One State, Two State, Red State, Blue State

***Disclaimer***
i am waxing borderline political here. people tend to take offense at such things. so if you tend to take offense, don't bother reading this one. and if you read it, know that this is not intended as any type of attack. the only person that i refer to as an idiot has no idea that i blog, and indeed, is only a passing acquaintance.


My political philosophy should be no secret to anyone who actually knows me. But for the sake of remaining neutral, lets just say that I believe the most important thing is to think for yourself, with an awareness that all information you receive is biased. Case in point, this move during this political season has been fascinating. Because my thoughts have little to do with actual politics, instead of stating "red" and "blue" I will simply refer to the states as being "chartreuse" and "mauve". The you can't take offense if you feel differently than I, because the most important thing is that we are allowed to have our own opinions, I can still be friends with republi.... I mean, Mauve people.

So lets say that I just moved from a swing state with a mauve governor to an entirely mauve state (but a chartreuse city). Make sense? I am fascinated by the cultural attachment to politics that is here. I understand that generally one group of people connected by location and communication would tend to have similar political philosophies, but this place takes it to an extreme.

This is all coming up because I finally turned the news on in my new location, last night. And I was laughing at how clearly biased the stories were. One channel in particular runs unchecked by any desire for balance, and with an attidue that their own opinion is more important than ethics. A roommate in the home where I am staying asked me why I thought the news was funny, and I pointed out the mauve bias. She was quite defensive, not of the reporter or the story, but of the channel's right to have a bias. She then pointed out that it was simply the same truth as was reported by a certain mauve radio host, who she enjoyed listening to. Normally, I enjoy a political debate, but as soon as this radio hosts name came into play, I backed off a little, and asked a few questions. I asked if she was really ok with said radio show host. The Very Young Roommate admitted that she had never personally listened to the radio show, but that her parents like him. She got very defensive of such a position, equating religion to politics and responding to my questions with emotional but illogical statements. I ended the discussion then and there. I don't generally like to back off when I disagree. Here was my logic this time:
There is no valor in beating an idiot in a battle of wits.

Aren't you proud of how much I have grown up? Sure I am still calling the person an idiot, but I didn't pusue the course simply for a win. If you take no time for study, place no value on intelligence, and rely on insults and manipulation for your grounding, then I see no point in debate. The purpose of debate is to learn and reason. Take the political affiliation that you take, approach it with logic, prayer, study, or even toss a penny to choose your candidate, but defend your choice by taking responsibility for it. Make it your choice, not your parents, and back it with reason.

That being said, I still love it here. Don't give me the old "if you don't like it then leave" arguement. I would wager that I love it more than most, which point is illustrated by my willingness to be here in spite of political differences. Not to mention the fact that said attitude (blind bias and cultural entitlement) is keeping the gas prices here as the 4th highest in the nation. I came for the mountains, not the politics. And as long as the mountains are here, I will love it here. If you don't like that, then you can leave!


*** See, no offense intended. as long as you think for yourself, you can still be my friend!***