Greetings, sports-fans, and welcome to another chapter in my quest for an honest man. It may come to no shock to you, gentle reader, that yr. humble blogger actually did watch the debate last night. What I saw reminded me of the Rumble in The Jungle, only with Gov. Romney playing George Foreman and Obama playing Ali. Hopefully, a similar outcome will occur come election day.
Indeed, and so much for that, eh? What I am really here for is to tell you a story. A story of why the politics of division are poisonous to the soul of America. Which I will do after the jump.
There is a woman I know, we'll call her Jane. I've known Jane since I was but a young saint, and she and I are the same age, give or take. Our paths have gone different ways but we have always stayed close because she has been a friend to my mother for about 22 years.
In that time, she has done many things to survive, including modeling, painting, and even dancing at a gentlemen's club in my hometown. (No, I won't tell you the name of the place, and it's closed anyway.) She's been married twice, once to the father of her eldest daughter and once to the father of her two youngest daughters. And in that time, she's always been somewhat of a middle of the road libertarian, though more of a left-leaner than the "big L" Libertarians, mainly because of the independent streak that runs rampant among the sub-culture of scooter folk and hippies that she associated with.
I considered this woman, who've I had a crush on at one point before I got better, to be the younger sister I never had. Don't get me wrong, I have a brother and he is a treasure, but I've always wanted to have a sister. But I digress...
The thing about Jane's current husband, whom we will name John, is that he is a racist. It took a long time for me to get to this conclusion, because he never really showed that side of himself to anyone except his family and friends. I don't know why he is this way, and for the longest time, I didn't care. What I did care about was her three daughters and I doted on them to the point where they called me "Uncle".
Now here's the crux of the biscuit: I don't consider her my sister anymore. Why? Because she believes the "fair and balanced" approach that conservative wags, rags and hags at Fox News and their newspaper equivalents spew out. She believes that Obama is a socialist, a corrupt politician, a secret Muslim and a Foreigner who is out to destroy our country.
It breaks my heart, because I thought I knew this person and believed that she was smart enough to see the lies and misrepresentations that organizations like Fox News, World Net Daily, Pajamas Media, Sarah Palin, and the rest spew forth everyday. But, sadly, she is not. And it really breaks my heart, because this is someone that I've shared a love of books and music and life with as well as with her progeny, and based on what her middle children have posted, they are starting to believe the lies as well.
And honestly, I don't know what to do about them. I've been agonizing over whether or not I should cut them from my friends list of Facebook and completely strike them from the rolls while declaring them outlaw. I really don't want to see the cartoons, the op-ed pictures, the pictures and words talking about Obama is a monster clown that needs to be fired if not killed out right.
And it's just another sign that there are no honest people, least of all Jane and her husband John because if they were, they would shout to the world what they really are afraid of instead of hiding behind poisonous rhetoric like so many others.
What say you, fellow Kossacks? Should I cut her loose, or keep her close in the hopes that she may change her mind?
PS. What hasn't helped is that she lives in a district that is deep red, the Sixth district of Tennessee who is currently run by Diane Black, Tea Party favorite and runner up for Megabitch of the US House, second only to Marsha Blackburn.