I know you're angry. Furious, outraged, insulted, frustrated and I appreciate your battle for your cause.
But right now, today, I'm sorry but I just can't care a much as you'd like me to. And it's because I'm tired.
Maybe your stamina is better than mine. Maybe your outrage provides the fuel you need. Probably. But me? I'm tired. I'm not as old as some, but I'm probably older than most.
And I've decided to not be angry about Rick Warren.
I'm tired of being angry for 10 years. It started with the whole Ken Starr thing and never let up.
I'm tired of being angry over pointless wars, dead troops, homeless veterans, disenfranchised minorities, union-busting, bloviating rhetoric about "evil", torture, immigration, bad education policies, off-shore tax evasion, outsourced jobs, birth control gag orders, restrictions on stem cell research, animal abuse, threats to Social Security and Medicare, an endangered environment, incompetent sycophants in positions of power, a tainted Justice Department, a misnamed "Homeland Security," and an unemployed and dwindling middle class.
I'm tired of being angry at Wall Street, evangelicals, neo-cons, social conservatives, pundits, oil companies, banks, Republicans, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Joe Lieberman. (Okay, with Joe I'm just disgusted more than angry. He's not my Senator.)
I'm tired of being angry over anti-abortion laws based on misogyny, bankruptcy laws built on lies, trade agreements based on greed, and justification for war built on sand.
I'm tired of being angry over a Constitution that is ignored, a governor won't get the hint that NOBODY HERE LIKES HIM, primaries and elections packed with lies and innuendo rather than policies and ideas, and an electorate with too many low-information, indifferent, or lazy voters.
I'm tired of knowing before I even turn on the TV news that I'm going to hear something else new to be angry, outraged, or sad about.
Add to that the fact that so far this past week, I've been asked to donate to shelters, illiteracy, animal rescue, toyless poor children, troops overseas, and a host of other equally worthy causes. There are over 850,000 registered charities in America.
There is a lot to be angry and sad about, but after 10 years, I need a break. I'm exhausted. This Christmas, I want to be 'not angry' for awhile. I want to watch an inauguration where I'm not frustrated with my fellow Americans, where I'm not asking myself "Why this clown? How stupid are you people?!"
I know there's still battles to fight. There's still a lot out there to be angry about: Prop 8, last-minute regulations, a Congress that just gave themselves an undeserved and unnecessary raise, and on and on and on.
And I know you're still angry.
But I've decided to not be angry about Rick Warren. It's not that I don't care. If you'll review the list above, there's no shortage of things to be angry and sad about. I'm not telling you not to be angry, or that you shouldn't be angry. But I'm telling you that I need to sit this one out for awhile. I'm not as young as you and after 10 years, I'm sorry, but I'm just tired and if it's just a few short weeks, I'm consciously taking a respite from Angry. This is my second Christmas without either of my parents (the first where that's really hitting me), and I just want to sip my diet hot chocolate, gaze at my video fireplace DVD, smell my Christmas-wreath scented Yankee candle as I sit beside the artificial tree, pet my dog, and not think about what a complete mess the world is in right now.
So you go be angry for me for now, won't you? There's a dear. Don't worry. I'll catch up.
Even so, I just want you to know that - to quote the wise and wonderful sage that is Red Green -
"I'm pullin' for ya...because we're all in this together."
Merry Christmas.