Grow Up!!

I turn on the tube and what do I see A whole lotta people cryin’ ’don’t blame me’ They point their crooked little fingers at everybody else Spend all their time feelin’ sorry for themselves ... You wallow in the guilt; you wallow in the pain You wave it like a flag, you wear it like a crown Got your mind in the gutter, bringin’ everybody down Complain about the present and blame it on the past I’d like to find your inner child and kick it’s little ass Get over it Get over it All this bitchin’ and moanin’ and pitchin’ a fit Get over it, get over it - the Eagles ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ It's election year here in the States. The first one in which i am old enough to vote. Which i won't. I have proclaimed myself officially apolitical during my college years. I'm proud to be apolitical. Perhaps this is rather silly of me, but i've been stupid before. If anyone thinks they have a decent argument to the contrary i'm perfectly ready to listen, and be persuaded. And it's not solely because i am lazy, or because i have completely lost track of which state i'm now a resident of, or because the greatest difference i see between the candidates is the colour of their tie (although all of these things are true). It's because of Hurricane Katrina, a council of elders, my grandfather, my seventh grade Civics/English teacher, and several other small incidents which would be of even less interest to you than these (why, you may ask, if i think these events will interest you so little, are you writing about them? well, i may answer, i've got a lotta work to avoid and i'm desperate). The year i was in the seventh grade was also an election year. Civics was in the curriculum, and my teacher Mrs. Twinkletoes thought she would get us involved. The whole Mr. Smith Goes to Washington principle - don't get me wrong, i love the movie. Maybe it would've worked better if it hadn't been small, private, Christian school. She, along with the majority of the class, supported one particular candidate. One girl stood alone against us, and while we all liked her we all also treated her as deluded. Mrs. Twinkletoes included (i had other issues with her, and i hated to agree with her, but there it was). I simply couldn't understand how anyone could think differently than my father. Anyone who did so must be incredibly stupid, or evil, or both, and were therefore frightening. This whole time, my father and grandfather were also discussing the election, from opposite points of view. They seemed to get quite het up towards each other. This, also, frightened me. I couldn't imagine talking to my dad the way he was talking to his father*, simply over the state of the Union. Over the state of the Bathroom/Laundry/[insert disagreeable task here], well, that was a different matter entirely. The war happened. My father was in the Navy at the time, and i know several other people in the Military. The huge gulf between the information i was getting (and am still getting) from the general media, and the news from the actual soldiers, increased my distrust of any news source i was not personally aquainted with. Hurricane Katrina hit. It was immediately publicized. Everything was the result of a government-wide conspiracy by the other side. Some extremists linked it to other natural disasters such as a recent tsunami, claiming that nuclear bombs set off in the middle of the ocean were the obvious cause of all of this. If only the government was more environmentally friendly, or had given more money to the levees, or had remembered school buses, or had more affirmative action plans, or had surrendered in Iraq - whatever the pet projects of that particular party were. The whole situation was reported as Lord of the Flies-like as possible. It was ridiculous. Even worse, though, were the discussions i came acrost on the internet a few days later. One particular person reported seeing a van pulled over on the side of the road. A mother, with two young children. It appeared they had left hurriedly and it was in the vicinity of Katrina. This person had been going to pull over and offer assistance, but upon seeing the bumper sticker of a candidate they disagreed with, sped up and drove off. They later expressed regret at not running the lady over, or at least snatching her two children, so they wouldn't have to be raised by such a misguided individual. Several people expressed support. Other, similar, stories circulated, and on both sides of the political spectrum. It was too prevalent to be some sick joke - whether the original story was true or not, all the comments could hardly be faked. These people really saw those ideologically opposed to them as less than human. During the next election cycle, a church group regularly attended by one of my family members, met. An ostentatious event! A man stood up and said that he did not see how anyone could vote for an opposing candidate and still remain a Christian. He firmly believed that all people in the other party were going to Hell. Since then i have heard several similar sentiments expressed, also by people from both sides of the political spectrum. My father is a pastor, and while he has very strong political convictions, he takes great care never to speak politics from the pulpit. I have found that he is the exception rather than the rule. The most gentle, generous people i know will get involved in a political discussion, and suddenly everyone is out to get them. Conspiracies worthy of X-files abound and scenarios that wouldn't make the cut for the Twilight Zone are passionately believed. The "other" side is completely doltish, ignorant and behind the times. Yet these same people, once in power, are remarkably clever, incredibly devious, and in control of oil prices, foreign potentates, weather, the courses of the planets and the seasons of the moon. Please, people. Just get over it. UPDATE: The Anchoress is much more coherent on this subject in her post on Obama's prayer. _____ *In case you're wondering, my father and grandfather loved each other very much. They just disagreed with each other's political attitudes and alignments.