It's been a couple days since the tragic shooting in Arizona, and some parts of America seem to be moving on. Even as I write this the BCS National Championship game is being played in the same state. It can always be said Americans know how to move on (though sometimes, I wonder, do we move on too quickly?) Still, the tragedy lingers on people's minds, mostly those who spend most of their days in political circles. And while many people spend at least five minutes giving condolences, they spend the next 55 or so trying to pass the blame.
Because that worked out so well before.
It is fair to bring up Sarah Palin's website antics. Leaving gun-sights on states you want to take over can send the wrong message. But it does not stop there.
It seems as if for years now people have been unwilling to actually have a conversation. Sure, they'll tell you what they think, but the second you open your mouth, they shout you down. It's like everyone's an angry girlfriend with turrets syndrome. One second you're an American, next thing you're a fascist, or a communist, or a Tea bagger, or a leftist.
They start out as insults, but as is want to happen, people take those names and make them something else, something to be proud of. They take it and make it a nickname, a label, a rallying point.
Last I checked, I was just some dude in front of a computer, I'd never want a label on how I think. That would limit me.
Which I think has happened to a lot of people. They are so hell bent on being something that they are forced to stop their own thought process. If someone with their label has a somewhat odd opinion, then you have to back them up. Why? Because you must have a unified front, stand tall, say it with ya chest. Even if what you're saying, you might not actually mean.
If a conversation is a route on the 3 train, then most folks brains only go two stops.
After that it's a log jam. And all we're left with are arguments and name calling.
Maybe everyone needs to go back to their corner, sit down, and think about what THEY stand for. Not their group, or their sect, or their gang, or clan, or political party. What do YOU stand for.
That's all that matters really, all else is dross.
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