There is an old Irish blessing:
May all who know you love you.
And if they do not love you, may God turn their hearts.
And if he does not turn their hearts may he turn their ankles,
so you will know them by their limping.
I have born witness to a hell of a lot of limping lately.
Ever since Obama has been elected, (and even before) we have seen the worst kind of humanity spring forth from underneath whatever rock they've been hiding, to rail against what they see as being an assault on their liberties.
Racism, discrimination, violent rhetoric, these have all been in the mainstream for the last few years. The President of the United States is treated like a black man who does not know his place. Homosexuals are treated like they are the single biggest threat to morality in this country. And women are treated like they can't be trusted with something as important as deciding whether to have children or not.
It has been ugly and it has been on display for everyone to see. And yet the populace has, by and large, been unfazed. Republicans still garner a disturbing ammount of support for some of the most foul and destructive policy positions since slavery was legal. And all the progress we've enjoyed for the last 50 years is in jeopardy.
"Equal rights" is a dirty word in the upper echelons of republican power, and "States rights" and "religous freedom" is just another name for legal discrimination.
There is so much ugly out there, how do we turn hearts from that kind of rhetoric? How do we get people to care about how their policies and discrimination hurts other people?
I don't know. I am a little thankful that the right no longer seems inclined to hide what they are, but I am even more disturbed by how little people seem to care or notice how ugly they've become.