what happened (finding it in a bag of candy, this could be appropriate), then we should be grateful. no one should forget this incident, right?

i know my thoughts in this post are all over the place, and some things are hypocritical in a sense.

but for me, this is small beans. the united states has bigger things to worry about.