Monday Morning Ramblings

My friend Leon called last night and got her butt bit. I didn't do it on purpose, of course, but she walked into it blinded by her own lack of awareness. In the course of conversation which she had turned back to herself 3 or 4 times after politely asking about my week-end but not waiting for the answer, she said that she was disgusted with the liberal Democrats who were finding fault with President Bush's arriving on an aircraft carrier aboard a fighter plane which he had not piloted, but still dressed in a flight suit, giving a triumphal speech to the troops. I couldn't believe that she had the audacity to criticize anyone who took exception to it. Especially since I thought it was done in incredibly poor taste and told her so. If he likes the idea of being a fighter pilot, he should have joined others of his generation in Vietnam, rather than ducking by getting into the Texas Air National Guard using family connections and then not doing that honorably, disappearing as it were just when he was supposed to be tested for drugs.

I think Leon was a little shocked by the vehemence of my reaction to her comment. Even though she was backing away from the conflict as she was hanging up, today she'll wake up and be angry with me. She'll tell her friends that we just can't talk politics because of the extremity of my views. She'll take no responsibility for bringing the subject up, or that she was participating in an aggressive campaign against dissent. I'm okay with that. I realized a long time ago that she wasn't interested in my opinion. She probably hasn't visited this blog since I sent out announcements to various friends that I would be coming here to express my feelings and opinions rather than subjecting them to a near constant barage of articles to read. I don't think she even noticed that I had stopped forwarding articles and links. Again, I'm not faulting her for her lack of interest, but I have noticed it.

She demonstrates perfectly why I'm so turned off by what passes for political debate in this country. She has absolutely no interest in any facts that do not support her predetermined view of the situation. Even to the point of personal cost. She did so much better financially during the Clinton years than she has done during the Bush years, either Bush's years. She has given Clinton no credit for anything. She feels she is very balanced in her approach: Everything good that happened during Clinton's years were due to something else. Everything good that happens during Bush's tenure is because Bush is strong and courageous, and all bad is the result of the unAmerican dissent. I don't mind that a good friend has such a simplistic point of view, I'm only offended when they insist I abandon my own knowledge and experience and endorse their simplistic point of view. No thanks, I'd rather not.