I think it's always good to tell the truth, though it can hurt so much. It's better to know what people are really like, myself included, however disappointing. Thus, I must admit that over the past two presidencies, almost eight long years, I've grown into a moderate. Surrounded by a sea of red and being not a little blue, I've become a purple. It's true. In my old age, I will wear purple, a royal color.
Everyday, I cross the borders back and forth without too much trepidation. Listening to others, especially those I don't like much, really helps, plus a lifelong wish to be a peacemaker. This is not so easy since I lean toward hermitage and introspection. The un Civil War in America, the Political Apocalypse, calls me to try to find a way to live with others who so fervently hold, as do I, differing opinions.
Recently, I've written letters to the Progress that I decided, upon rational inspection, were much too defamatory. Thankfully, I didn't hit send, but rather recomposed to remove outrageous ranting. Yes, I do it too. It's hard not to be aggressive in our modern political arenas. There's so much nastiness being flung around, I wear a mask and mud boots to step through it.
I was raised in a tradition that instructed: you don't defame or curse any person unless you can say it to their face. Since it is generally impossible to gain a face-to-face with famous and powerful people unless you're famous and powerful, it is all the harder to refrain from name-calling from afar. Yet, still I try to follow the principal now that so much slander clogs the airways and byways.
So, ala Mike Whitney, I end this opinion piece with some common sense quotes from another great American, Mark Twain: "Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits." "Man is the only animal that blushes or needs to." "When in doubt, tell the truth."
Michael
Hockaday