And three more...

(Read the first half of this assignment: Three things I love)

It was kind of tough to come up with a list of three things I really hate. I mean, I could have gone with the superficial... you know 'I hate how fat my ass looks in these jeans.' ;) But then I read Bezzie's post about how hate and love are two ends of a continuum, and that without hate, love loses it's meaning. So I wrote up my list of three things I hate so that when I say I love something - you know it really means something.

1. I hate the lack of respect for human life I see in the world today. War, murder, torture, slavery, abuse, capital punishment, abortion, all of it comes down to a failure to acknowledge that human life is precious. I know life is full of grey areas and 'necessary evils' but still... I hate it.

2. I hate George W. Bush and his entire administration. I'm fairly middle of the road politically, I have some conservative views as well as some liberal views depending on the issue. I can't stand party politics in general - the idea of taking sides on issues as though they were black & white (red & blue) when really there's a lot of grey (purple) area on any issue if you really look it. But back to the point... I hate with a blinding fury what Bush/ Cheny/ Rumsfeld/ Gonzoles/ Libby/ Rove(am I forgetting anyone?) have done over the past 7 years.From the debacle that was the 2000 election to the firing of judges for political reasons, approving the use of torture, holding 'enemy combatants' without trial, Haliburton, the war in Iraq, wire-tapping citizens, it goes on and on and on and on and on. But I can focus all my rage on Bush's actions on 9/11.

On the morning of September 11th, 2001, I woke up to chaos on my clock radio. I didn't have a job at the time, so I didn't really need to get up, but I heard words of death and destruction in New York. I heard something about a fire in the Twin Towers, smoke covering the city. I bolted out of bed and ran to wake up my roommate, not even knowing what was going on - but understanding that it was BAD. "I think they just bombed New York" I told her as we wandered into the living room and turned on the TV to see what was happening. It took a while for me to make sense of it - one of the towers was already smoking. They kept showing a clip of something exploding half way down the second tower... and it wasn't until my roommate pointed it out that I noticed the plane flying into it. I don't know how long we stood there just saying "Oh my God!"

But when Bush heard about the first attack, he just went on with his day. I'll allow that he didn't fully appreciate what was happening. But when he found out about the second attack, when Andrew Card whispered into his ear "We're under attack" he just sat there.

I will never be able to get out of my mind the idea of all those firefighters rushing into the Twin Towers to try to save people, the chaplain who went with them to say last rights to victims. The poor people who had to decide between burning to death, or jumping out the window. I'll never ever get out of my mind one witness describing a pregnant woman who jumped to her death "exploding like a watermelon" on impact. Those people on flight 93 calling 911 to report the hijacking of their own plane... slowly understanding the scale of what was going on, and deciding that even if they died in the attempt they were not going to let the hijackers carry out their plans. All over the country, people who heard about the attacks lined up for blocks to give blood - a symbolic act if not ultimately a useful one. The rest of us sat transfixed, staring at our TVs trying to get more information, trying to figure out what was going on. Calling friends & family to ask is everyone safe? Do we know anyone who could have been hurt? Who could have done this to us? And Bush, our commander in chief, on hearing that the country he presides over is under attack - JUST SAT THERE!

For a good 5 minutes, he just sat there. He didn't even say anything! Not "Who is attacking us?" not "Where are we being attacked?" Not even "Oh my God!" I don't understand how any American can hear the words "We're under attack" and just sit there. For that, if nothing else, I hate him, and probably always will.

3. I hate faking it... and I do it all the time. Not just, you know 'faking it', but social faking it. At work I have to pretend I'm interested in research I don't even begin to understand. The other day I had to fake excitement over someone's engagement. I have to fake how strongly I feel about some things just to keep the peace. I fake getting along with my family when I visit. I fake it all the time. The thing that I really hate is how easily I do it. I would just love to have the guts to tell some people off...but I just can't do it. I'm working on it.

So those are the things I hate. It's possible that I took this assignment just a *tad* more seriously than what was intended. ;) But that's me. I'm super cereal.