Vintage Melhi

Long before there was a Melhi Ink blog, I never have time to mess with, I was writing posts for a home page column I never had time to mess with. I had thought all of those articles lost to a hard drive crash two computers back, but I found one, by happenstance, today and thought I'd share:

Security.
08-01-96

by Melhi


I was out surfing the web this morning, when I stumbled
across a question about US troops in Saudia Arabia and my opinion on it.

The response I chose ("Can't an oil rich nation afford to protect
its damn self?") set me to thinking.

They don't have to protect themselves because they can afford to
to pay others to do it for them. But, do they pay us? I have yet to see my "Thanks anyway, Saudi picked up part of the defense bill, this year" IRS refund check arrive, have you?

Do we get free oil?
Judging from the pump price the last time I tanked up...NO!

Are any of the nations to whom we are indebted getting free oil in exchange for forgiving our debts?
We're just lucky none of them have started forclosure proceedings against us.

Do we get so much as an "I protected a patch of Saudi Sand and all
got was a sunburn and this lousy t-shirt" t-shirt?
Nope. All we get is burnt.

Our guys are sitting out in the middle of nowhere *just in case* something bad happens. Hey guys...Woo Hoo!! Over Here!!! Bad stuff!! Plenty for everyone!! Come and get it!!!

Oh well, at least when I lie in bed, tonight, trying to ignore the screams of my neighbor being knifed while he's on hold to 911, I'll be secure in the knowledge that I worked half a year to pay to protect the remains of some long dead flora and fauna a zillion miles away in a land long devoid of flora and fauna. And then I'll wait for the antacid to kick in.

Happy Birthday, America

As one of the best fireworks displays I've ever had the pleasure to attend burst brightly, directly over my head, this evening, I was filled to bursting with patriotic pride. Those of my fellow countrymen who have the audacity to question my patriotism cannot fathom and likely do not share the immeasurable depth of my love for this great nation -- all she is, all she has been and all that she can be.

Thanks to a handful of men, liberal rebels, all, from our beloved nation's darkest hours to her most shining moments, we have always had and will always have a glorious history and the potential for an even more glorious future to celebrate. ...And just as we benefit, today, from the work those concerned citizens and budding politicians did, then, so to will our progeny benefit from the work we are doing, today. It's an awesome thing to be a part of history in the making.

Happy Birthday America. :)