Politics

So, this morning I was a bored housewife hopped up on caffeine and got into a "political debate" of sorts on Facebook. I can't really call it a debate because there were no issues discussed, no exchange of ideas. More of a "I'm right, you're wrong, neener neener" kind of thing.

I'm a Republican. GASP! I know, shocking. But, I'm a liberal Republican. GASP LOUDER! I just never got around to changing my political party, and I don't feel like "Democrat" or "Republican" should define me. Although it's really more "Liberal" or "Conservative" that people have issues with now, I suppose.

A couple of interesting events that have happened to me to make me wonder why people are so fanatic about labels. First, a relative told me "Now that you got out of the military, you turned liberal." As though military service defines your political ideas. Guess what, I was always kind of liberal. And this morning, a very conservative friend posted the following on Facebook: "Going out to vote. All conservatives, of course. Have to get those left-wing nuts out of there." Now, I don't care if my friend votes all conservative, it really doesn't phase me. But just for fun, I wrote "But us left-wing nuts are so cute and adorable!" And THEN, some person I do not even know writes "Only when standing quietly. Once they open there [sic] mouths they need to be thrown away." What the hell? Nobody asked for my thoughts on any issues, but instead jumped to the conclusion that anything that comes out of my mouth is garbage? Well of course, I couldn't let that stand, so I replied with "You're right, I don't deserve an opinion of any sort" to which random girl said "Oh no, you can have an opinion." So which is it? I can speak up, but nothing I say is worthwhile, and definitely not worth even paying attention to? Hey, guess what, we might agree on an issue, but you would never know because you don't listen. OR, I should stand there quietly? So, I replied with "As long as I keep it to myself though. Because once I open my mouth, I need to be thrown away. Just trying to clarify at what level I get First Amendment rights." I mean, really that's what she was saying, right? And then it all got crazy when the original friends busts out with a "Liberals hate the military!" and my head about popped off. I hate it when ANYONE makes such blatent generic comments. Why not say "Hispanics are illegal immigrants!" "Women are bad drivers!"?

Anyway, I'm not sure if there's much of a point to this blog post, but to vent some frustration over the idea that people don't want to hear your political opinions. They instead want to put you in a category of people that agree with you and are allowed to speak their mind or people that disagree with you and therefore should just stand there quietly. No one wants to hear what you think on an issue. They just want to know if you're conservative or liberal and decide for themselves what that means.

I don't understand the political debate. I thought we were all trying to make this country better. Instead, it seems that whatever party does NOT hold the presidency spends 4-8 years trying to sabotage the administration just so they can say "I told you so" and then when they get into power, the other party does the same thing. At some point, can't we say "Ok, we have a Republican in the White House, so let's keep our Democratic ideals while still trying to make this administration as successful as possible." Or vice versa.

If that can't happen, I vote for secession. Maybe South Carolina had it right after all.