The time has come," the Walrus said,

"To talk of many things:
Of shoes and ships and sealing wax,
Of cabbages and kings.
And why the sea is boiling hot.
And whether pigs have wings."

Lewis Carroll,
Through the Looking Glass

OK, so maybe none of those are the "many things" it is time to talk of, but it is time to talk.

I don't have all the answers. I come here to share what believe I know and read what others think they know.

Sometimes I learn. Sometimes, maybe, I teach. But, always*, I try to be constructive---to move the ball down the field just a little. (*Not really "always". Sometimes---not too often---I get impatient and discouraged and write some decidedly unconstructive posts. So, that "always" should be "mostly".)

Lately, two rival gangs have been trying to take over the playground and they are each insisting I join them---or I'll "be sorry". One gang insists that I join them in applauding everything our president says or does. The other insists that our president is a corporate sock puppet and not worthy of anyone's support. I don't like either of them.

I am a liberal Democrat. I understand that that means different things to different people. I am my kind of Democrat. I am willing to let you be your kind, but you have to care.

You have to care about social justice, an old-fashioned term that should never be out of favor.
You have to care about kids---yours, mine, everyone's.
You have to care about people---old, young, gay, straight, rich, poor, all colors, all faiths or none at all.

You have to want a government that will provide the most good to the most people most of the time, even if that is occasionally "bad for business".

And, it would help if you shared my belief that most of us are pretty decent folks who may, occasionally, be jerks, but who genuinely want to make the world a better place.

So, could we just cool it with the Jets and Sharks thing and get back to plotting the death of neo-conservatism and corporate supremacy?

For the record, yes, occasionally pigs do, indeed, have wings.

;-)

k&r

I think it will just take time (and patience) to move beyond the divisions to a more tolerant and cooperative perspective. Passions are high right now on both sides, and and as negative as the division can seem to many of us, the positive thing is that we ARE passionate, that we DO care, however our sympathies align.

At some point, we'll have our catharsis, our epiphany, and realize that there is far more that unites us than divides us, and we'll find a way to co-exist and work together towards common goals.

I could be wrong. But I sincerely hope, for all our sakes, that I'm not.

Love & Peace,
pinboy3niner

:)

They get eaten in the end.

That part always made me cry when I was a kid.