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- Elizabeth Barrette (
ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
- Mood:
busy
POLITICS: Tolerance and T-shirts
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A Little Slice of Terramagne: YardMap
Sadly the main program is dormant, but the YardMap concept is awesome, and many of its informative articles remain. YardMap was a citizen science…
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Winterfest in July Bingo Card 7-1-21
Here is my card for the Winterfest in July Bingo fest. It runs from July 1-30. Celebrate all the holidays and traditions of winter! ( See all my…
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Goldenrod Gall Contents
Apparently all kinds of things go on inside goldenrod galls, beyond the caterpillars who make them. Fascinating. I've seen the galls but haven't…
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A Little Slice of Terramagne: YardMap
Sadly the main program is dormant, but the YardMap concept is awesome, and many of its informative articles remain. YardMap was a citizen science…
-
Winterfest in July Bingo Card 7-1-21
Here is my card for the Winterfest in July Bingo fest. It runs from July 1-30. Celebrate all the holidays and traditions of winter! ( See all my…
-
Goldenrod Gall Contents
Apparently all kinds of things go on inside goldenrod galls, beyond the caterpillars who make them. Fascinating. I've seen the galls but haven't…
November 14 2008, 14:00:17 UTC 12 years ago
There are not a lot of things more powerful, and more dangerous, than a group of people who have been abused for a long time and suddenly see a chance at real salvation. Anything standing in their way becomes an agent of the enemy.
Was the behavior on display here nice? Was it civil? Was it right? Of course not. But was it understandable? Absolutely. In the way that you understand a dog or a horse or any other animal operating from base instincts. This is what we had here.
And heck, I'd never go to this extreme, but I'm guilty of it too. For months now any time someone acted particularly pushy, self-obsessed, and arrogant around me I would immediately assume they were a Conservative watching their futures die. I laughed a little inside, admittedly. It feels good to win, finally.
But there is the biggest issue that Obama faces. We have existed under a regime for whom "bipartisan" meant "we will do what we are going to do and you will agree with us on it 100% or we will call you names". So, that perfectly valid and laudable term is now anathema to a whole lot of people. He needs to reclaim it and restore more than hope; he needs to restore civility.
Hmm...
November 14 2008, 16:38:04 UTC 12 years ago
That is alarmingly true ...
>> Anything standing in their way becomes an agent of the enemy.<<
... but that way lies riot and revolution: NOT what I want to see here.
>> Was the behavior on display here nice? Was it civil? Was it right? Of course not. But was it understandable? Absolutely. In the way that you understand a dog or a horse or any other animal operating from base instincts. This is what we had here.<<
It's understandable, but it's still a PROBLEM, in the same way that conservatives acting from base fear is a problem. When human beings function on instincts instead of intellect, poor choices are made and unnecessary harm is done. We've seen too much of that already; we can't afford more. What's the use of changing the group in control if they're just going to act the same as the previous group? No use at all. That's the flaw in most revolutions: nothing really changes but the faces.
>> But there is the biggest issue that Obama faces. We have existed under a regime for whom "bipartisan" meant "we will do what we are going to do and you will agree with us on it 100% or we will call you names". So, that perfectly valid and laudable term is now anathema to a whole lot of people. He needs to reclaim it and restore more than hope; he needs to restore civility.<<
True.