I’ll start by saying it isn’t my style to talk politics and I especially don’t make any habits of debating them. I did want to share this though. A photographer from one of the photography forums I frequent is from Abkhazia and the conflict in Georgia has a real impact on him. Sometimes when I’m listening to NPR or watching the news it’s easy for me to forget that the stories impact real people. Yes, I’m outing myself for having a narrow view sometimes, but it’s the truth. Gray buildings, gray skies, gray streets, gray earth and people in gray clothes that live in a somewhat geographically gray area are hard for me to relate to. Now here’s a guy from a forum that I might otherwise be reading about f-stops or last Saturday’s wedding from, helping me to realize that when countries are attacked…people are attacked. I’m not an idiot. I know people are hurt in wars. It’s just easy to overlook the humanity when it’s often served as something else.

Here’s an excerpt from his post…

I hope everyone has heard about the war in South Ossetia and Georgia. You probably are convinced by what the media reports, in particular that “Russia is the aggressor against innocent Georgia”. Our government is backing Georgia and also telling us about Russia’s aggression. But that is a lie. I have always made fun of the conspiracy theory people, but I find myself in the same position–criticizing the government and sounding crazy. But I cannot keep quite when such an injustice is going on; so please do not take my words as that of a crazy man who hates America–on the contrary, this country has given me many blessings for which I am endlessly thankful; I care about it and am deeply saddened by how effectively the media has fed us propaganda over the last week. Please read the following short account of my story:

He has offered some insight to the other side of the story we haven’t been getting a lot of lately. I’m not saying you have to believe him or the videos, but it seems like it’s worth thinking about. I’m not the first person to beat the dead horse of the “Evil Media”, but some of the things I’ve read and seen lately sure don’t help make a cleaner image.

I’ve turned comments off for this post because, this is just meant to be a “hey look at this” and not a “believe this or you’re dumb” kind of post. Like I said, I don’t argue politics…everyone is free to have their own opinion in this country and I doubt there is anything I can say to make you change your mind. You like tomatoes or you don’t and that’s fine by me. Even if I do think you’re wrong for liking them. :)

-JG