Conky Thoughts

Just to be upfront, I’m neither Republican nor Democrat, but don’t worry, I’m not going to try to sell you on a third party or talk you out of your current political party. I’m liberal on some issues and conservative on others. I’ve toyed with belonging to either the Republicans or Democrats, but, although I really like some of the things each has done, the things about both that I think are unconscionable make it so I can’t belong to either. I think at various times I was tempted to join either party to “vote against” the other party when it was had overstepped. However, being against something is not being a thing. It’s being in a vacuum. I didn’t want to “vote against” anyone, I wanted to be part of something I believed in.

Well, I did find my political home- don’t worry, I’m not even going to tell you where I ended up, because I’m not trying to win you to my side- that’s not what this blog is about. I just wanted to share an outsider’s view, and see if we can find some common ground.

*cracks knuckles* I’m a big Shakespeare buff, my favorite play is “Romeo and Juliet”. It is not not not a love story. It’s a story about the impatience of youth, and the destruction that happens when people try to play God. My favorite literary character is Romeo’s best friend, Mercutio. It’s well known that the story takes place among two prominent families, the Montague’s and the Capulet’s, caught up in a deadly feud with each other. Well, Mercutio thinks the whole feud is ridiculous, he mocks the feud often and refuses to participate, he doesn’t pick one side over the other. My favorite thing about Mercutio is he’s so passionate and exasperated with the whole mess that he comes off a little crazy.

Now it’s not hard to glean from this D grade summary of “Romeo and Juliet” that I’m comparing the Montague’s and Capulet’s to the Republicans and Democrats. Mercutio is me and everyone else who is sick of this being an “Us Versus Them” “You HAVE to pick a side and be enemies with the other side” game. Whatever side of the fence you’re on- the other side is not your enemy. The other side is your father, your grandmother, your next door neighbor, your countryman or countrywoman. The question that I can’t answer- because I don’t know- is who is the entity out there that wants us to see each other as enemies? If your answer to that was either “The Democrats” or “The Republicans”, then that was a very lazy answer, and shame on you.

Here’s the way I see it after 42 years of just going about my business: The Democrats and Republicans are opposing legs on the same body, the US body. Sometimes the right leg is the one in contact with the ground, and the left is taking a chill, sometimes the left is in contact with the ground and the right is taking a chill. Another way to look at this is this: let’s pretend the US is a traditional nuclear family: mother, father, daughter, son. Who do the kids run to when they scrape their knee? Mom. Who does the son go to for advice about the bullies at school? Dad. Who does everyone in the house cling to when the doorknob starts jiggling in the middle of the night and everyone’s afraid there’s a robber? That’s dad’s territory, all the way. Who makes sure everyone is fed? That’s mom.’ You need both mom and dad at different times.

I’ve seen that the “healers” of our country tend toward Democrat. That’s fine! We don’t need a whole country full of cops and soldiers! We need medical professionals, social workers, caregivers, non profit workers too! The Democrats I’ve known tend to have very big, tender hearts…. What? Is? Wrong? With? That?

What else I’ve seen is that the Republicans are very good at keeping the wolf away from the door, both abroad and within our own country. They do the “Dad” stuff really well. There’s a poem I love called “The Sheepdog”. The Sheepdog keeps the sheep safe, he doesn’t care if the sheep like him- sometimes he has to nip their back leg to keep them away from danger. But when the wolf comes, the Sheepdog protects the flock, even with his own life. For anyone who doesn’t believe that there are people who want to hurt you, your family, and other innocent people- even hardened criminals right in your state- I pray that you never realize how wrong you are. I’m an ex cop, I’ve seen it firsthand. The sheepdogs are the military, the Federal law enforcement agencies, and the cops- all keeping the scene safe. Never assume that because the tragedy never struck that there was no danger all along. The sheepdogs kept the wolves at bay, they do it every day.

I realize there a lot of people that grew up in broken homes, but maybe you can answer this question based on your current relationships: how often does dad “get” mom, like understand her completely? How often does mom “get” dad, understand him completely? Almost never, on both counts, right? Does the fact that they don’t “get” each other mean they should hate each other?

The last thing I want to point out out is that if this “Democrat vs. Republican” thing is a fight, it isn’t even our fight. The politicians are paid very well to do a job, and as is evident with this current government shutdown, they’re not doing that job. Have you ever had a co worker or customer who you just couldn’t stand, they just made your skin crawl? Yeah, I’ve had them too. What did we do? We found something about them to like and did our friggin job despite them, didn’t we? It was our JOB. The Democrats and Republicans in government are not enemies. They’re CO workers. Their JOB is to find some common ground, work together, and run our country. I wish we citizens didn’t buy into the “Us versus them” example that the politicians too often set.