Well…it was a nice morning out at GH..huge waves and warm water made me grin like an idiot and got a bunch of good rides in body surfing. But, that’s not the topic as you can see from the title. I’m sure you know Kathleen Parker…the well-known conservative columnist, her column today is a mirror of what I have said on many occasions; that we need to start trying to reclaim what it means to be an American and start talking to each other again. I also agree when she she puts some tenets down on paper…be considerate, mind your own business, and don’t talk about religion…one of the things that I was told when I was younger was to never talk either politics or religion; something that I had lost for a while and wasted so much sound, light, and fury on it….I have become more calm since following that simple dictate.
What really heartens me about Kathleen’s column, along with some from others on the right like David Brooks, is that there are thinking people on both sides of the aisle that can see that the current course this country is on is unsustainable and we long for the time that lies and inflaming of passions will make way for reasonableness. I just hope the demagogues don’t win….geez…
Well…have been thinking about how we can get out of the mess that the hyper-charged politics of the day have put us in and a couple of articles I read today might be the start of this climb. Normally, I like to read conservative columnists to try to understand where they are coming from, since I truly believe that good ideas are good ideas no matter if they come from the right or left…and I don’t want to be one of those people that just automatically dismiss anyone’s ideas. In David Brooks column today (I should add that Brooks is a well known conservative commentator) he walked across the aisle and with an unbiased eye, looked at Obama’s agenda and could admit that some of what has been done was necessary and will be effective in addressing many of the problems that face us today. But what was also refreshing was his making objective, well thought out suggestions on how to do better and improve the legislative agenda. So, to David Brooks I say thank you…can you transplant your brain into the rest of the right?
The second column I read today was by Kathleen Parker in the Washington Post and it was not about politics at all; but about what it is like living in the neighborhood she lived in in DC. Again, Parker is a staunch conservative columnist who I rarely ever agree with but today she made a point that I think needed to be made…that is that the American values of friendship, community, and love are not just embodied in the folks that Palin and her Ilk call the “real Americans”; from small towns and rural areas…but can be found all across America; no matter where you live. One of the things I found so striking about the article was her oh so kind words about the neighbors who were the rocks of the neighborhood; who were such a stabilizing influence…but who also happen to be gay men who have lived in a committed relationship for 25 years. I was pleasantly surprised to find that one of these men is a columnist that I read in USA Today…Craig Wilson. I don’t know Kathleen Parker at all, but for a committed conservative to finally speak out against the bigotry that is an integral part of the Repubs, and in such an elegant way, gives me some hope that the principled people that I know still reside in the conservative movement are getting their voice back and will be heard more often. But, then I read some of the comments to this heartfelt piece of writing and it made me sick…the haters were out in force and my tiny little spark of hope that I have been nurturing was buffeted almost to it’s end. But not all the way…I refuse to let the haters stomp on the flowers that have grown up through the cracks in the hate of the world….so, thank you Kathleen for you wonderful column.
What you never want to be….