November 17, 2005

• AULD LANG XANGSYNE

  
  

   

  
  

  It’s happened…I’ve spent a year of my life absorbed in the world of Xanga. I first became aware of Xanga when my son began to post. I found it to be a great way to keep up with him while he was away at college. One day, on a whim, I created an account and did an initial post. It was like heroin; only more addictive and with worse withdrawal symptoms.  I’ve found blogging to be incredibly cathartic and it has also provided me with the opportunity to meet many gifted, intelligent, creative people that I would have never met otherwise (along with a couple of complete loons!) In the next five days leading up to my xangaversary, I’ve decided to pull out my five favorite posts from the last year and re-post one a day. (I’ve also been suffering from Xangablock the last week or so, so this will make posting easy!) So…here’s my first pick from:

  
  

   

  
  

  Sunday, December 12, 2004

  
  

   

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  The new American Civil War – Why it’s hard to be blue in a red state.   I was reading Dave Barry’s column in the Tulsa World today. In his article he describes those of us who are “blue” as “Godless, unpatriotic, pierced-nose, Volvo-driving, France-loving, left-wing, communist, latte-sucking, tofu-chomping, holistic-wacko, neurotic vegan weenie perverts”. I am offended by this characterization because I do NOT drive a Volvo. I drive a Mini-Cooper.   Seriously, being a Democrat in Oklahoma is a lot like being the only bass in the Vienna Boys Choir; when you open your mouth you tend to stick out. While I enjoy writing about my political belief system in a forum like this, I am actually quite cautious about saying anything about it in public. Folks here take their conservative roots seriously and actually admitting you’re a Democrat makes you highly suspect. You may think I’m kidding, but I’m not.   I’ve lived through the Kennedy assassination, Vietnam, Watergate, Billy Beer, the Iran-Contra scandal, The Gulf-War, the impeachment of Clinton, and 911 and I do not recall a time where America has been as emotionally polarized as it is today along partisan lines. And nowhere does it rear its ugly head as it does in political advertising.   The recent Senate race here in Oklahoma between Brad Carson and Tom Colburn garnered national attention because the outcome had a great deal of impact on the balance of power in the Senate. The mud slinging reached the epic proportions of a tractor pull.   The average Television and Radio ad sounded something like this: “Brad Carson has proposed that all elementary and secondary school teachers in Oklahoma must be homosexual. If they currently are not homosexual they must be sent to re-education camps where Barbra Streisand movies will be played 24 hours a day. Brad is also a Satanist and proposes sacrificing virgins in the capital rotunda . We also saw Brad Carson kick a puppy.” My fellow Democrats were no better, their ads slamming Colburn claimed Tom was a “Grand Knight in the KKK, a Nazi war criminal, and wants to have everyone over 65 executed in order to cut down on Social Security costs.”   The real issue is that both sides are appealing more to emotion than to reason. That is understandable because elections aren’t won on reason, they are won on emotion. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with emotion. Without emotion real political change would never happen. The civil rights movement would not have marched forward as it did without the “I have a dream” speech, and we would all be taking afternoon tea if we had not gotten mad enough to dump a bunch of Earl Grey in Boston Harbor. But emotion without reason is a very dangerous thing. Read the writings of Thomas Jefferson. It may be the most emotionally charged thing you’ll ever read, but also the most eloquent and reasonable.   I long for real political debate in this country. Not partisan rhetoric but a thoughtful, reasoned discussion of the issues. I long for an environment where each side treats the other with respect and people feel free to speak their mind.   Now that is something I could get emotional about.

  
  

   

  • 1:50 pm
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