Quote Of The Day, And A Rant

Apologies for the, um...frank language:

Well, I believe in the soul, the cock, the pussy, the small of a woman's back, the hanging curve ball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap. I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter. I believe in the sweet spot, soft-core pornography, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve and I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days.

- Crash Davis, Bull Durham

I disagree with some of what "Crash" said, but I dig the spirit. For the record, I do believe Astroturf and the DH are abominations, but I like opening one present X-mas Eve. Anecdote: I forced my parents to celebrate St. Nick's Day and Epiphany as part of a scheme to get more presents. I was an only child, so it mostly worked. Getting us back to our Jewish roots, however, was an absolute failure so no Chanukah.

The "debate" below, which began with a copy and paste troll post (our friend Touchy, who's been up to his spamming tricks), inspired this entry. Thing of it is, I believe a lot of different things, but some folks can't get passed the "liberal" label* that I carry and don't take the time to find out what I'm about.

You want to know what I believe? Don't assume anything, just ask me. I'll tell you exactly where I stand on a particular issue.

For example: flag waving. I'm sick of getting told what patriotism is by people who fly ratty flags from their cars. I'm sick of lockstep, mindless crap that requires me to act a particular way to be deemed patriotic. I'm sick of the debate about pledging allegiance to a piece of cloth.

Flying or pledging to a flag is not the definition of patriotism. I hold to the same idea as Republican Senator Carl Schurz of Wisconsin:

My country right or wrong. When right, to keep right; when wrong, to put right.

My country has been wrong since 2001. My country has been wrong in how it treats its most vulnerable citizens. My country is wrong in how it allows corporatism to ride roughshod over the needs of the people. My country is wrong in how it treats its environment. My country has been wrong in how it reacted to the horrific attacks on 9/11. My country has been wrong in how it prosecutes its current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

I aim to put it right.

[/rant]

ntodd

* I personally like the 2-D political model, which pegs me as a "left liberal" (I call that a "libertarian wannabe").  ¶ 9:13 PM