A short day for me, but I did manage to find a couple interesting diaries for your perusal this evening.
Tomorrow will also be short. My aunt and uncle found a new place to live after they had to move out of their previous home just before winter hit. (Talk about bad timing.) I won't go into the details of it all, but given the economy overall, you can probably imagine the general idea. So the family's giving them a housewarming, and hopefully this will be the start of positive things to come.
I want to express my gratitude to everyone who's reading and following. Especially the last couple days. I know that the general rule here is to be present for at least an hour after initial publication. And I do try to do that. But last night, I just couldn't make it. I honestly thought some people might HR me for that. Instead, I got 10 Recs (more than any of my other nightly roundups, so far; and it wasn't even a roundup) and 9 tips. Thank you everyone for your kindness and understanding.
One of the things I love about writing these diaries is how much I'm learning from you and others. Two cases stand out clearly in my mind so far. The first case goes back to the issue of framing. What I learned here is that not as many people are aware of what that is as I thought. This is important, because it affects what I will write about and how I write it. So before I talk about framing again (other than in the abstract, like this), I see I'm going to have to find a simple way to introduce it. In the second case, regarding a diary I republished on a co-op energy company that had formed in Germany (German Town Shows How to Achieve Nuclear Free Future), I had asked in the editor's comment if it was possible to do that in the US. Well, I learned from the comments in that diary that no only is it possible, but at least a few communities have already done so. So this was much the opposite of the framing issue. This was probably something the people in that energy diary thought everyone knew about, and here I was completely clueless.
As for today's conversation starter, none of my thoughts have coalesced into anything looking even remotely like a diary. I blame exhaustion. But I refuse to miss a day just because my mind won't grind those thoughts into coherent sentences and paragraphs. So instead I offer the following simple setup and challenge.
There are obviously a number of problems we on the left see with the Tea Party. Racism, ignorance, blind loyalty. The list seems endless. Now, I admit to mocking and ridiculing them as much as the next lefty, but it's important to remember these are our fellow citizens, and they are still human beings. So tonight I'd like to challenge you to find something good about them. Perhaps even something we could learn from.
I will start by taking an easy one. They are politically fearless. They aren't afraid to vote against Republicans, even if that means losing seats and legislative control over one or more branches of government. Sure, they have economic and media backing, but sometimes I get the feeling that they're a run-away horse that the GOP is holding onto for dear life--and that Glenn Beck and other bloviators feel a need to gratify lest they lose their audience--than anything under control. Whatever the case is at any given moment, it's certain the Tea Partiers believe themselves independent. It's that mindset which matters, here.
A Perfect Conversation is a group for republishing diaries that:
A) Challenge the DK conventional wisdom.
B) Provide information which may lead to new ideas.
or
C) Push for action that is innovative or not just playing defense.
The point is not to agree (or disagree) with these diaries. It's about challenging ourselves to rethink our political philosophies, activities, and issue positions.
A full list of all diaries republished to A Perfect Conversation can always be found
here. Feel free to check it out at any time.
Rec List from the Eclectic Boogaloo - April 16, 2011: