On Sounding Off
I have been raging at myself the last couple days, realizing so much of what I write turns out to be political diatribes. I've always had some strong beliefs, but my primary political activity in the past was baiting extremists. I stopped doing that three or four years ago, as I realized it was mean-spirited. I've not been completely successful. The hardest temptation to avoid was siccing people with untenable and opposing extremist positions on each other. Now it is almost painful to watch, as I see the inability for either person to consider their position or the other's in a rational way. I suspect the sensitivity I have gained as an artist has opened my eyes to that and inflexible opinions I held.
I think of myself as a liberal, though I don't follow the stereotypical liberal ideals. I revel in my carnivorous nature. I oppose gun control. I oppose seatbelt and helmet regulation. I am very proud to be a decorated combat veteran. I guess that makes me a conservative, even if I do value some of the opposing arguments.
I recently read an essay by Myles Horton who founded the Highlander school in the mountains of Tennessee. It was established for the poor and disenfranchised, and taught people how to organize. The labor unions were schooled there when they were forming, then told to go to Hell when they ordered Horton to disallow accused associates of communists and accused communists access to the school. They schooled those pushing for civil rights, conducting interracial training and social events which was illegal in Tennessee at that time. There was an incident where a group of God fearing conservatives and Klansmen calling themselves the "Crusaders", with the logistical support of local law enforcement came with weapons to destroy and presumably maim Highlander, it's staff and students. Uncle Billy Thomas a very old and respected local preacher who was a proponent of Highlander, saying that God was on the side of the poor, came to help despite his infirmity. He told them he wasn't really needed as the Crusaders would turn around before they arrived. Sure enough they did. It turns out a bunch of the mountain folks who Horton expected to show as friends to Highlander had set themselves up in the woods with high powered rifles along the Crusaders route. The crusaders got wind of it, and decided maybe they should go back home. It seems they had some respect regarding the marksmanship and ability of those mountain boys. I loved the story, and saw the irony in how it defied the Yankee perception of the typical poorly educated southerner and how they saved the day.
I oppose abortion control. I oppose giving up liberty and democracy in the name of safety or security. I oppose the institution of any religious dogma in government, including the tax-free status of all politically active religious entities. I oppose charter schools. Guess that makes me a liberal, even if I do value some of the opposing arguments.
I have two roommates whom I love. One of them hates cops without qualification. We've had discussions, as I have a deep respect for cops. I see it as an unforgiving and unappreciated job, which is perilous to the mind, body, and soul. She avows they are all power hungry brutish psychos. Ironically, she talks about how slow the response was when she needed them, a situation that was so trivial I was surprised the dispatcher dispatched. She calls me a republican. I told her I understood I could never get her to see any good in cops when she was utterly prejudiced in her deep and abiding hatred for all police officers. How could I accuse her of something akin to racism? Being a nicer fellow than I used to, I kept my mouth shut the next day when a Washington State Trooper was charged for molesting women when pulling them over for serious infractions on the east side of SR520 bridge. I just noticed it was no different than racists using isolated instances to prove they "aren't being unreasonable, just seeing things for what they really are."
What we call liberals and conservatives in this country have nothing to do with the actual meanings of the words. They can both be hateful and vindictive, and close-minded. Ironically my own bias, right or wrong, is that the conservatives are much more dangerous if you respect life, liberty, and justice.
Back to my opening thought, the observation I have been going off on political diatribes. I've not been politically outspoken before. Now I send letters to the editor, and even had one printed in the Seattle PI. Why this sudden interest and vocalness? I'd surely prefer to pursue my own interests. Yet, I have felt a call to action. The things that are being done in the name of my country, and by inference, in my name are disturbing to me. I can't see what we are doing as heroic. Rather, I see it as cowardly and evil in the vilest sense of the word. I can't sit back and be quiet. I mentioned earlier I was studying McCarthyism for a script idea I have. The research is truly frightening, and the parallels I mentioned to current events become more and more pervasive as I read. Seeing the identical scenario carried out is not something I can take comfort in.
Let's be honest, the communist threat was much more dire than the terrorist threat. They had an arsenal of guided weapons which could utterly destroy us with the push of a button. The terrorists have much smaller and less capable weapons, and the only viable guided delivery system they have are suicide bombers. We use electronics to guide our weapons, and still kill tens of thousands of innocent civilians, they have do it manually, with far lesser results. And we have the unmitigated gall to cry fowl? I detest terrorism whether it is some nut sending out a suicide bomber, or whether it is another nut sending out tons of ordinance using high tech missiles and military aircraft.
Even in the midst of the Cold War we woke up and realized we could not win by sacrificing the very ethics and liberty by which we claim to define ourselves. Let's hope we come to that realization again. In the meantime I feel obligated to not be complacent, which really sucks.
I realized that by not speaking out, I was in effect supporting the current trends. In 2000 I literally flipped a coin when I voted. I thank God for that toss, as I would feel even worse had I voted for the aspiring dictatorship we installed in the Whitehouse. That old attitude of complacence which allowed me to vote on the basis of a coin toss serves to increase my feeling of civic responsibility. Again, I find it a pain in the ass. I wish our country was not in such real peril of becoming an autocracy, so I could concentrate more on what I enjoy, rather than what I find is important.
Maybe we have evolved since McCarthy. I don't believe I am likely to be jailed, interrogated, and stripped of my property and investments for my dissent. Yet.
I think of myself as a liberal, though I don't follow the stereotypical liberal ideals. I revel in my carnivorous nature. I oppose gun control. I oppose seatbelt and helmet regulation. I am very proud to be a decorated combat veteran. I guess that makes me a conservative, even if I do value some of the opposing arguments.
I recently read an essay by Myles Horton who founded the Highlander school in the mountains of Tennessee. It was established for the poor and disenfranchised, and taught people how to organize. The labor unions were schooled there when they were forming, then told to go to Hell when they ordered Horton to disallow accused associates of communists and accused communists access to the school. They schooled those pushing for civil rights, conducting interracial training and social events which was illegal in Tennessee at that time. There was an incident where a group of God fearing conservatives and Klansmen calling themselves the "Crusaders", with the logistical support of local law enforcement came with weapons to destroy and presumably maim Highlander, it's staff and students. Uncle Billy Thomas a very old and respected local preacher who was a proponent of Highlander, saying that God was on the side of the poor, came to help despite his infirmity. He told them he wasn't really needed as the Crusaders would turn around before they arrived. Sure enough they did. It turns out a bunch of the mountain folks who Horton expected to show as friends to Highlander had set themselves up in the woods with high powered rifles along the Crusaders route. The crusaders got wind of it, and decided maybe they should go back home. It seems they had some respect regarding the marksmanship and ability of those mountain boys. I loved the story, and saw the irony in how it defied the Yankee perception of the typical poorly educated southerner and how they saved the day.
I oppose abortion control. I oppose giving up liberty and democracy in the name of safety or security. I oppose the institution of any religious dogma in government, including the tax-free status of all politically active religious entities. I oppose charter schools. Guess that makes me a liberal, even if I do value some of the opposing arguments.
I have two roommates whom I love. One of them hates cops without qualification. We've had discussions, as I have a deep respect for cops. I see it as an unforgiving and unappreciated job, which is perilous to the mind, body, and soul. She avows they are all power hungry brutish psychos. Ironically, she talks about how slow the response was when she needed them, a situation that was so trivial I was surprised the dispatcher dispatched. She calls me a republican. I told her I understood I could never get her to see any good in cops when she was utterly prejudiced in her deep and abiding hatred for all police officers. How could I accuse her of something akin to racism? Being a nicer fellow than I used to, I kept my mouth shut the next day when a Washington State Trooper was charged for molesting women when pulling them over for serious infractions on the east side of SR520 bridge. I just noticed it was no different than racists using isolated instances to prove they "aren't being unreasonable, just seeing things for what they really are."
What we call liberals and conservatives in this country have nothing to do with the actual meanings of the words. They can both be hateful and vindictive, and close-minded. Ironically my own bias, right or wrong, is that the conservatives are much more dangerous if you respect life, liberty, and justice.
Back to my opening thought, the observation I have been going off on political diatribes. I've not been politically outspoken before. Now I send letters to the editor, and even had one printed in the Seattle PI. Why this sudden interest and vocalness? I'd surely prefer to pursue my own interests. Yet, I have felt a call to action. The things that are being done in the name of my country, and by inference, in my name are disturbing to me. I can't see what we are doing as heroic. Rather, I see it as cowardly and evil in the vilest sense of the word. I can't sit back and be quiet. I mentioned earlier I was studying McCarthyism for a script idea I have. The research is truly frightening, and the parallels I mentioned to current events become more and more pervasive as I read. Seeing the identical scenario carried out is not something I can take comfort in.
Let's be honest, the communist threat was much more dire than the terrorist threat. They had an arsenal of guided weapons which could utterly destroy us with the push of a button. The terrorists have much smaller and less capable weapons, and the only viable guided delivery system they have are suicide bombers. We use electronics to guide our weapons, and still kill tens of thousands of innocent civilians, they have do it manually, with far lesser results. And we have the unmitigated gall to cry fowl? I detest terrorism whether it is some nut sending out a suicide bomber, or whether it is another nut sending out tons of ordinance using high tech missiles and military aircraft.
Even in the midst of the Cold War we woke up and realized we could not win by sacrificing the very ethics and liberty by which we claim to define ourselves. Let's hope we come to that realization again. In the meantime I feel obligated to not be complacent, which really sucks.
I realized that by not speaking out, I was in effect supporting the current trends. In 2000 I literally flipped a coin when I voted. I thank God for that toss, as I would feel even worse had I voted for the aspiring dictatorship we installed in the Whitehouse. That old attitude of complacence which allowed me to vote on the basis of a coin toss serves to increase my feeling of civic responsibility. Again, I find it a pain in the ass. I wish our country was not in such real peril of becoming an autocracy, so I could concentrate more on what I enjoy, rather than what I find is important.
Maybe we have evolved since McCarthy. I don't believe I am likely to be jailed, interrogated, and stripped of my property and investments for my dissent. Yet.
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