THE WAR IS OVER... (continued)

This is a continuation of my rantings last night. They were actually part of an email I sent to a fellow blogger as we discussing some comments written by a rather conservative reader. I wrote a rather vitriolic comment which was removed, as it should have. The following was intended to explain why I wrote what I did. The name has been changed.

I'm glad we're on the same side here on this. I admire your ability to keep your head in these discussions. I just can't anymore. These past 6 years have been very hard for me & it's made me realize just how intolerant I am! I've come to the conclusion that I just don't think I could maintain any close relationships with people if I know they're politically on the right. I know...that's pretty bad of me, but I'm being honest here. Just like I couldn't respect anyone who chooses to believe in Creationism over Darwinism anymore. Or even religious extremists of the Evangelical persuasion (actually, any religion).

I've barely held onto my sanity through reading my leftie political blogs, watching The Daily Show, Bill Maher, Keith Olbermann, listening to Al Franken, reading Daily Kos & Huffington Post, or Michael Moore. I have a chronic illness so I stay home a lot & these were my lifelines. For reals.

The Carols of this world in all their self-righteous self-deluded smugness about their media-fed vision of this country have had their time & it's over! They screwed things up royally, remember? Why shouldn't we call them on it? They've brought this world to the brink of disaster -- warfare, terrorism, pollution, global warming, etc etc... you name it!

I've lost my cool. I wish I could be more like you, but I can't. I'm too old for this. I marched against the war in Vietnam many, many years ago. I was in Chicago for the 1968 Democratic Convention. I witnessed first-hand all this shit back then and here we are living through a new "fresh hell".

So now you know where I'm coming from a little better. People like Carol will never see the world accurately as it really is. They would self-destruct if they did. Looking at her blog, her feelings are all wrapped up with her father having served in the military & her nice, neat little vanilla-scented Republican world. If they really saw this war for what it was they would unravel. I've seen this with people who have a loved one serving over there. They HAVE to keep up the illusion that this is a matter of honor to serve our country, blah, blah, blah. They were saying the same things back in the 60s with Vietnam ("My country, right or wrong..."). Damn! Won't we ever learn???

Listen, thanks for letting me spew all this madness out here in this email. It was actually very therapeutic! I'm really pretty fairly sane & balanced about most other things... really I am! I think this stuff is what has caused me to seek refuge in my garden & growing things; to create beautiful art & wonderful food. To look to the deeper meanings of life. To the important stuff. The rest is fluff anyway. Life is about love & family & our kids (my are all pretty grown up now). Just like it was for the poor Iraqis, once upon a time.

Take care & keep writing. You're doing a good job. Keep in touch if you'd like. I'm here.