Politics

I have never been a fan of politics. Mainly because I'm not an American citizen and always chose to keep my mouth shut when it came to political conversation. However, due to some recent changes, I have become a little vocal regarding politics. Some of these changes include the following:

1. I'm married to a history teacher.
2. I found out that the above teacher is very passionate about politics and WILL NOT back down for anything.
3. Things are changing drastically in this country we live in.
4. Transatlantic "people" are so caught up with things going on with America's government and as they continue to voice their opinions, I continue to get fired up.

Before I go on, let me say that I do not want this blog to turn into a political platform (Tyler :) but I just need a venting outlet real quick. We've all had those awkward heated political discussions that have turned into world war III. Mine usually take place at my mam's house during a family gathering. While I think it's good to be up to date with the haps of your government, I do not believe it is necessary to get into an argument. I have learned that sometimes you just have to agree to disagree. We have some friends who have the very same beliefs as us, but chose to be on a totally different political side. This has been hard for me to swallow and at times I have felt that these same friends only claim to have those political beliefs for the simple fact that they like to rock the boat. Not because they really feel that way politically. Tyler and I have even had to agree to disagree on a lot of political issues. It's been hard to let it go and not beat a dead horse with my opinions, but you gotta do what you gotta do right?

As most of you know, I was born in Ireland. Before I get on my soap box, please understand that I LOVE Ireland and miss it dearly. I think about it a lot and sometimes even pine to be back over there. However, I will never ever EVER understand the passion that most people over there have for American politics. I remember visiting the country with my sister Bev when I was 18 and she was 17. We were in Dublin city one day shopping. As we walked down a famous street (Grafton street), we were stopped by a kid about our age. He was carrying a clip board and seemed to be doing a survey. He began to ask us some questions and recognized our "American" accents. He commented on it and continued with his survey. The survey turned out to be about the American government and George Bush. We were asked if we liked George Bush. We said, "Sure"...because we didn't mind him. The kid proceeded to flip out and began yelling at us and basically called us all sorts of names. He continued to tell us that the people in Europe have more access to what was going on over in the middle east because of the BBC being over there and that we had no idea what George Bush was doing to America. I'm pretty sure Bev and I ran off to the nearest store and dropped some money that we didn't have on clothes that we didn't need :) My point in that really long story was that this was my first experience where people from Ireland/Europe thought they had a say in what was happening over in America.

I will never understand this! All of my family, except for my mam and siblings live over in Ireland. Most have never even stepped foot outside of the country, yet most of them and most of my friends over there feel the need to voice their opinion regarding America. As we all know the healthcare situation has our country up in arms right now. But, it has other countries up in arms too. The most shocking part of it all is that Ireland is a country that has taken part in socialized medicine since I can remember. I also remember that that was a factor in my family deciding to immigrate to America. That among many others. Even to this day, the healthcare system over there is a mess. For example, if you need an MRI...you will be put on a waiting list for 2-3 yrs. AN MRI?!?!?!? Something that we can get done in less than 24 hours will take a person over there 2-3 yrs....YET, those same people are all for socialized medicine.....in America, no less.

I recently got into a confrontation on facebook with a friend that we went to Primary with in Ireland concerning this matter. He is Irish, but lives in England and has for years. Every other status update on facebook was about America's healthcare bill. I watched it and watched it and even tried to ignore it, but finally snapped one day. I posted my feelings on his wall to which he replied that "America chooses to put their nose into everyone else's business so now the shoe is on the other foot." I can't lie and say I was shocked at his response, but I refuse to keep quiet when someone is obviously ignorant. After all, I may not be a citizen, but he doesn't even pay taxes over here! So we went back and forth for awhile and finally I let him have the last word...which didn't even make sense.

Just because I don't agree with the changes happening to our healthcare system doesn't mean I don't think our country's healthcare is in need of change. It is in dire need of change and help! It doesn't mean that I am going to picket outside of the white house and send threatening letters to our leaders when I know they will never even be read. It means that I think it's important that we pray for this country and for all the changes and decisions that are taking place just like I think it's important that people outside of America pray for their own country and their leaders.