Words are Swords, Part One

"So don your armor and pick up your sword—for this is a battle that we must win."

So ended my last post, in which I discussed the more dubious elements of abstinence-only sex education programs and how they are symbolic of the current state of our nation, its citizenry, and their unfortunate longing to be deceived.

I would like to clarify a bit what I mean when I speak of battles and swords. A few weeks ago, Jodi and I flew back to P-Town for the Getz/Grethey wedding. It was a blast, and I had a number of memorable conversations that weekend. Inevitably, the talk would swing to politics at some point, as the election was then a mere two days away and I was still feeling really confident about our chances, offering up meticulously thought-out, well-reasoned, and wholly incorrect electoral predictions to anyone who would hear.

The point I came back to over and over again, though, was the tragically poisonous nature of today’s political environment and the absolute imperative for We the People to somehow overcome our differences and work together to get some things accomplished. I know, I know, hopelessly naïve. But absolutely essential nonetheless. Two conversations in particular stick out most in my mind, probably because, aside from the fact that both of these guys are way cool and totally brilliant individuals, both of them were voting for Bush. The horror! Seriously though, it is usually far more enlightening to sit down with a rational person on the other side of the fence than it is to preach to the choir. More on the echo chamber in part two.

I talked to both of them for an hour or two each, and I really felt a great deal of the energy and excitement that can result when genuine open-mindedness and a penchant for problem-solving trump political ideology, even though we weren’t really solving real problems, of course. We agreed passionately about the need for bipartisanship and the need to keep the debate civilized, to tone down the shrill rhetoric of the extremists on both sides, for it is they who are truly poisoning the system.

So why, then, do I speak of armor and swords? Well, that’s why I’m writing this piece, as I’m sort of figuring this out on the fly. One need not read much of this blog to discover my antipathy to the direction this country has been headed for the last four years, this is true. George W. Bush really rubs me the wrong way. I am honestly frightened of his policies. And this blog is not anything if it is not honest. Thus, what you see on the page, much of it, is a raw emotional response, a catharsis of sorts, set to the music of the English language. And in general, what makes for good blog copy is not always that which is couched in the most thoughtful, bipartisan terms.

Yet I do not wish to contribute to the poisonous climate I decry, thus the disclaimer. I’ve been known to let it slip that someday, perhaps, in the far-off future, I may take the plunge and run for some sort of office, provided my political viability ain’t shot b/c of something I said in this here blog. I would like to be known as a person who values problem-solving over partisan loyalties and someone who will work with anyone to get the job done, because that, I believe, is the more truly noble way.

But that doesn’t mean that I’m gonna censor these raw emotional responses of mine. The folks who disagree with me, hopefully, will learn to live with a little colour, metaphor, and hyperbole. I hope you comment on the posts, and I hope you come back.