Reply #184: no flag waving here . . . nationalism and its little brother, patriotism, . . .

[OneBlueSky]

are right up there with religion when it comes to "things that cause wars" and "stupid differences between groups of humans" . . . and I really hate that this country's first inclination when it comes to solving difficult problems is "let's kill someone -- or something" . . . however . . .

the pirates were given every opportunity to end the stand-off peacefully, and they declined . . . they had a gun at the captain's back, and I have no doubt they would have used it . . . so, much as I regret the necessity to end this violently, I do understand it and support the decision of President Obama and the skipper of the Bainbridge to act . . . and I'm glad that Capt. Phillips is safe and that no U.S. personnel were killed or injured . . .

but . . . I'm not waving any flags and shouting "U.S.A.! U.S.A.!" like this was the hockey team beating the Russians or something . . . this was a bad situation that, unfortunately, had to be ended violently, not proof that the U.S. is some kind of superstar in a great morality play . . . I think the past eight years have proven otherwise . . .