veronica_rich (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
veronica_rich) wrote2008-09-26 03:29 pm
veronica_rich) wrote2008-09-26 03:29 pm
Hidden to give the political-weary a break
So a lot of people are posting about politics; still others feel attacked by their f-lists, which is unfortunate. I cannot apologize for my political leanings; it just isn't going to happen. Nor am I particularly apologetic for the tone I use when referring to those who seem to have brought a lot of grief down on our heads over the past quarter-century or so.
Do I intend to offend my f-list or even casual passersby with political ranting? Without sounding disingenuous, the most honest thing I can say is ... it depends.
I look back over the last 28 years and feel like our presidential and Congressional leaders have not often cared a damn whether the rest of us, their voters, lived or died. There's very few I can point to and say "He's all right" or "She at least tries." But the whole Lewinsky scandal about 10 years ago really brought about a big shift in my mostly "don't ask, don't tell" attitude about personal politics. I do not care about somebody's personal life. Do not ask me to give a damn about the legal adults they sleep with, so long as it has no influence on public policy. And for the Republicans to instigate something so grave as impeachment hearings over nothing because they couldn't find something else really set me off. (Please don't bring up the "he lied under oath" argument - if I were asked a personal question that had nothing to do with how I did my job, I might lie, too, out of protest if not self-preservation. There is nothing in the Constitution regulating sexual relations.)
There have been a lot of actions taken (or not taken) since 1980 that have led to the problems we're now seeing in this country. Under each president. Nobody writing this post has ever excused Democrats for going along with wrongheaded legislation (or for not introducing rightheaded legislation). As an Independent, I only believe that the Republican party has a bigger canker it needs to cut out of itself than the Democrat party has right now, and the GOP can't do that if it is allowed to remain in power. Those at the head of the party, its figureheads, need to fail right now so that its members will take seriously the concerns of their fellow citizens and get the party back to what its elected officials are supposed to be: A servant of the public. Not Mama. Not Pope. Not the Boss.
I don't hate Republicans. I don't think 99 percent are wrong or evil or mean. There are a handful of the most powerful I feel DO fall into those designations, just as there's a good handful of Democrats who I believe are corrupt or stupid for going along with certain actions that they should not.
Depending on how you feel about the last eight years ... I might well be trying to offend you. But not personally. Just to get your attention and make you wonder why you think things have gone so well the past eight years.
Do I intend to offend my f-list or even casual passersby with political ranting? Without sounding disingenuous, the most honest thing I can say is ... it depends.
I look back over the last 28 years and feel like our presidential and Congressional leaders have not often cared a damn whether the rest of us, their voters, lived or died. There's very few I can point to and say "He's all right" or "She at least tries." But the whole Lewinsky scandal about 10 years ago really brought about a big shift in my mostly "don't ask, don't tell" attitude about personal politics. I do not care about somebody's personal life. Do not ask me to give a damn about the legal adults they sleep with, so long as it has no influence on public policy. And for the Republicans to instigate something so grave as impeachment hearings over nothing because they couldn't find something else really set me off. (Please don't bring up the "he lied under oath" argument - if I were asked a personal question that had nothing to do with how I did my job, I might lie, too, out of protest if not self-preservation. There is nothing in the Constitution regulating sexual relations.)
There have been a lot of actions taken (or not taken) since 1980 that have led to the problems we're now seeing in this country. Under each president. Nobody writing this post has ever excused Democrats for going along with wrongheaded legislation (or for not introducing rightheaded legislation). As an Independent, I only believe that the Republican party has a bigger canker it needs to cut out of itself than the Democrat party has right now, and the GOP can't do that if it is allowed to remain in power. Those at the head of the party, its figureheads, need to fail right now so that its members will take seriously the concerns of their fellow citizens and get the party back to what its elected officials are supposed to be: A servant of the public. Not Mama. Not Pope. Not the Boss.
I don't hate Republicans. I don't think 99 percent are wrong or evil or mean. There are a handful of the most powerful I feel DO fall into those designations, just as there's a good handful of Democrats who I believe are corrupt or stupid for going along with certain actions that they should not.
Depending on how you feel about the last eight years ... I might well be trying to offend you. But not personally. Just to get your attention and make you wonder why you think things have gone so well the past eight years.