Politics

Welcome to another edition of I Comment Therefore I Am, where I put together a post from comments that I’ve left on other blogs or comments that have been left on mine.

Sometimes I read a post and leave a comment that is far too long, not because I want to detract from the post, but because the author really made me think about something. My very wise and insightful friend Traci wrote a piece, An American Tragedy, that elicited one of the longest comments I’ve ever left. I highly recommend that you read her post. Here’s what I had to say…

I’m glad you wrote about this, Traci. There is no way to make sense of the senseless, but we all have a right to use our voice. I think the only good that can come out of this is to remind ourselves that violence is never the answer and that in a democracy discourse amongst all citizens is to be welcomed and should be encouraged, not savagely attacked.

I think it takes an extremely unstable person to commit such an atrocious act, but the rest of us that are supposedly stable need to take a good look at ourselves and realize that we are not truly supporting the notion of what democracy in this country is supposed to be about. We should all be involved and care. Without us it won’t work, but resorting to violence, slander, misinformation, scare tactics is not beneficial.

As far as speaking about politics, many of us steer away from it because it is so volatile. I hear people condemn celebrities for stating their political views publicly, but you know what I think? Screw that! Politics is not just for politicians and political pundits. Sure there are experts, but we are all experts on how the political affects our personal life. Politics is for the people and by the people. I don’t have to agree with the views that celebrities or public personas espouse, but I wholeheartedly embrace their right to speak out. Just like I wholeheartedly embrace the right of every citizen to be a part of the dialogue.

Let’s stop shaming people for being liberal or conservative. Let’s stop pretending that things are only black and white with no gray area in the middle. A Democrat and a Republican that vote in this country are the same thing: they are citizens of the same nation. We are not enemies. We all basically need and want the same things, we just don’t agree on the best way to achieve our goals.

I’m not going to go around antagonistically shoving my political leanings down your throat, but I am not going to be in the closet about them either.

Let me clearly state:

“My name is Unknown Mami, I am a Liberal. I love my Conservative brothers and sisters. I may not agree with them all of the time or even most of the time, but I promise that I will listen. I promise that if an idea truly makes sense I will support it regardless of what “party” introduces it. I promise that I will not just disagree as a knee-jerk reaction. I will not defend my ideas or political stance at the expense of progress. I am not a slave to my political party or its ideologies. I am proud of politicians that make hard decisions and cross party lines, it shows me that they are not just cogs in the political machine.”

My opinions are just my opinions, they are not meant to belittle, diminish, or detract from the opinions of others. They are also not set in stone. I leave room for the fact that I am fallible. Live and learn.

That’s it for this edition of I Comment Therefore I Am.

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