Time to join together comrades! Just kidding!
Recently a long needed discussion has been started. It was at the cost of innocent lives and an attempted political assassination of a congressperson. With pundits and less than worthy politicians constantly spouting hateful and aggressive speech, it seems that finally the general public has finally gown tired of all the shenanigans. This has taken way too long! From pictures of Palin's face superimposed with a vagina and President Obama with a bone through is nose, enough is enough. While I don't think it's unnatural or even unheathly for people to joke, insult eachother at times, but the overt sexism, racism, and just personal attacks in general need to stop.
But as Lefties, Liberals, Democrats, whatever you want to call yourself, how do we deal with this? We have the idiocy of Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck constantly staring us in the face. Boehner constantly crying over nothing. The hateful, fear mongering speech of O'Reilly and Limbaugh ringing in our ears. It's frustrating to the point that sometimes we just want to look at republicans and say "How can you be so damn retarded??" They seem to be brainwashed fools, but they aren't. Well, some of them aren't at least.
We have to act like the sensible, educated people we want them to act like. This doesn't mean we stop all lampooning all together, just why can't it be like when Clinton was in office? We could all make fun of him. The dialogue has been starting, so now the question is, where do we go from here? The first step is to start small conversations. My religious studies teacher stressed that in individuals can easily relate to each other in ways that groups simply can't. My solution? We all need to sit down and have beer, talk shop, recognize the humanity in each of us, and start talking honestly about policy.
The rules of dialogue with the Right:
1. Just avoid pundit issues. You know they are hate inciting idiots and so do I, but that's the last place to start. Avoid Reagan for that matter too.
2. Try in all of your power not to insult their intelligence. Yes, you're well read, but they probably have legitimate points to contribute without quoting an 18th century French philosophe.
3. Talk about policy. Ask them what could be done to fix the state of the nation. Once we start on core policy issues, it can be easier to understand each other.
4. Work on a hopefully one-on-one basis. If they are more of you, they are going to feel intimidated, and the more of them there are the more they will be inclined to act territorial and/or stupid.
5. Most importantly: The individual conservatives of this country are not your enemy! They are hard working Americans who are just as scared about the state of the nation as you are. You don't have to like the pundits and politicians, but give the empathy due to your fellow citizens.
6. Don't try to convert anybody. They are conservative because that is what they feel suits them. The point of this exercise is to create an environment of amicable discourse, not to change what people think.
It's of paramount importance to remember that we are all human beings with needs and fears, sometimes real and other times imagined. We all have different ideas about how things should be done, and that should be respected. Through discourse we can discover what will be best for the nation, because two heads is always better than one.
Well said. I wish more politicians thought like you. I love the pic, just brilliant!
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