Posted on 06/29/2005 4:13:53 PM PDT by CHARLITE
The disappearance of an 18-year-old girl from Alabama in Aruba is not only terrifying, but a harbinger of just how much danger Americans expose themselves to when they step outside the boundaries of the U.S.A.
In the first place, the rights we are guaranteed under our constitution do not exist outside our borders. If you have the misfortune of being incarcerated in a foreign country you can forget about the mandatory phone call and anything else you’ve been guaranteed under our form of government.
Take it from one who knows. Back in my wild old days I was once put in jail in Juarez, Mexico. It’s a lowdown, lonesome, helpless feeling, being a gringo in the hands of the Mexican police. Thank God some people came over from El Paso and got me out.
But another and very salient point is that I don’t think a lot of foreign countries appreciate our patronage and our Yankee dollars.
Take France for instance. Do you really think they respect us when we go over there? No, they just put up with us, just tolerate us. They want to sell us their wine but that just about sums up their sincere feelings toward us.
In my opinion Mexico and the other Latin American countries have become dangerous for Americans to travel in. The reason being that they are so inundated with the drug trade and the thugs who run it who have neither decency nor conscience. Kidnap and murder are all in a day’s work for them.
And of course we know about the Middle Eastern and Southwest Asian countries.
Of course good old Australia is always happy to have us and have been one of our best friends for a long time and a great place to visit. Ditto new Zealand and the British Isles.
If you would believe the media in Canada you would think that we were not welcome there. But I don’t happen to ascribe to their theories. I believe that the vast majority of the Canadian people still welcome us with open arms. And it’s certainly not a dangerous place.
The point is there are a lot of places in the world that just don’t like Americans and maybe we’d be better off if we just stayed at home for a few years, if we devoted our foreign aid dollars to repairing our infrastructures and policing our inner city streets.
Has anybody noticed a marked difference in Russia after we gave them billions of dollars to bolster their fledging democracy? The Russian mafia has just grown stronger and the people the money was intended to help are still suffering.
Our politicians continue to pour American dollars down the bottomless abyss while the world at large just doesn’t seem to like us. And do you know something? That doesn’t bother me a whole lot.
Maybe it’s time we just stayed at home.
Pray for our troops.
What do you think?
God Bless America
Charlie Daniels
June 27, 2005
Funny thing though, in Columbia you have the second amendmant, but not in dc.
Maybe she was drugged. Are you blaming the victim now?
Washington DC - Baghdad? Well, at least I got body armor in Baghdad...
(Just got back earlier this month. I too am VERY glad to be back home.)
Take care,
Ruck
glad to hear you are home!!!
:)
SE DC yeah I would take Baghdad with body armor :)
Being a little harsh and elitist in your appraisal of the no travel crowd aren't you? A lot of people cannnot afford to travel, so are they stultifying and boring because of this circumstance? I have seen enough of the world to know that travel's capacity to "broaden" is a benefit of somewhat dubious significance. In fact, nothing is more boring or stultifying that having to look at someone's European vacation pictures.
What about Costa Rica? I was thinking about going there on our next trip, but read the State Department's website and there were warnings under CR's heading re: kidnapping, etc. I also noticed several villa/condo/hotel listings which emphasized the properties were in "safe" areas, which made me wonder how many unsafe areas there were.
Sadly we will. My wife nor I make enough money for one of us tostay home.
Sounds like the information is there for the finding. "This is a safe area" means there are non-safe areas, where predators run the show. Depends, then, on law-enforcement. And it depends on the ratio of predators to good guys.
I have traveled everywhere, cheaply. There is no place that is as safe as the US, I think -- and I live in Los Angeles, so I am not naive about urban dangers. I just think our Constitution and our worldview -- even as secular as we have become -- make our civilization the best.
It has to do with civilization, which is the opposite of chaos. Western Civ has been formed over the last 2000 years. It is solid.
It is Utopian Thinking to think that a Caribbean Island, because it looks "natural," is safer than a city. Humans are everwhere, and the line between good and evil lies through every human heart.
Well, just my Grand Theory of the World here...
I am very familiar with Costa Rica. I feel safer there than here in the US. You can get into trouble anywhere if you look for it, but crime outside of San Jose, the capital, is practically unheard of.
I guess so. I blame her for going off with guys she didn't know. I went to Cancun in college and I did some things . . . but I knew enough not to go off with locals, no matter how cute. This may not have been preventable, maybe they ruphied her drink, but maybe she got drunk and went willingly. Her friends say she had meet them a couple of days earlier and had been hanging out with them.
"A lot of people cannnot afford to travel"
True enough, but that doesn't seem to be the issue here. If you can afford a week in Disney World, you can afford a week in Greece or Thailand.
Staying home out of fear or out of perceived animosity is foolish. I stand by my assertion that Americans can be too parochical.
I was there for spring break this year. Go, you will love it. I did use a travel company, which I never do, and it made the arrangements quite easy.
Pre-9/11 - I did a lot of traveling and living in other countries - spent a bucket of money doing so. I have re-discovered the great US of A and spending my $$$ here. This wide country of ours is the most beautiful in the world. Example: I've been on several trips into the Swiss Alps but you know what? The Rockies are ever bit as beautiful and they are OURS!!
Where did you go while you were there?
The rights guaranteed by the Constitution don't exist INSIDE our borders, either. Charlie needs to flip on the television.
Have you visited much of the USA? This is not intended to be snide...I'm just pointing out that there are many different, beautiful areas, with many unique cultures right here.
I remember visiting Maine for the first time over 30 years ago...being a "Westerner," it was like visiting a foreign country, and I LOVED it.
Now might be a good time to take the opportunity to support the good old USA and travel domestically.
Extensively. The only states I haven't gotten to are Hawaii and the Pacific NW. Really want to see the Oregon Coast.
Agree you need to get around the States, too. Get away from spending vacation time on the beach and see our history and meet our people.
BTW, you'll get a warmer welcome in France than in some US cities! (I used to live in both Boston and NYC, I know what I'm talking about! LOL!)
I've spent hundreds of days just visiting my STATE. It's been amazing to visit each county...but then again, I live in a large remote state.
The NW Coast is lovely...there are so many places to visit, where will I go next? My son is stationed in Hawaii, that gives me a great excuse for a great vacation.
Now that was great planning, to have your son stationed in Hawaii. My brother spent his military years in Rome, NY! LOL!
I fully intend to selfishly suggest colleges to my sons that are located in places I want to visit!
Then again, I think a trip ANYWHERE is fun. I'm heading to Pittsburgh for a conference in Sept and look forward to seeing the town. Only have driven through.
Been to Russia, the BVI's, the west coast, just got back from Yellowston/Tetons. Favorite so far is the BVI's. Thought CR would be a change because of the rain forest, different wildlife, etc. Our hobby is photography.
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