Saturday, February 18, 2006

Fed Up

"In politics you must always keep running with the pack. The moment that you falter and they sense that you are injured, the rest will turn on you like wolves." ~ R. A. Butler

You might have noticed by now that my blog postings often reflect my mood. If I am feeling depressed, you can tell. If I am angry, happy, stressed, or frustrated, it shows in my posts.

Today, before I had a chance to post today's comment, I had to make a special trip to central Pennsylvania. Because this is a Saturday, the regular radio programs I normally listen to weren't on so I was scanning the dial looking for an interesting program.

I came across an encore Randi Rhodes' program from earlier in the week. If you don't know who she is, she's one of Air America's talk show hosts.

And I listened until her show was over, and then a Tom Hoffman (I never heard of him)came on.

I had found the Air America network.

And do you know what I discovered?

Aside from the fact that they and their loyal listeners buy into every conspiracy theory that comes down the pike, as long as it implicates the Republicans, they really aren't that much more mean spirited than some of us Conservatives. Well, actually, the hosts aren't bad. Their callers are.

But some of us Conservatives get pretty insulting at times, too.

So can you guess my mood today?

Truthfully, I am so fed up with the kind of political sniping that goes on forever between Conservatives and Liberals, that I feel like throwing up my hands. It just doesn't seem worth it to waste my time commenting anymore. What good does it do?

I guess the final straw, to me, is this Vice President hunting accident thing. What is the point in hammering this thing into the ground?

Iran is threatening the very existence of Israel and building nukes.

And Vice President Cheney accidentally shot his friend.

Muslims are going berserk all over the world, rioting, burning buildings, killing people. Over some cartoons.

Cartoons!

And Cheney injured his hunting partner.

Landslides in the Philippines may claim the lives of 1,800 people.

And Cheney had a beer 5 hours before shooting his friend.

Two U. S. Helicopters collided during training exercises off the coast of Africa, and 16 men are missing, feared dead.

And the White House press corps is upset that Cheney didn't tell them about shooting his friend before he notified a local newspaper.

The United Arab Emigrates are poised to buy a company that operates several U.S. shipping ports, creating a security risk to America.

And Cheney admitted responsibility for accidentally shooting his friend.

A Muslim cleric offered 1 million dollars for the death of the cartoonist responsible for the infamous Mohammed cartoons.

And the press has pressured Cheney to explain how he accidentally shot his friend as if there is an ulterior motive of some kind. Why can't we just accept that it may have been an accident?

Hoo boy! When will we learn?

Isn't being civil and adult towards each other more important than these petty immature little squabbles? Aren't the imminent threats to the world by all these crazed fanatics and unhinged world leaders more important than how long it took Cheney to report his accident?

We had better get our priorities straight, and fast. We can't afford to take our eyes off the prize. It could mean our eventual demise if we do.

I think I will try to take the high road from now on in my daily posts. This bickering and fighting just isn't worth the stress it causes. And I don't like getting angry at people over things I cannot control.

But don't hold me to that tomorrow when I go off on yet another rant.

12 comments:

Malott said...

I'm sorry, but trashing your commander-in-chief on the soil that produced 9/11 terrorists... in a time of war... deserves a rant. Encouraging terrorists in Iraq to just hang on till the next American election deserves a rant. 34 monsters in the U.S. Senate voting to keep partial-birth abortion legal deserves a rant. Some things and some people are so outrageous that it would be almost an outrage not to rant.

So please... Rant on.

Jim said...

Chris: Unless you are in the military, Bush is not your commander-in-chief. He's not mine.

4, good post. I'm actually a little surprised at your reaction to Randi. It's kind of funny. I get in the the car on my way home from work. I listen to Randi (ironically on the right of the dial) and flip back and forth to (I'm holding my nose) Hannity. I often have to turn off Randi because she just doesn't stop and she can be very repetitive.

So I turn to Hannity to see how many "Sean, you're a great American" butt kisses I can stand before I just turn to classic rock.

But your point is well taken. Civil discourse is much more interesting and rewarding than shrill name-calling (see above post).

Erudite Redneck said...

This is why I really have to be pissed to post about politics lately, and why I skim over most posts about politics.

Of course, we get closer to November and I'll have to pick things up.

Goat said...

I hear ya Mark. I guess they choose to not learn

Poison Pero said...

Politics is ugly, Mark.......Always has been, always will be.

Look back at the way Jefferson and Hamilton ripped each other......Look back at the "yellow journalists" of the early 20th Century.....Look back at any time in American history.

Politics is messy.......But it's far better than the only other option, though.

"War is the continuation of Politics by other means." - Clauswitz

"Politics is the continuation of War by other means." - Pero


There is no third way.

rich bachelor said...

But it sure is nice to see someone like yourself start to make a point about how similar we are when we are drawn toward the political, and then make it into something partisan, as usual.
Are you gonna figure it out sometime soon, y'think? That all media is manipulation, even the ones you like (especially those ones, in fact)? And it's very easy to think you're thinking something, even if someone else put it in your head (check the last thing I said about you at ER's).
You ready? Time to grow up.

Mark said...

Rich, your attutide of self importance overwhelms me. In fact, I think it overwhelms you. What an egotist! You are so into yourself, you don't even realize how little your opinion means to anyone else. Especially me.

Time for me to grow up? Geeez, you are an arrogant bastard! Most of your comments don't even make sense, like your last one.

Here's a news flash for you, smart guy:

I AM partisan, or haven't you realized that by now?

At least I'm honest, which is more than anyone can say of you.

You lost all credibility when you said you think Bush orchestrated the attack on 9/11, even after Osama admitted to doing it himself.

If you don't like what you read here, don't visit.

Erudite Redneck said...

Mark , apparently, is not as "fed up" as he thought.

If you don't want to fight, there's one option: Don't fight.

Mark said...

ER, there is a big difference in being fed up with pettiness of Politics and responding to an insulting comment from an egomaniacal commentator.

You might want to tell him if he doesn't want to fight, don't bring it.

tugboatcapn said...

Mark, I agree with ER and Bachelor...

The sooner all of us right-wing nuts admit that we have been unreasonable and mean-spirited, and apologize, and agree to live as servants to liberals to appease them for our refusal to admit that we are stupid and need to wake up, and that they were smart and got it all along, and the world would be a Utopian Paradise by now had we only gotten out of their way a long time ago...

The sooner all this fighting and bickering will be over!

The WordSmith from Nantucket said...

Hope you're in a better mood this week. (~_^)

Erudite Redneck said...

Tug:

Do what?