Tuesday, January 2, 2018

2018-01-02

People like Donald Trump, Roy Moore, Michele Bachmann, David Clarke... rather than public office, they should be on reality TV (I'm guessing, anyway; I've never watched that crap). People like Mike Pence, Jeff Sessions, Ben Carson, Mitch McConnell... rather than federal office, they should be councilmembers of some small town (the same small town) somewhere. People like Steve Bannon, Alex Jones, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly... well, they should be people. Or at least try.

I don't take every word published by The New York Times or The Washington Post as gospel. I'm more than happy to admit that The Huffington Post can be as bad as the Drudge Report (not that I make a habit of perusing either). I have no problem reading conservative viewpoints, and agreeing with them when they make sense to me. (Call me an elitist snob, or an old-school relic, but I just don't watch news; I prefer to read it.)

I don't consider myself a Democrat and wouldn't hesitate to vote for a Republican I felt was honestly the better candidate. I think Hollywood celebrities, business magnates, and public servants (and the rest of us) across the political spectrum need to be reminded that having a little - or a lot - of power over someone doesn't make it OK to abuse that power. I'm not a 'snowflake' and don't get 'triggered,' though I can understand how/why some people do. I'm not 'ashamed' of being a straight white male, but I realize that even as I didn't grow up with a silver spoon in my mouth, I did and do still benefit from privilege that so many around me did and do not. I'm not a 'social justice warrior' and am not 'virtue signaling,' I just want to see the Golden Rule applied more often. I'd like to think that we could live peaceably without a myriad laws protecting this group and that group and the other, but history, recent and the other kind, suggests that we're not there yet, so... legislation it is, I guess.

The rhetoric needs to be dialed back, a lot, on all sides. Yes, I get infuriated by some of the things I see and hear happening, but I'm not condemning everyone who voted for Trump or all Republican officials or every member of the NRA or Vladimir Putin. Well, OK, maybe I'm condemning Vladimir Putin. Things are rarely as black and white as Americans seem to see them of late. Not all Republicrats are wise and just, and not all Democans are evil and ignorant. Not everyone who disagrees with me is stupid and/or wrong, and... wouldn't you know it? Sometimes I'm wrong. Sometimes I make mistakes. I'm not too proud to admit it.

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