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[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

> I thank Bev for the congratulations that she offered so generously 
> last night. The amount of vitriol on this list is saddening to me. 
> The rift between people I care for and respect and others that I care
>  for equally needs to be mended. Perhaps in a week or two or three, 
> we can work on that. Or maybe not.

Thank you Marie, and all, for your kindness.  I was sincere in my
congratulations.  I'm not going to do a Hasselback just yet, but I will
try harder to see the positive side of living in a New America. More on
that later.

My issues with certain list members are not new.  I left this list once
because of the double standard that I saw.  I left again last night, and
came back today.  This post is about anger.
I have a lot of leftover anger regarding this election and this list.
The list is the only place I really discuss politics, and this election
is my first foray into political discussions in the 13 or 14 years or
whatever that I have been here.  I have participated at a cost to my
personal relationships, and I am not referring to Gene.  Don't get me
wrong, I entered the fray knowing that I was amongst those who held
opposite opinions, and for the most part, I do enjoy reading views that
are opposite mine, however there is often a double standard on this list
that favors liberalism and those who lean to the left, and that double
standard really bothers me. <Palin voice on> If you can't see the double
standard, then you are probably one of the ones I'm talkin' about.<Palin
voice off> ;)

I was chastised for labeling people as Pro and Anti-Obama and yet, those
same people have said nothing about Gene labeling me as closed minded or
Moon's characterization of Sarah Palin as trash.(Sorry to pick on you
Moon, that was just the most recent label that I have read on the list)
  A label is apparently ok, if the liberal members agree with it.  And
then there is so much talk of respect and civility, and yet, that rule
only seems to apply to some people and not others. Gene posted an
article with his baiting and confrontational comments, and I responded
with an argumentative opinion. Gene said recently that he respected my
opinion, but when I voiced it in response to his post, he called me
closed minded.  Yesterday or before that, he started off a post to Drew
questioning Drew's open-mindedness, which automatically makes a person
go into defense mode.  It is all super ironic, since I think Gene is the
one with a closed mind when it comes to hearing negative things about Obama.

I have always, always, been someone who tries to make peace and find
middle/common ground because I don't like conflict. This is true of me
on this list and in my personal life. I should be safe to venture into
the following as I think I am beyond the first 100 words that Gene reads
of my posts. (and btw, wasn't that a shining example of being
respectful, to tell someone that you only read the first 100 words or so
of their posts, and yet, the same day, post a link to a multiple page
article for the list to read-it felt like a slap in the face to me-and I
am still hurt, one of the reasons I don't feel like I belong here
anymore.  Anyway, there was talk recently of looking for commonalities,
but when someone wants to say that it is daytime when it is clearly
nighttime just to goad another into an argument, well, there is no
talking to someone like that.
Here is an example, look at this:
> It is never enough to stop exposing criminality. The Supreme 
> Presidency and the DC Whorehouse exist as they do because too few 
> Americans make efforts to expose it and to vote against the 
> wrongdoers. "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."

Gene wrote that a week or so ago.  I think, by all accounts, Ayers
committed criminal acts. Even Obama says they were despicable.  But not
Gene.  He can see the criminality in W, but not in Ayers.  He can see
the criminality in the DC Whorehouse, but only on the Republican side.
How can you find commonality with someone when you can't even agree on
what 'criminal' means or what the DC Whorehouse is?  Oh, he will now
probably come out and say 'despicable' isn't 'criminal' or play some
other word game,,,whatever.  He did make a relevant quote though.  The
price of freedom *is* eternal vigilance.  And when there is something
wrong, it is our civic duty to expose it.  That is why I will continue
to ask questions about Obama.  We need, no, we deserve to know
everything about the man whom we are to trust to keep us safe from all
threats both foreign and domestic. Since he is not volunteering
information and has blocked information, it is our duty to get tough and
to try to find out what is being hidden.  There are a lot of gaps in his
history. There is a lot to question.  I'm not liking some of the answers
I've gotten. Obviously, some people don't even care that there are
gaps....'it's irrelevant' they say, but maybe, just maybe, those of us
who do care, who do see the gaps and the problems, might just be the
torch and canary bearers as we venture into the future.  IMO, if we can
discuss Sarah Palins pregnancy or lack of one, we can discuss the faults
and foibles of President Elect Obama.  We certainly discussed the faults
and foibles of Bush, Clinton, and every other president of the last 50
years.

I said in the beginning of this post that I had a lot of anger about
this election.  I've thought a lot about it over the last week or so,
and I think I am most angry with our educational system because people
are simply not informed.  A 24 year old guy Ron works with did not vote
because he did not register because "that new college picks the
president so I don't have to vote".  Then, there are the more informed
people who are swayed by the media or their family or their peers, but
who never truly think for themselves and don't truly understand the big
picture. There are all kinds of education problems.  Some of us, myself
and Sarah Palin included, didn't study politics or government, and
before this election did not have a clear picture of the differences
between socialism and communism and capitalism and fascism and all the
-isms of economics and politics.  I'm still learning.  So there's
educational anger...
There is also racial anger.  My entire life, I have believed that race
does not matter.  I was taught, like I taught my children, to live by
the words of Martin Luther King, to judge a man, not by the color of his
skin, but by the content of his character.  I live by that. I believe
that to be a truth-a path to a better world, and that is why I taught it
to my children.  And yet in this election, I see hundreds of thousands
of black people who have voted for Obama not on the content of his
character, but on the color of his skin.  This angers me, and I fully
expect that I will not be alone in my anger on this matter.   I feel
that white people, the MSM, and even some people on this list gave Obama
a pass because of his race, and never looked very hard at the rest of
the picture.  His childhood and upbringing did affect him...it led to
his ideology.  The problem is, I see a blue violet ideology and you see
blue green ideology, and no one really knows where Obama lies in the
spectrum...and it does matter, because we deserve to know.
One more comment about race and then I will let it go here.  I think
contrary to popular opinion, that Obama's election will hurt race
relations in this country.  When I say New America, this is what I
reference.   We are now living in a new and different America, where
attitudes are very different than they were even three days ago.  When
you combine the new sense of  empowerment blacks feel, with the
expectation that Obama will be a savior to the poor, with the anger that
whites have over reverse racism and ideological anger like what I feel
and described above, you end up with problems and I think you will start
to see the clashes very soon, even before the inauguration.  Today, at
the dealership where Ron works, black employees did not show up for
work.  I don't know how widespread this is, but I know it is at least
greater than a local phenomenon because I have heard the same comments
from people in other cities. Apparently, some people don't see the need
to work, because their housing, insurance, gasoline, and medical bills
will soon be taken care of. They can't wait for Socialism to take
effect.  I personally hope that people come to their senses soon, but I
fear this behavior will grow and that there will be serious implications
to race relations.  One of the guys that works with Ron, Rocky, is a
sweet man.  He's older than me, and illiterate, but he has a huge heart
and well, he's the kind of guy you would want to tell stories to your
grandkids.  He's dirt poor-takes care of his handicapped sister, and
they treat him like crap at work-he's the guy who cleans up new and used
cars.  We always just give him eggs because he only makes $7/hour.  In
10 years, Rocky has never been out of work, but He laid out today.  I
can pretty well tell you that Rocky wasn't out partying in the streets
getting drunk.  I believe that he believes that he and his sister will
be taken care of. <sigh>  If Rocky is buying into that, we are in real
trouble, my friends.  I am angry with Obama for misleading decent
hardworking black people.

I am also angry that I was not able to convince anyone to vote against
Obama, either for a Libertarian or for McCain or another party/write in.
 I could not even convince my naive daughter, who believes that with
Obama's help, she will be able to go back to school full-time.   So I
feel like I failed her in that regard.  My fears of Socialistic change
in this country have also led me to be angry about the future for my
granddaughter.  I want her to be able to sit and write 1000 word or
10000 word dissertations against her President should she choose to do
so.  I would like to have left this Homestead to my children, but I fear
that they will never own it because they won't be able to pay the taxes.

So that's as much of it as I have been able to figure out.
I'm not leaving homestead just yet because it is my duty to be vigilant.
 I expect that that will cause problems, and for that I will apologize
in advance, but perhaps you will try to understand that my search for
what I feel is truth is my way of coming to terms with my feelings.
Perhaps, while I am looking at Obama, I will see in him what Oprah sees.
 I doubt I will, but I promise that I will try to see things in a more
positive light.
In that vein, I have to share this..
I have Fox on TV, A few minutes back Alan Colmes said (in good spirit)
How did Liberals convince enough Conservative Americans to elect a
Socialist like Barack Obama?..lol..
--
“Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to
hate. Hate leads to suffering.”        Yoda