Warning, politics and contradictions ahead...
I... have been meaning to type this up for awhile but it always leaks out of my head before I've managed it. If anyone would like to take a stab at solving this puzzle for me...eh, that's not really what I mean, but I guess I'm just totally at a loss.
I present to you:
I've never met two more complex, interesting, FRUSTRATING people. Both are experienced sailors and have seen more parts of the world than some people my age can name on a map, and have pictures to prove it. (The uncomplete list: Tahiti, Fiji, the Phillipines, Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, more islands in the south Pacific than I can name, China, Madagascar, South Africa, Israel (including Jerusalem), Jordan, Alaska, and Canada. Not to mention pretty much all fifty states. They circumnavigated halfway round the globe by themselves, met in New Zealand, and got married, and finished the trip together.
They're open-minded and forward thinking. Really and truly. They have more gay friends than *I* do (and that's saying something) and my grandmother won't eat a lot of run-of-the-mill by-at-Kroger food because she knows how unhealthy it is. She won't eat beef because of fear of mad cow disease. They're environmentally minded and make excellent use of the internet as well as many other modern things that a lot of people over seventy can't. They're neither homophobic nor xenophobic, and yet...they think Bush is an excellent President and plan on voting for him again this fall.
WHAT THE FUCK?
I've asked them about this SO many times in an honest attempt to understand WHY they think he is a good president, and I'm still confused. And part of what makes it damned hard to argue with them, sometimes, is because, frankly, I'm not as well informed as they are. When John makes an argument, he BACKS IT THE FUCK UP. He can bring to bear years of watching the political scene back from before I was ever born, as well as books, articles, specific events, political tendencies (dude we talk about the different definitions of governments and why the electoral college needs to go and why the current judicial system is flawed, this is NOT base ignorance or single-minded bigotry) and Mary is the same way and I just---can't.
But, like, he thinks Michael Moore is as bad as the KGB or the Gestapo, in terms of spreading propaganda and lies. WTF?! I've argued with him on this (And I'm actually really good at smacking down false comparisons, it's something we've done OVER and OVER in my English essay-writing classes) and I'm just boggled by how STUBBORN they both are. And they think the war in Iraq is both vital and necessary. And that Bush isn't anti-environmental, and that he's making intelligent decisions related to our economy and our military and our relations with foriegn countries. ANd it's so hard for me, because every time I try to argue he out-facts and out-maneuvers me and he's not mean about it, or even harsh, but I'm like X,X and sometimes it gets to the point where I have to retreat just to even figure out what the fuck I'm trying to say anymore. Ack!
Other things about them confuse me, too. You all know how much I love religion and culture. Well, they're both convinced that the Muslim population of the world is the single biggest threat to Americans and western culture as we know it. WTF?! And you know, it would be harder to call them wrong based on ignorance if they hadn't...read the Quran. Several times. And read many well-respected sources on it. And...John is an atheist and Mary is, too, I suspect, though she never talks about it and OH MY GOD IT IS SO VERY FRUSTRATING TO LIVE WITH THESE PEOPLE SOME TIMES.
I have my convictions, they're not going to change. I know who I'm voting for this fall (KERRY) and why (gay rights issues, mostly, though so many other things that Bush has done make me sick to my stomach).
It's just frankly mind-blowing to live with these people that I respect so very much, and who are obviously intelligent, educated, capable, and respectable. I'm guessing there's a lesson in here somewhere. *Sighs* Oy, off to the street fair.
I present to you:
I've never met two more complex, interesting, FRUSTRATING people. Both are experienced sailors and have seen more parts of the world than some people my age can name on a map, and have pictures to prove it. (The uncomplete list: Tahiti, Fiji, the Phillipines, Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, more islands in the south Pacific than I can name, China, Madagascar, South Africa, Israel (including Jerusalem), Jordan, Alaska, and Canada. Not to mention pretty much all fifty states. They circumnavigated halfway round the globe by themselves, met in New Zealand, and got married, and finished the trip together.
They're open-minded and forward thinking. Really and truly. They have more gay friends than *I* do (and that's saying something) and my grandmother won't eat a lot of run-of-the-mill by-at-Kroger food because she knows how unhealthy it is. She won't eat beef because of fear of mad cow disease. They're environmentally minded and make excellent use of the internet as well as many other modern things that a lot of people over seventy can't. They're neither homophobic nor xenophobic, and yet...they think Bush is an excellent President and plan on voting for him again this fall.
WHAT THE FUCK?
I've asked them about this SO many times in an honest attempt to understand WHY they think he is a good president, and I'm still confused. And part of what makes it damned hard to argue with them, sometimes, is because, frankly, I'm not as well informed as they are. When John makes an argument, he BACKS IT THE FUCK UP. He can bring to bear years of watching the political scene back from before I was ever born, as well as books, articles, specific events, political tendencies (dude we talk about the different definitions of governments and why the electoral college needs to go and why the current judicial system is flawed, this is NOT base ignorance or single-minded bigotry) and Mary is the same way and I just---can't.
But, like, he thinks Michael Moore is as bad as the KGB or the Gestapo, in terms of spreading propaganda and lies. WTF?! I've argued with him on this (And I'm actually really good at smacking down false comparisons, it's something we've done OVER and OVER in my English essay-writing classes) and I'm just boggled by how STUBBORN they both are. And they think the war in Iraq is both vital and necessary. And that Bush isn't anti-environmental, and that he's making intelligent decisions related to our economy and our military and our relations with foriegn countries. ANd it's so hard for me, because every time I try to argue he out-facts and out-maneuvers me and he's not mean about it, or even harsh, but I'm like X,X and sometimes it gets to the point where I have to retreat just to even figure out what the fuck I'm trying to say anymore. Ack!
Other things about them confuse me, too. You all know how much I love religion and culture. Well, they're both convinced that the Muslim population of the world is the single biggest threat to Americans and western culture as we know it. WTF?! And you know, it would be harder to call them wrong based on ignorance if they hadn't...read the Quran. Several times. And read many well-respected sources on it. And...John is an atheist and Mary is, too, I suspect, though she never talks about it and OH MY GOD IT IS SO VERY FRUSTRATING TO LIVE WITH THESE PEOPLE SOME TIMES.
I have my convictions, they're not going to change. I know who I'm voting for this fall (KERRY) and why (gay rights issues, mostly, though so many other things that Bush has done make me sick to my stomach).
It's just frankly mind-blowing to live with these people that I respect so very much, and who are obviously intelligent, educated, capable, and respectable. I'm guessing there's a lesson in here somewhere. *Sighs* Oy, off to the street fair.