Troubled somewhat by the hypocrisy...

First, I'm an avid supporter of the 1st Amendment. This covers all manner of ills, in that I am support people's right to their voice and opinions regardless of how much I agree OR disagree with them. I'm not supportive of inflammatory behavior (infringement of others' rights by proxy - as demonstrated so often by both sides of the political fence in the mainstream media, but predominantly by Faux News) - that is not what the protection of the 1st Amendment is about. However, civil disagreement and rational discourse over said disagreement? Absolutely! When productive rational discourse transpires, we all benefit from the outcomes of divergent views working together to achieve a common goal.

Second, I detest email forwards of religious and/or political nature. I don't mind "feel goods" and "funnies" - even if I don't respond to them...even if I delete them...and yeah, some of those funnies include politics. I *like* political funnies that trash any and all sides of the political spectrum. Why? They're funny...but do I take them seriously? For any purpose of actual discussion? No. *rolls eyes* I leave discourse of comedic take on politics to those who excel at it - the Jon Stewarts and Steven Colberts of the world, as well as the members of the SNL casts over time. Newsflash to neocons -- they blast all sides...all the time. Nobody is immune to lampooning - nor should they be, quite frankly.

Third, in my estimation - the current healthcare debate has become, unfortunately, the civil war of our time - thanks to people on both sides spreading misinformation - and again, I am particularly critical of Faux News - so if you happen to be conservative, and see this as a bias on my part, fine. But when you watch through the lens of retrospect over the past, oh, 13 years or so - and get honest about what has been reported over that time - you begin to wonder on the glaring hypocrisy of people like Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck et al...who are perfectly content with deplorable behavior - IF the behavior is demonstrated or conducted by a Republican/"conservative". Otherwise, they have their blasting coming and deservedly so. *blink* Huh...really? Unethical behavior is only worth of lambasting when it's done by a Democrat/"liberal"?!?! Did I miss the memo on that somewhere? Wait...maybe I did, in fact. See - when we look *hard* at what Faux News IS, there is little question. With something like 12 years of Republican rule between 1980 and 1992...there was little "need" for Rupert Murdoch to create Faux News, since his "views" were backed by dominant Republican reign. It wasn't til Clinton came into office that Faux News was invented - just a couple of years after Clinton took office, in fact. *blink* Don't believe me? Go look for yourself.

Taking it to a more personal level...

Fourth, what I am finding quite troubling is the anger and resentment toward me by friends and family who do not like that I fact-check QUITE a lot. I did it with Dubya, and I do it with Obama - or if you prefer..."fill-in-the-blank Congressperson"...seriously. I was not...AM not...Dubya's biggest fan, but I did work to dispell misinformation when I received it in email form - which I only received these emails from people with whom I share political views. Interesting, that. I don't have to "like" a politician to want to ensure correctness in dissemination of information. Not to say I haven't accidentally sent out a forward that was incorrect - because I have - but I at least try to confirm information before I redistribute it. I rarely received ANY emails related to Dubya from my conservative family members and friends...so they would have had no reason to know first-hand that I pick apart information about everyone if it lands in my inbox - IF I happen to read it, of course.

But since early to mid-2008, when the presidential campaign heated up royally, I started receiving emails left and right (hehe, see what I did there?) from friends & family on the conservative side of the house - and I ripped apart the information contained in the emails. Exhausting? Yes. Necessary? Yes. Funny, though, the reactions I received - YIKES! Scary. Have I stopped loving family members with whom I disagree (strongly) on a political plane? No, of course not! Have I stopped caring about people with whom I've been friends since before I became politically active on the basis of their political position??? No, absolutely not.

However, it seems that certain friends -who shall remain nameless- do not share that stance. Because I disagree with them politically (and/or religiously), and do not kowtow in silence in the face of those disagreements, I am not "worthy" of being their friend. Hell, my opinion on that is that if friendship -especially such long-standing friendships- can be torn apart so easily, then they must not have been such great friendships as I thought. Perhaps it's because I didn't email/forward vitriol about their preferred politicians and leaders when they had the helm that they assumed that I was possibly in agreement with them on some level??? *sigh*

Carrying it further - I had one friend who, on my facebook wall, told me to not post political garbage on "her" facebook. *blink* To be fair here, I don't know if this person realized that when something is posted to the wall, the update/notification goes into the main feed of anyone who is friended within facebook - but I got the impression she thought I was singling her out. Not so...but that isn't really the point. If it's "okay" to inundate friends' and family's inboxes with political content that is potentially disagreeable, how is it "wrong" for me to go about my stance - differently? I'm public about it...I don't hide behind the private anonymity of email and then paste something different in a public place.

This particular friend - I choose to not discuss politics with her. Which is fine. But in the past year, I've taken to asking how family is doing (unrelated to politics at ALL) with no response. As though because I disagree with her in one plane, that is supposed to bleed into other areas... No no no. Like I said in my status update - I find it pathetic and sad when people do that. I tend to compartmentalize things - out of necessity and context. If this person no longer wishes to be my friend, after greater than 20 years, that is of course within her rights...but that doesn't change how pathetic the cowardly behavior is. I only realized I had been "unfriended" through a mutual friend's page. *rolls eyes* Saaaaaaad...pathetic and sad.

Like I said to another friend (and yes, publicly), I find it very sad when people can't disagree with grace...it's *okay* to debate. It's *okay* to disagree - vehemently, even. But at the end of the day, the affection of friends & family should remain unchanged.

/rant

P/L/S
prosey