Make Humanity Tolerable Again

DEEP BREATH. There were plenty of ups and downs last night. I'm sure we all felt alternatingly thrilled and devastated as we stayed glued to our phones and televisions into the night. And, if you're like me, you've noticed those feelings carrying over into the hours - and now days - after. You could certainly start tabulating the positives and negatives, and come up with a lengthy list for each...but then you'd probably start feeling discouraged that, for every one of our gains, we've given something back, or fallen short of achieving a given objective. But there's one thing that's giving me a healthy dose of hope. Every election cycle or two, the balance of power in at least one chamber of Congress swings the other direction, as our country has inevitably stalled or at least not fulfilled all of the wildest dreams and desires of the electorate, and the people decide that all they want is change, whatever form that may take. It dawns on us that our re...

I was recently accused by a friend (in a helpful, non-antagonistic way) of "preaching to the choir." Instinctually, I took umbrage at this; in the past, I've always taken pride in the fact that I actively seek out those offering opposing viewpoints, speaking to them calmly and patiently, rather than turning my back on them to instead holler into an echo chamber. She was right though. I certainly wasn't using verbiage that would attract a hard right conservative to give my thoughts a genuine listen. The only people who might possibly have heard me were like-minded individuals who needed no convincing. BUT. It got me thinking. Who should I be speaking to, really? As I stated in my last blog post, anyone who hasn't been convinced after all that's happened to amend their opinion of the Republican party certainly isn't going to have their mind changed by anything I have to say. Reaching out to them, attempting to sway them, appealing to their sense of d...

If you call yourself a Republican, think about what that means. Because it doesn't mean what it did 10 or 15 years ago. Political parties are always evolving - to say today that you align with the Republican party is to say that you endorse what the current leaders of that party do routinely and without compunction. You are for widespread voter suppression. You are for off-the-charts gerrymandering. You are for foreign interference in our election process, provided the interfering nations are performing their chicanery in your favor. In short, you are for whatever kinds of underhanded deceit and trickery are required to destroy the democratic process in order to keep the right in power. Subverting the will of the people: this is how a representative democracy falls. This is how an empire crumbles. If you say you are a Republican, you are for the absurd idea that humankind is not largely responsible for climate change, despite the constant protestations on the part of all those ...

I haven't been writing nearly as many political posts as I used to. It isn't because my interest or passion has waned. It's  partly  because I now have an infant son who takes up a significant chunk of my time, but that isn't the whole story either. The truth is that I've been struggling. Mightily. On one hand, I am progressive-minded on almost every issue, and I routinely want to take torches and pitchforks to those who are intent on keeping the monsters in their castle. My first instinct, every time I read a misinformed, misguided, or straight-up vile opinion expressed online, is to rail vehemently against the poster - to make use of my special gift of scathingly acerbic dickishness to put them in their place. Or to at least make myself feel better by getting things off my chest. On the other hand, I've spent much of the last couple of years reading and learning a lot about human psychology. I've been combating the urge to view anyone with opposing vie...