Thursday, November 18
Think for yourself, people
In which I start a feud and respond to Krell (see below), thusly:
Of course, in your part of the world (Texas), and definitely in my part of the world (edge of nowhere), there are plenty of "folks" who would disagree with my middle assumption. My congresswoman, for example.
There are also plenty of folks who laugh at me for my anti-violence beliefs, and would openly mock me (if they weren't so kind to my face) for being more concerned about my kids wearing camo than my son choosing to wear a skirt to school tomorrow. Aside from the simple fact that my kids don't seem to be the type to get too involved in school spirit days and would refuse to dress up in either case, why does this bug me?
It bugs me for some of the same reasons it seems to bug you. First, I laugh at those Red staters, your neighbors and mine, who beg and plea for a "culture of life" in support of the unborn and yet eagerly and perhaps even hungrily (in Texas's Bush governorship days) kill people in the state-run electric chairs. They support the death penalty and support a culture of life at the same time? Can't they think?
Huh? These are the same people, by the way, who swerve their SUVs with the "Respect Life" Colorado license plates through traffic, ram through yellow lights and give me the bird as they cut me off on the freeway. I guess they mean they respect the life of the unborn (preborn? nonborn? clumped masses of wet humanoid cell tissue?) while putting in peril those of our lives who are just trying to make a go of it up here on the surface of planet earth and get to work on time.
(These same cars also seem to have a preponderance of those yellow ribbon-support our troop-magnets cheering when our president and his administration are bombing the living crap out of another civilization on a foundation of lies, you call that a culture of life? but I think that's a different post.)
It bugs me because I was raised to think for myself and it pisses me off when people turn off their brains and let their neighbors or their preachers tell them how to think. Or TV. Or advertisers. Or talk radio. Or their right-wing corporate owned media. I want to holler, think for yourself, people.
It bugs me because I believe in the Constitution, and the freedoms it gives us, the freedom of speech, of (or from) religion, to be left alone, to arm bears and of our inalienable rights for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That's all I want for my family, to be able to pursue happiness the way we see, and to be left alone by people who think my lifestyle choices suck. And I want to leave them alone, too. Until they start picking on my like Tyson does to your three-year old. Then we have to defend ourselves.
I love your enthusiasm and vigor for this fight. I like that you're pissed off too, enough to defend Texas and Red Staters everywhere, even if you (here I'm lobbing you a flaming, too obvious grenade at your Subaru driving feet) seem pissed at people who are sorry we elected our president a second (first?) time. because yes, we are all Americans. The religio-ignorant and the pseudo-intellectual alike because we all live here in these purple states of America together, even those of us on the edge of nowhere. Yes, we cannot rollover and just post 'we're sorry' pictures. We can't just plop down our $11.95 for a "Don't blame me, I voted for Kerry" t-shirt. We can't just let the values-quoting Republicans change the House ethics rules so your (heads up, cheap shot coming:) fellow Texan Tom Delay can keep his leadership job even if/when he gets indicted by a grand jury of your peers.
We have to do something about it. I don't know what we have to do, but we have to do something. And so I end with a Jerry Garcia quote that hangs on my 'fridge downstairs: "Somebody has to do something. And it's pathetic that it has to be us."
Of course, in your part of the world (Texas), and definitely in my part of the world (edge of nowhere), there are plenty of "folks" who would disagree with my middle assumption. My congresswoman, for example.
There are also plenty of folks who laugh at me for my anti-violence beliefs, and would openly mock me (if they weren't so kind to my face) for being more concerned about my kids wearing camo than my son choosing to wear a skirt to school tomorrow. Aside from the simple fact that my kids don't seem to be the type to get too involved in school spirit days and would refuse to dress up in either case, why does this bug me?
It bugs me for some of the same reasons it seems to bug you. First, I laugh at those Red staters, your neighbors and mine, who beg and plea for a "culture of life" in support of the unborn and yet eagerly and perhaps even hungrily (in Texas's Bush governorship days) kill people in the state-run electric chairs. They support the death penalty and support a culture of life at the same time? Can't they think?
Huh? These are the same people, by the way, who swerve their SUVs with the "Respect Life" Colorado license plates through traffic, ram through yellow lights and give me the bird as they cut me off on the freeway. I guess they mean they respect the life of the unborn (preborn? nonborn? clumped masses of wet humanoid cell tissue?) while putting in peril those of our lives who are just trying to make a go of it up here on the surface of planet earth and get to work on time.
(These same cars also seem to have a preponderance of those yellow ribbon-support our troop-magnets cheering when our president and his administration are bombing the living crap out of another civilization on a foundation of lies, you call that a culture of life? but I think that's a different post.)
It bugs me because I was raised to think for myself and it pisses me off when people turn off their brains and let their neighbors or their preachers tell them how to think. Or TV. Or advertisers. Or talk radio. Or their right-wing corporate owned media. I want to holler, think for yourself, people.
It bugs me because I believe in the Constitution, and the freedoms it gives us, the freedom of speech, of (or from) religion, to be left alone, to arm bears and of our inalienable rights for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That's all I want for my family, to be able to pursue happiness the way we see, and to be left alone by people who think my lifestyle choices suck. And I want to leave them alone, too. Until they start picking on my like Tyson does to your three-year old. Then we have to defend ourselves.
I love your enthusiasm and vigor for this fight. I like that you're pissed off too, enough to defend Texas and Red Staters everywhere, even if you (here I'm lobbing you a flaming, too obvious grenade at your Subaru driving feet) seem pissed at people who are sorry we elected our president a second (first?) time. because yes, we are all Americans. The religio-ignorant and the pseudo-intellectual alike because we all live here in these purple states of America together, even those of us on the edge of nowhere. Yes, we cannot rollover and just post 'we're sorry' pictures. We can't just plop down our $11.95 for a "Don't blame me, I voted for Kerry" t-shirt. We can't just let the values-quoting Republicans change the House ethics rules so your (heads up, cheap shot coming:) fellow Texan Tom Delay can keep his leadership job even if/when he gets indicted by a grand jury of your peers.
We have to do something about it. I don't know what we have to do, but we have to do something. And so I end with a Jerry Garcia quote that hangs on my 'fridge downstairs: "Somebody has to do something. And it's pathetic that it has to be us."
