Or the Right, for that matter.
Quite the contrary. I am more resolved than ever to continue the good fight in exposing Liberal lunacy. For those of you who were ecstatic that I may have given in, I’m sorry to disappoint you. I am merely stating that I have given up trying to convince those who disagree with me that I am right and they are wrong. Had I offered up documented proof positive that they are all 100% wrong on everything they say, They would not change their opinions.
Within such opinion breathes the soul of the American spirit.
But in spite of those who wish I would just shut up, I offer this explanation, in the words of Cyrano De Bergerac:
“What would you have me do? Seek for the patronage of some great man, and like a creeping vine on a tall tree, crawl up where I cannot stand alone?
No, thank you!
Be a buffoon in the vile hope of teasing out a smile on some cold face?
No, thank you!
Eat a toad for breakfast every morning? Make my knees calloused, cultivate a supple spine, wear out my belly groveling in the dust?
No, thank you!
With my left hand, scratch the back of any swine that roots up gold for me, while my right, too proud to know his partner’s business, takes in the fee?
No, thank you!
Shall I use the fire God gave me to burn incense all day long?
No, thank you!
Struggle to insinuate my name into the columns of the Gazette? Calculate? Scheme? Be afraid? Love more to make a visit than a poem? Seek introductions? Favors? Influences?
No, thank you! No, I thank you, and again, I thank you!
But to sing, to laugh, to dream. To walk in my own way. Free! With an eye to see things as they are. A voice that means manhood. To cut my hat where I choose. Not a word. A yes? A no? To fight….Or write. But never to make a line I have not heard in my own heart. To travel any road under the sun, under the stars. Nor care if fame or fortune lie beyond the borne. Yet, with all modesty to say, ‘My soul be satisfied with flowers. With weeds. With thorns, even.’ But gather them in the one garden you may call your own.
In a word, I’m too proud to be a parasite. And if my needs are like the germ that grows towering to heaven like the mountain pine, I stand not high, it may be, but alone.”
Bottom line is this: I am not going to worry anymore about offending people. As long as I am expressing an honest opinion and I am respectful, I would expect my friends to understand that. If they aren't my friends then I don't care.
But no pulling punches.
9 comments:
Aaah...Cyrano...now there's a man who epitomizes panache and rapier wit.
A toad for breakfast--
I say "No thank you," too. Yuk!
You have to be true to yourself.
I think it's possible to disagree with someone without being offensive. As long as a tone of civility is maintained, different opinions are easier to swallow.
Something tells me, Mark, that in spite of what you say, you are still going to worry about offending people. I don't see that as a bad thing.
I think we should be show concern for others' feelings.
Being honest and not pulling punches doesn't necessarily mean being a jerk.
where have you been mark...haven't seen you on my blog lately???
I don't have you blogrolled, Game. I don't know why. If you aren't blogrolled, I don't visit. I normally only visit the sites that I haven't blogrolled when they comment on mine. I just visited your site again and I was impressed, so I will blogroll you now.
Somewhere, I think in a movie I saw or a book I read some years ago, an official says to the President something along the lines of;
“Forty percent of the population will love you whatever you do just because you are a [member of your party.] You could go out, mug little old ladies for their pensions and steal candy from kids and they would still vote for you. Then there are the forty percent of the population who will never vote for you because you are a [member of your party.] You could balance the budget, give everyone a job for life and free healthcare and you still wouldn’t win those votes. You need to forget about those people; nothing you can do will change their minds. You need to concentrate on the twenty-percent of the population whose minds can be changed, who actually think about the issues and make up their own minds, because they are the ones who will decide between you and [your opponent.]
I’d say that’s what you need to do in your blog; forget the extremists on both sides because most people see them for what they are and don’t take them seriously. Democrats.org may think Bush is worse than Hitler but I’m sure there is also a Republican site out there which thinks he is better than Mother Teresa too. It’s all cant and doesn’t convince anybody who makes a difference.
So are you going to ‘preach (rant?) to the choir’ or are you going to evangelise your cause with rational arguments?
If you can't be frank, honest and true to your own feeling on your own blog, then where can you? I enjoy your prose dearest Cyrano-so keep it up!
Mark, I have never worried one whit about offending people on my blog.
When they go there, they know what they are in for.
However, I have had my feelings hurt a time or two by people with whom I was argueing.
It's good to know that you have not given up, but rather have reinforced your resolve to state the truth, as you see it, no matter what the consequences.
I personally am glad you haven't given up.
I value your opinions way too much to just let you go that easily.
-TUG
I was worried about you, Mark.....But am thrilled you have finally taken my advice, to not try to pursuade the unpursuadable.
You will live much longer, and be much happier.
Keep fighting the good fight......And it is the good fight.
Excellent attitude you are developing. I think Liam sums up what I was trying to say in my comment on the previous post, except better than I said it.
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