Welcome! To my brand new baby site. Its idea has been growing and maturing. I would like to say that I think it looks fabulous due to the work of one awesome, beautiful individual @mrsflinger. Her skills are not just notable, they are sexy. She is all things Catapult Web Development and you should go visit her if you care at all about looking better than perhaps your content could ever measure up to. But, it will keep you striving, if nothing else.
I know what I am about to say may seem like it belongs on an “About” page. And, certainly, it may find it’s way, edited, to that page at some point. But, for today, and since I can do anything I want to on my own real, .com site, I want to describe what I’m here to do. Think of it as my personal, “purpose” statement, splayed out and electrified. I hope you can feel some purpose in it too.
Today, as with any time a political battle begins to rear it’s head, people are highly charged and conversation tones rise. Junkies, like myself, revel in the back and forth, turning over and on top of the issues like we are set free on a giant well-appointed feather bed and pillows. We toss and turn the issues. We put forth solutions. We seek others with like ideas and we find joy in our identification with others.
Some of us find ourselves completely one way or another and this type of political evaluation becomes natural. On both sides of the political spectrum there are varying degrees in which this occurs. Extremists reign supreme. There are vast crowds who take and hold the talking points and continue to disseminate them to join in the party identification. There are those somewhat in the middle that can see a little of both argument.
The hard cold fact is that the majority of people, even voters, are so turned off by the revelry that they tune out. And in doing so, they miss the guts of most of the arguments. And, hey, let’s face it; they may not care that much. But, many people would love to hear a brief bit of information with some strong persuasion. Left content to use their own sense of important to make up their own mind on the matter, they could likely reengage.
This should be the driving force behind modern media to some extent. Unfortuantely, while coverage of events is still certainly very balanced, the way in which they position opposing viewpoints can become skewed and often unclear of hidden agenda, and deeply held beliefs of it’s editors.
In this spirit, I declare: I am unabashedly a conservative woman. A mother in middle-America. I am offended by celebrities who find me to somewhat lacking in brainpower because I choose to question my democratic leaders and their methods. I will stand up for Christians and their moral compass. But, in doing so, I understand that we are all different. And our evaluation is likely to be different. So see, it’s right out there, nothing unclear or hidden.
I may never bow to your beliefs. But, I do want to hear them. Without outside “noise” or agenda. I want them out there on the drift of internet debate so that maybe, that timid person who is rearing their family, afraid to engage because it is all so partisan, will join in the conversation.
I, frankly, think it is as important to your welfare and your family’s interests as what you are cooking tonight, what safety features your new SUV touts and whom your child plays with. I blog about my family too, and am fascinated by Mommy bloggers all over who are finding respot in the passion that is in it and the common ground that can found in sharing.
Today’s culture, all too often, rewards extremism. Obviously, Rush is making about 200 million a year. Olberman, once ESPN jock, now political show on MSNBC. I would go out on a limb and say that they become more and more extreme as they see how those comments help them garner more coverage, and more of our advertising dollars. You see, when the other side is outraged, they come in droves to hear the ridiculous, thereby helping the very person they wish to hurt. It pays to say the outrageous.
It’s too bad for the rest of us. It’s wrecking us, really. Because the more people are tuning out, the less the electorate will make informed decisions when they go the ballot box.
So, can a revolutionary idea take place? Can we make a few ground rules here that will promote a healthier debate. Can we get steamed up, ticked off, disgruntled and discouraged here and smile, shake hands, agree to disagree?
Let’s try. Here are the rules…
1. No name calling.
2. Try to state concisely where you hold your belief to be true and how you come about your stance.
3. Talk only on policy. Never, never call someone’s personal belief out. We can only carry out our own sense of what is right. It is OK, to express your own, but not to denegrate others.
4. If in common ground we cannot part, agree to disagree.
And in these four rules, I wish to see people lay out their compass… how they created theirs and where is is pointing to. I will be asking people who oppose me to write here as well.
Wasn’t the intention that we would work together to get somewhere? Even in our vast differences, even in the forefathers, they had a tie that could bind them. Can we stregthen ours rather than letting it become frayed and unraveled?
Some in my party say it cannot be done. Who else to do it then? Will it be you?
