Finally I can honestly say I'm not a completely blind Obama-supporter. As I'm sure you all have heard Colin Powell endorsed Obama over the weekend expressing some of the same concerns about McCain's candidacy I expressed a couple of posts ago although he did it much more eloquently than I ever could. Powell's always been a guy I've respected and this endorsement has brought him some heat so I have no reason to believe this was politically motivated. And when the former Republican Secretary of Defense says the Ayers situation is a non-issue, its time to drop it. Check it out if you haven't.
And with that I'm done with politics and The Backbeat for a while. I'm voting absentee this year, I'm filling out and mailing my ballot today. My small part of the democratic process will be realized for this election so there won't be much use in me talking about it anymore.
This blog has become something I never intended it to be. I'm afraid I am portraying myself in a way that makes it much too easy for readers to jump to conclusions about my opinions and my world view. I'm quite lucky to have an interesting career that allows me to travel quite a bit and I wanted a blog to share that with family and friends both immediate and casual. In these important political times I began posting some of my opinions about political issues I felt passionately about as this was my blog about me and my life, but perhaps that was selfish of me. I guess nothing that is so freely available to the public can simply be an inward personal expression. We have had many heated debates as a result but more often then not there was an ugly tone that took over. I've been accused of having a big ego, one who would celebrate if our country fell, it's been insinuated that I am communist, that I support a totalitarian fascist that would strip our country of the liberties it was founded on ... its one thing to challenge someone's opinion, its another to provide unsolicited sarcastic and belittling remarks. But I'm not innocent of resorting to argument and insult as opposed to insightful debate either. I've had a lot of online discussions about the election on other sites recently; in particular, Facebook and a Colts Fansite that I frequent (of all the places!) and they've all been more respectful then what a few of the discussions here have dissolved in to. In some respects it makes sense that we would be more respectful to people we don't know as opposed to friends and acquaintances and in other respects it makes no sense at all.
Two things recently occurred that caused me to re-think the way I run my own blog. First a friend of mine emailed me their opinions about my first Sarah Palin post because they were too afraid of being attacked in the Comments section here. Attacked! I promise, I'm not making this up! Secondly, on another blog I simply asked a question about a sensitive topic (it was nothing more than a question, I know what a smartass I can be and I was very careful not to reflect that) and was immediately told I was trying to start crap and opinions that I hadn't even expressed were called in to question.
We complain so much about the polarizing state of American politics, how the two-party system is too divisive but we're guilty of doing the exact same thing: if you support Obama then you're pro-abortion, if you support gun control then you're communist, if you're pro-choice then you're anti-death-penalty, if you support government regulation then you're socialist, etc. None of those things are mutually exclusive. But I don't want to have to explain my entire ideology every time I show enthusiasm for a candidate or an issue important to me.
PLEASE UNDERSTAND THIS! I'm not trying to be self-righteous or passive-aggressive. I've spent a lot of time in chat rooms, message boards, social networking sites, and blogs over the past seven years (when I got my first PC), I know how posts like this can come across. I'm just going to step aside for a minute. The timing is good, I leave soon for NYC where I'll play the first week of the Carlyle with Mistah Tyrell along with some other dates. When I come back the election will be long over and hopefully so will all of the divisive discussions and heightened emotions.
I'm going to leave the comments section open for this post because you might think I'm making an accusation about you and I want to give you the opportunity to tell me to go to hell if you like, I'm not going to comment back. Just know that I am not trying to refer to any specific instance or absolve myself of fueling the fires.
Love, Peace, and Chicken Grease. Keep it funky, yo!
The End
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- Published:
- at 1:48 PM on Thursday, October 23, 2008
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5:37 PM
> Finally I can honestly say I'm not a completely blind Obama-supporter.
I thought a "blind supporter" was one who failed (or refused) to perceive any faults. Is that what you meant? What do you disagree with? Or did you mean something else by blind support?
> And with that I'm done with politics and The Backbeat for a while.
Do you mean politics ON the backbeat, or really politics AND the backbeat? I can understand you wanting to step away from the political issues, but it would be ashamed if you stopped altogether.
--patrick -
7:34 PM
Go to hell, Lyman.
;-)
yeah, its been rough over here. I would encourage you to give some consideration to the relative value of some good outcomes from those discussions: you and I have led each other into greater appreciation for certain issues. Frankly, I'll miss your insight if you choose to keep your politics quiet at The Backbeat but we can catch up one-on-one... You do have a public persona to be concerned with; I understand.
I think people blow off differences in political ideology but after all, the issues we confront in that arena are really important to who we are as people: do we care enough to help people who can't help themselves? Do we regard the needs of individuals as equal to, greater than, or less than the needs of businesses? Do we think that a woman's body becomes the jurisdiction of the government at conception? Those aren't trivial matters. This election cycle, I've come to realize that some people are not the kinds of humans I thought they were....
You have fun in the Big Apple. Are you going to be in and out of that gig this year? I thought my units were coming up to see you? -
4:52 AM
I'm glad it's almost over too. It's been too much. I want change on the things I care about most and am voting for that change. You were always a speech and debater and it does come across stonger and a little demeaning which fuels the fires for others like yourself. I'll be glad to hear about you again on this blog.
Kat - since Lym isn't commenting on this blog I will tell you he's only in NYC for a week and will miss your parental units. I talked to your mom the other day and told her that.
LYFE Milo's Nonna -
10:44 AM
I'm not sure why I feel the need to respond since I know Lyman won't, but for some reason I want to take this opportunity to try and clear the air.
It doesn't take too much effort looking at the politically charged posts on this blog to realize that there are a couple of major frustrations for Lyman. As ONE of the two major frustrations, I will apologize to all of Lyman's loyal readers for helping push Lyman into this blog sabbatical. I agree with Patrick that it would be a shame for you to not continue to keep people informed of your life even if you step back from the political topics. So I too hope you mean politics ON the Backbeat and not politics AND the Backbeat.
I will also apologize for what has become a very negative tone to the responses (from both sides) in those posts, even when there was no intent for that to happen. I still contend that through so many heated discussions, an assumed tone-of-voice was established that was not only false, but conversationally defeating. So I apologize for potentially perpetuating that tone.
I will not, however, apologize for wanting to challenge Lyman for his beliefs, just as I wouldn't want someone to apologize for challenging mine. I think the debate is healthy for both sides. It's only when we completely stop talking that things have a chance to go badly for this country. I really don't think that Lyman's core views are too terribly different than mine, we just have ideological differences on how to go about addressing them. But we have to be adult about the way we go about discussing them, and I think we all did a poor job of letting our emotions get to us and the negative tone appeared. If we are to have legitimate discussions, we can't allow that to happen in the future whenever Lyman decides to start writing again.
So with that two cents, I'll just say...
Go to hell Lyman. ;-) - 1:38 PM
- 4:51 PM
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5:43 PM
Sorry to hear this, L. I like your political entries. I think it's a shame that the very rude and often hateful behavior of several of your readers and comment-ers (and we all know who they are) has essentially brought this about. The truth is, they engage in terrible netiquette, and it wouldn't be tolerated in many spaces (certainly not on my blog), and I think you've been very gracious about the frequent highjacking that has occurred.
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10:41 PM
It doesn't matter!
Not spending superfluous words.
Your phrase is very good
In my opinion you are not right. I can prove it. Write to me in PM, we will communicate.
Yes, really. And I have faced it. Let's discuss this question. Here or in PM.
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