Disgusting

I have never been so revolted by people on BOTH sides of the aisle in Congress. I listened to the end of Obama's health care speech last night, on my way home from work. I had tuned in late enough that NPR made sure to get Republican and Democrat responses to the speech.

To sum up:

Republicans: A catastrophe!
Democrats: A beautiful speech!
Me: YOU ARE ALL CHILDREN.

Here's what I would love: civilized, rational people summing up the pros and cons of Obama's plan, vocalizing the needs and wants of their constituents in a calm way. Hopefully taking as much time to listen as they would to speak, if not more. I'm usually liberal leaning, but really EVERYONE is disgusting me. Joe Wilson's rude outburst is just as offensive as Howard Dean's smooth-talking "What a home run!" in referencing the speech.

Can someone point out to me some members of Congress who actually LISTENED to the speech, and didn't form a knee-jerk reaction based on whether or not they believe they should be perceived as rejecting or accepting anything that comes out of the President's mouth?

I'm open to recommendations.

THE DEBATE

Let's talk about it!

Okay, so maybe it's no secret who I happen to be voting for in the upcoming election. This doesn't mean I'm not open to discussion, and if you aren't voting for this guy, you shouldn't be, either.

Now, if you're not voting, I don't think I'm in a place to discuss anything with you until you change your mind. I simply have no tolerance for that stance.

Oregon's pretty much already decided - we're a blue state through and through. So when I was cut off today by a pickup truck with a "McCain/Palin" sticker prominently displayed in the back window, my reactions were "Hey!" and, almost immediately, "Ew!!"

It's a knee-jerk reaction. I learned it from my parents, whose philosophy is, "If you ever vote for a Republican, just please don't tell us."

And then I began to feel bad that I reacted that way. Here's a fella - a Joe Six Pack, if you will - who I didn't even know. I wrapped up all his philosophies and ideals in one little glance made after the frustration of slamming on my brakes. It's not like I'VE never cut anyone off before, and it's not like I don't know what his frustration must feel like right now. After all, I was living in Colorado for the 2000 election. And heck, I may have run into him through my new exciting hobby of political blog reading. He could very well be this guy.

We live in a culture where it's considered impolite to talk about politics in normal conversation with people we don't know very well. I've never understood that part of our society. Isn't it far more inefficient to NOT talk about it? How can we ever get things done? In fact, I've always suspected that it's not actually impolite, so much that one American doesn't want to look another American they're kind of fond of in the face and tell them they think everything they stand for is wrong. So we've come up with these labels of Republicans and Democrats to swiftly stop a conversation before it starts. To identify as one is supposed to tell anyone and everyone everything they need to know about where you stand. As if opinions and rational thought aren't fluid things that are SUPPOSED to change and be thought through. Or is that just my Left Wing Rationalism talking??

The age of blogging is an age of change, and I'm so happy. Because, much like breaking up with someone, it's so easy to put your political discussions in written form and leave it out for someone to read than to actually seek out a person-to-person conversation and debate face-to-face. And that's good enough for me.

It's a hot topic. And I'm excited to discuss it with anyone who's willing. Including that pickup truck driver.