Do people not realize that other people exist? Do they not understand that those people who may have different ideological views are still people, just like them? They live and breath and probably enjoy freedom just as much as anybody else. I don't understand where all the hate comes from. People don't just dislike Obama or disagree with his views, they fucking hate his guts, think he's satan's spawn and is destroying the country. Republicans don't just disagree with liberals, they think of them as goddamn hippy tree-huggers who are ruining the country with their ideas of free give-aways and getting something for nothing. Liberals don't just disagree with republicans, they think they are old insane people who won't let go of their guns long enough to have a simple conversation. We don't see each other as similar Americans with a few different ideas, but different people altogether, crazy people with ridiculous ideas who should just shut up and let the smarter folk run the country, the ones who know better.
It's also as if people don't realize our government has a system of checks and balances. The president isn't god. He can't do everything he wants. He can't destroy the country in four years. Give it a break. Give it a rest. Give it something. Just calm the hell down already. Everyone's too extreme in their own opinions and unwilling to hear anything that might change their mind. They are as set about their opinions as a train and nothing less than an explosion is going to derail them. I just wish people were more open, more willing to listen, more willing to compromise, but compromises are never good enough, apparently. It always has to be all one way or the other.
I guess the biggest thing is I wish people didn't take everything they heard as fact. I wish people would take into account where they received their information from, who was their source? And just what is that sources' intentions? What does that source want you to think? There's no such thing as being unbiased and their never was. There's always a spin, and knowing what it is helps you determine just what the message is that somebody is trying to tell you. You might be able to separate the facts from the speculation, from the complete fiction. Take everything with a grain of salt, as they say. Hell, take everything with the entire salt shaker. Question everything.
I recently fired a rifle at a target for fun. I have to say it was quite enjoyable. It was also frightening. Guns are really scary things, powerful machines capable of killing. It made me think about things. One big issue between political parties is gun control and gun laws. There are reasonably good arguments for both sides. On the one hand, it does seem like guns find their way into certain hands too easily. I have no doubt that if guns were heavily restricted and regulated more so than they are now, that gun crime would probably go down. Of course, on the other hand, people argue that if guns are restricted then the only ones who have guns are criminals. This is also a pretty good argument. It's a fine line, how restrictive laws should be in regards to guns. They are incredibly powerful weapons. Imagine making one stupid mistake that cost someone their life. It is a very big deal. I must say that those I was with were very very conscious about safety. They know the power of guns and took the right precautions and it was very safe. Obviously many are unsafe and accidents happen. I think I come down somewhere in the middle on this issue. I do think Americans should be allowed to own guns, perhaps even carry them, but I also think they should be regulated. You should be found to not have mental problems or criminal history to own a gun, things like that. We should try as hard as we can to keep guns out of the hands of those who would do wrong with them. I don't think anyone would disagree with me on that point. Anyways, onwards.
I don't know why this post today is so political. I guess I've just been thinking about those sorts of things lately. I think this country is moderate and should continue to be moderate. Moderate is a compromise, is the middle between left and right, liberal and republican. It's the reason we have two major parties after all. You cannot get everything you want in this life, we all know that. It's not fair, blah blah blah. You can't have your cake and eat it too. Maybe you can have half a cake and smell it, if you compromise. I don't know. I think that's why I like Obama. Because he is moderate and has tried to see both sides, to form compromises. Of course, that just means he gets hated on by both sides. Republicans tried to stop everything, he tried to compromise and democrats hated him for compromising too much. Sounds like an impossible job, but I still think he's doing better than any of the republican candidates would. Mitt Romney's just a rich guy out of touch with the middle class, Gingrich is a terrible human being, and Santorum hates gays. That's quite a group you got there.
This post is very late. It is Monday evening but let's just say I had a busy day yesterday and leave it at that. It's becoming ruthless, trying to keep up with Nate and achieve 50k words by March 1st. I'm at about 30k right now, which means 20,000 words in about nine days. That's rough, but I'll keep pushing on.
I've been considering doing a serial after February. A serial is just a fictional story where the author continues it every week. There's a website called http://tuesdayserial.com/ which takes links to various author's serials and posts them up every week for readers who are interested. Could be a good way to get my name out there. Not sure what I'd do though. A story where you update once a week with a 1000 words or so would be pretty difficult, but it'd keep me writing and that's always a good thing. They also have a bunch of articles about serial fiction on that site which are very informative and interesting. I'm also thinking about participating in Friday Flash Fiction (http://fridayflashfiction.blogspot.com/2009/09/rules.html) because that sounds really cool and also another way to get writing and get my name out there.
That's it for today. Kind of lame, really, I know but like I said, 20k in 9 days ain't easy.
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