Lyric of the day: What it has to do with the Bengals

A reader wanted to know what John Lennon's "Give Peace A Chance" lyrics and a couple of posted comments have to do with the Bengals.

In the brave new world of newspaper blogs, which are not governed the same way that print editions are, I'll tell you (in my mind) what those lyrics have to do with the Bengals. I've probably danced around it too long, given the latitude of electronic print journalism these days and what's expected of us:

The person who covers the Bengals for the Cincinnati Enquirer is a U.S. citizen, votes in every election, pays every dollar he owes in taxes, volunteers, contributes to charities, has read the text of the State of the Union address (it almost made me throw up) and has two teen-aged sons that I don't want getting hurt for an unjust cause. Afghanistan is one thing. Iraq another. Furthermore, I think the guy in the White House is not qualified for the job, has surrounded himself with mean-spirited and power-hungry people, will be remembered as one of the most failed presidents in U.S. history and was re-elected by misleading and falsely scaring the American people.

I love my country deeply and know what great things it is capable of; our history is filled with noble international deeds. I'm grateful for the opportunities U.S. citizenship has provided me and I am mindful of my responsibility to give back. I am thankful for the sacrifices of the armed services, present and past, including my father, who saw combat as a U.S. Marine in the Pacific in World War II.

But these days, we're making enemies faster than we can kill them. There is too much evidence that we don't take adequate care of too many of our troops when they come home. Go overseas and talk to people from just about every other part of the world, including those from ally nations. The consensus is this administration likes being a bully and is on the attack to mask incompetence in an variety of foreign and domestic issues. I wish I were as nationalistic as I once was, but I'm not.

We don't live in a vacuum internationally, and I don't live or work in a football vacuum: hut, hut, hike.

You're entitled to your opinion. Bring it on. I welcome it. But I'm entitled to mine.