I received this comment through my contact page, and I thought I would address some of the issues in it, in case there are others who agree:
As I'm neither Democrat or Republican, why are you allowing stupid political posts on your otherwise outstanding Blog? They belong on Utube not here. Please remove or dis-allow all political post unless it is of an issue that is directly germain to the theme of this Blog. I'm sure I'm not the only reader and enthusiast that finds it offensive and non-humorous.
The themes of this blog include, though are not limited to, science, archaeology and skepticism. All of these are touched on dirrectly in politics. Personally, I don’t consider myself a Democrat or a Republican, though I am registered for primary purposes as a Democrat. I will say now that I do not personally care much for Obama, as he is farther to the conservative side on some issues and too liberal on others, and I do not care for his mix of politics and religion.
However, the Republican party, as seen in these adds does carryout policies that dirrectly effect the issues of skepticism, science, and archaeology. They route billions of dollars to war funding, while turning us against individuals of other races and religions. This has in all likelihood has negatively effected issues such as funding for research and education.
The war has been about the worst thing for middle eastern archaeology possible. It has made it extremely unsafe to travel in parts of the middle east, which were at least a little better in the past, and has created a huge number of fundamentalists and political zealots who will be causing problems for research and archaeology for decades to come. These individuals have also threatened and harassed local scholars causing them to leave the country.
The looting which occurred during the war and continues to this day in Iraq has been several times the amount of excavation of all the work ever done scientifically within the nation. On top of this, the US government allowed for the looting of the Baghdad museum and the theft of historically and scientifically important artifacts. This damage will never be undone. As if this weren’t enough, the US military sets up bases in some of the most important archaeological sites in the world, and destroys important and irreplaceable history. There is no cause nor necessity for this, but they do it anyway.
With all of this in mind, what do the Republicans do, they continue to support the war and claim that our efforts in Iraq are working. This is a palpable lie, but is a position McCain will be running on none the less. If we become involved in Iran, similar destruction is likely to occur and damage many important historic and archaeological features which could be of benefit to scholars the world over.
Thus, without even looking to the obviously anti-science positions on evolution, sexism, or religious motivation embraced by a large component of the Republican party, McCain included, the Republicans are entwined with the themes of this blog. The war in Iraq, which is still supported mainly as a Republican agenda, has damaged and set back archaeology for generations.
Filed under: Metadata, Politics | Tagged: Contacts, Email, Politics
This is a blog not an archaeological text; a personal expression of that which interests the blogger, and as such, doesn’t need to be apolitical. Tell that person to pound sand.
I’m fairly new to your blog, and as a disclaimer, I should state up front that I tend to like the things you post and the tone that you set. This post is well written, and your arguments for including political content are sound. That being said, however, all you really needed to say to that emailer is “Write your own blog if you don’t like this one!” I’m continually surprised at the boldness of some people — and by ‘boldness’ i really mean unbelievable arrogance and selfishness. Thanks for writing a smart and interesting blog, even when it presents to me a world-view that is not my own.
What the…? It’s your blog, you post whatever the hell you want. That commenter can feel free to not read it.
I love this site, but you really need to do a spell check on the first paragraph of your response. The intellectual nazis would love to have few misspelled words to hold over your head as proof of how you are “wrong” and “stupid.”
If xomeone tried to tell me what was germane to the theme of my site, they’d receive a much shorter answer than the one you supplied.
It should be obvious to anyone that your own blog is your own blog, but after all, isn’t the real issue in the American election whether Americans will be individuals who own themselves and think for themselves, or disciplined zombies owned by an Emperor?
The exchange between you and your critic is the election in a nutshell. It’s either “I am, I think, I choose”, or “Shut up and pull that pyramid block”. Glad to see you made the first choice.