Stirring the Pot

I don't generally think of myself as being controversial, but I have managed to stir up some trouble in my new class. In my Critical Thinking class I made the following post in response to the assigned question of "Describe a situation you are familiar with in which people based their actions or opinions on false information. How would the situation have changed if the facts were researched and presented more carefully? "

Here was my post:

The first situation that comes to mind when I think of people acting on incorrect information is the president making decisions to go to war in Iraq with the understanding that Iraq had been producing weapons of mass destruction. He was acting on information given to him by the Secretary of State, Colin Powell, which turned out to be false information (as admitted by Mr. Powell himself later on). Although it is purely speculation, the American public is left to wonder if the actions taken by the president would have been the same if the correct intelligence had been presented to him to begin with. I don't know that the course of action would have changed greatly had the president been different information, as it seems he was eager to send U.S. troops over to Iraq, but it is possible that he might have given the situation more time and been more willing to work with the United Nations and not sent troops to Iraq so quickly, which could potentially have resulted in a more peaceful solution with Iraq.

So let's think about why I posted this. I chose this because it was the first example of someone acting on false information that came to mind. And who said the information was false? Colin Powell. Not me. However, I have some classmates who wanted to remind me that I sleep safely every night because of our soldiers and that I need to be grateful.

Where in there did I say I wasn't grateful to our soldiers? I love them all and am proud of our troops! I answered a discussion question and now I am getting hammered. I knew it was a touchy subject, but I thought it was a good example. I really don't know how it would have changed if he had different information. I can't even really venture a guess. All I know is that I answered a discussion question for class. Sheesh! There are uptight lefties and righties in my class. I was gracious and responded to my harsh critics by saying how neat it was that we had the opportunity for an open forum, and that I appreciated their thoughts on the discussion question. Anyone that knows me knows that I would never disrespect our soldiers. UGH!!!

Maybe I am cranky today because I am cramping and feeling rather blah. David must be happy to be out of town!! So really I don't have much news. If I don't start to feel better I may call Grampa and reschedule our dinner. I don't want to take my attitude out to dinner with us tonight. Hopefully it will pass, though!

Oh, I have one of my official grades back, and I got an A in my IT class. Now I am waiting for my grade from my persuasive writing class. Maybe I should write a persuasive essay on getting my grades back faster!!

Okay, that's it. I am logging off until I am my happy funny self again! Damn cramps!