People are talking
Talking 'bout people
I hear them whisper
You won't believe it

Today in the comments section of my post Here comes the sun... my good friend Manny took me to task:

I respect your quest to avoid as much as possible the appearance of favoring one "side" over the other, even when the facts merit such a treatment. However, in many of your comments discussing polarization and incivility, you are going to injure yourself bending over backward to avoid laying the blame rightly where it belongs...on the political right and the radicalization of the Republican party.


I am certainly not above going out of my way to try to be fair to my opposing side. I do think that it's one of the better traits of being a liberal...equity. Conservatives are the fingerpointers and blamers. That's not what I'm about...nor is it what I think liberalism is or ought to be about.
(Yes this in generalizing...but I'm making a point.)

I criticize conservatives on this blog on pretty much a daily basis, and rightfully so. But I criticize them based on the facts as I see it. I don't do it because I need to have a temper tantrum out of frustration that the media isn't fair to liberals (they aren't). I do it because I want the information out there even if it's just from this little blog. What I see from those who write coarse and profane pieces is the literary equivalent of a two year old's tantrum.

If it injures me to deal just in facts and not in rhetoric...then injured I'll be. It would be dishonest of me to be something I'm not. I'm an unabashed liberal. In fact I get my share of static in comments here or in email from those who say they're "moderate" because I make no bones about my liberal leanings. But I'm not a hack I'm an independent thinker. I'm a sideline critic and debator of the facts as I see them.

As I see it, the coarsening of political discourse began with the bloom of talk radio. That medium has up until recently been the providence of the conservative movement. The fact that they've pushed their lies and half truths on the American people unanswered for the last 15 years is a lot for the good guys to overcome. But we're not going to overcome it by stooping to their level. I absolutely refuse to do it.

If you believe I'm wrong, lay it out there and tell me why. Prove it to me. I'm more than happy to have a debate on the merits.


If you come here to engage in debate or to read/post something for the good guys or even just to read...awesome. If you come here expecting me to be a hack for liberals...you're going to continue to be dissapointed. I'm an independent woman and an independent thinker. Nobody tells me what to do or how to think. I take the facts as they are, digest them..and post my beliefs based on those facts.

That's really the best I can promise.