"Politics are dirty--That's why I don't get involved."

Many people justify their disconnect from current events and their ignorance of national and world conditions by copping out thusly: “I don’t get involved with politics because politics are dirty.”

But the fact remains that the country is run by politicians, no matter how much we decry some of their principles, practices, and tactics—and guess who chooses the politicians.

So, we can either meekly accept what they dole out, or we can stand up and be heard—and sometimes the only way to be heard is to wave our arms and shout, no matter whose delicate sensibilities are ruffled.

Winston Churchill was vilified by his own countrymen when he stepped on toes and spoke the truth about the rising menace of Adolph Hitler’s Germany—and didn’t pull any punches in doing so.

His gentle and inoffensive rival, Neville Chamberlain was treated like a hero when he got off the airplane and waved a piece of paper that supposedly guaranteed “peace in out time.”

Unfortunately, it took millions of casualties and inestimable national treasure for a discomfiting Churchill to be proved right and a reassuring Chamberlain to be proved wrong.

In my book, we are at a point where the “undecideds” and those who would rather stay safely in their own comfy cubbies need to wake up to the danger that looms over us all—and to warn their neighbors, no matter how uncomfortable it may be to do so. If they don’t, it’s entirely possible that they’ll rue the day they failed to stand up to be counted, no matter whose delicate sensibilities they stepped on.

I wonder how many 1930s Germans wished they had been more outspoken instead of not risking offense. Standing on the deck of the Titanic and (safely) whispering “Iceberg ahead” wouldn’t have scared anyone or disturbed the ongoing social festivities, but it also wouldn’t have raised the warning in a timely or effective manner. Sometimes the watchmen on the tower wake those who are peacefully sleeping with their battle cries.

A final thought: According to the following article, some people are sheep, some are wolves, and some are sheepdogs—and generally speaking, the sheep don’t appreciate the sheepdogs until the wolves are among them. I know which type of critter I am, even if I’m more suited for verbal and/or electronic sparring than pistol packing.

http://mwkworks.com/onsheepwolvesandsheepdogs.html

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An open letter to my social media friends--  

ATTENTION:  The following “10 points” constitute “due warning and notice” of my intent to exercise my 1^st Amendment right of free speech on social media and your concurrent right not to expose yourself to it.  All readers of these posts should be advised that:

1. My political posts are not intended to be a personal attack on you and should not be construed as such. They are meant to be general in nature and are not directed at you—unless, of course, you happen to be one of the people specifically named in the info-graphic, article, or web-link.  In that case, it IS all about you.  Duh!

2. If you choose to interpret anything I post as a personal attack or insult maliciously directed against you, then that is your conscious choice and you bear the sole burden of interpreting it as such. Don’t blame your über-insecurity and latent guilt on me.

3. Choosing to take offense is just that:  a conscious choice to be a “victim.” Don’t try to blame your lack of tolerance or über-sensitivity on me.  Über—I like that adjective!

4. I am not a racist, nor do I espouse racial hatred (or any other form of divisive class warfare—remember, I’m not a Leftist).  Any endeavor to portray me otherwise is merely a projection of your own twisted logic, flawed judgment, and pathetic attempt to divert attention from the real issues at hand.

5. Stating my opinion about social issues does not constitute bigotry just because I disagree with your opinion or pet prejudices. If you preach “diversity” and “tolerance,” learn to tolerate diversity of thinking and opinion.

6. I will rarely provide detailed bibliographies for the sources of my information or opinions. Do your own research. If you don’t like or agree with the sources I use, that doesn’t make me a “liar,” nor does it automatically make them inaccurate. Frankly, I don’t have the time to make up for all the homework you should have been doing for, lo, these many years.

7. If my political posts or social media “shares” offend you, then simply block or de-friend me on your own account (I’ll probably never know) and stop reading my posts (and this blog).  You aren’t required to read what displeases you any more than I’m required to censor my comments to suit your cherished opinions.

8. If you choose to be offended by my posts but haven’t blocked or de-friended my social media account from yours, then I don’t want to hear about how hurt you are.  If you ignore this “10 points“ warning and then claim I’ve attacked you personally, I will assume you are a compulsive pathological masochist and I will simply delete your comments from my posts. I don’t buy into the willful-victim and self-inflicted misery mentality.

9. I have opinions that might differ from yours. GET OVER IT!!! Until the Leftist, politically correct “thought police” take over, it’s still a free country.

10.  I welcome and encourage appropriate and civil disagreement, but check your personal outrage, name-calling, foul language, and micro-thin skin at the door.

Over the past several years, it has been wonderful reconnecting with many of you and keeping in touch via this fun—but sometimes frustrating—medium.  However, I have had it with pseudo-liberals who give lip-service to “tolerance and diversity” but who are routinely intolerant of and angry about any opinions that diverge from their own. I don’t take personal offense at their anti-conservative, anti-Constitution, anti-religion, anti-family, anti-traditional marriage, anti-personal-responsibility posts, so why are they offended by my anti-Socialist, anti-Marxist, anti-big government, anti-Islamofascist posts? (See Orwell’s “Animal Farm,” in which the Leftists proclaim that “all animals are created equal, but some animals are created more equal than others.”)

Some of those social media “friends” have already “de-friended” me (which doesn’t bother me particularly—I feel sorry for their artificially selective sensitivity) and maybe even stopped considering me friends at all (which would sadden me greatly).  I’m mystified why they have chosen to interpret our differences of opinion or modes of expression as personal attacks or as constituting “name-calling,” because I certainly haven’t felt that way about them when they made similar postings from the opposite side of the fence. Stating my outlook on the state of the world, no matter how uncomfortable or inconvenient it may be, is not the same as superficial, groundless “name-calling.”  What is it about such folks that makes them so defensive and insecure?

It also deeply saddens me that I might be considered a racist or an enemy of our great nation, both of which accusations have been made by some who obviously know little of my life’s story but who have thoughtlessly chosen to attach damning labels to me because my opinions differ from theirs. 

So, rather than distress any delicate psyches or do irreparable damage to this wonderful country of ours, I’ve posted this notice so that those who are thin-skinned and easily offended can protect their fragile egos from “inconvenient truths.”

To those of you who haven’t chosen to take offense at anything I’ve posted on social media or who have recognized that taking offense is a choice that each of us controls, please know that I appreciate your good humor, your tolerance, your open-mindedness, and your non-judgmental friendship. I look forward to our continued interactions about things serious and otherwise.

Warmest regards to all,

Deane