I am am not a "young chicken".
That means, among other things, I've heard the apologies for Watergate. It also means, I know the evolution -- from Dick Cheney, in the administration of Reagan, to Dick Cheney, Dark Lord of the Bush administration.
It also means I am feeling my age (I'm 43).
It also means, it is rather significant that I hunger for liberal unity.
You see, my right wing stepdad told me this: "Andy, as people get older, they get more conservative".
To be honest, I often wonder what he meant by that. You see, there's a living philosophy, and a political philosophy.
As far as living, yes, I can see what he means.
You see, I don't like myself that much anymore. It has to do with being gay, and if you're gay, and male, and you get older, you are less attractive to other gay people, which means, you live the rest of your life alone.
If you don't like yourself that much, you are "conservative".
You become like the crotchety old "get off my lawn!" man.
Oh well. If it were a different world I would also be a "widower". It doesn't matter.
But, in another sense, based on what my stepdad said, I get more radical -- more "liberal". It's actually getting extreme.
So anyway, what for me has happened of note on the Daily Kos in the last 24 hours?
Well, to be honest, I have done "battle" with Hillary supporters, Ron Paul supporters, and, in some sense, people I think of as blood brothers and sisters (because they are gay).
The Hillary debate was interesting, because I tried to employ the healthcare argument for showing how Hillary was a "triangulator".
I got argued with by someone who is in the insurance industry (or, at least, familiar with it), who argued, paradoxically, that insurance is not operative in terms of the HillaryCare debate.
What is strange about that, is what I KNOW:
You see, I work in information technology for the homeowner's insurance industry.
But it wasn't about insurance.
It's about corporations taking advantage of, and stuffing of, the little people.
Anyway, something I know.
Then I got involved in the Ron Paul debate.
What amazes me is how similar Ron Paul supporters are with Barack Obama supporters. Keep in mind, from the perspective of a gay man.
Neither want to look at the stuff right in front of their faces.
No, I don't say Barack Obama is a bigot. Even, though, I called my preferred candidate, John Edwards, a homophobe. So I wonder about the double standard.
So, I guess I'm scared. But, I also want to be fair.
So, is it fair to call a person you support a bigot, while calling a person you have a serious problem with, not one?
I don't know. John Edwards talked about being uncomfortable with "gay people". You see, it's his "religious journey". I have no use for religious journeys, but, beyond that, I want all the Democratic Candidates to acknowledge, they are running for President of the United States, which, presumably, is not a religious position.
If you want to have a religious journey, in my opinion, as a soft atheist, more power to you.
If you want to have a religious journey on my taxpayer dollar, as PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, then, I have a problem.
So, I don't think "religious journeys" are appropriate fodder for a presidential campaign, which is why I call John Edwards a "homophobe" in a previous diary.
That being said, I support John Edwards. Why?
Basically, and pathetically, they're all doing it, Obama even worse than the others. All the candidates are touting their Christian Credentials.
As an aside, a rather funny thing, don't you think, for Candidates who presume to talk about religious pruralism.
I also said, in another previous diary: "I'd rather deal with an honest person who hates me than a dishonest person who pretends to be my friend".
To me, my support of Edwards ought to say to my fellow Kossaks: that I believe that the world is bigger than myself and even other gay people. That, my fellow Kossacks, while not understanding the intricacies and the problems and how we are persecuted, that we, gay people, believe in something bigger.
Evne though I believe he is a basically bigoted fuck.
And, yes, I use this term ("bigoted fuck") advisedly. I would be far harsher on the people I do not support, but, then, I do not support them. I want to be listened to.
You see, to me, all you heterosexuals are bigoted (or at least heterosexist, and I talked in a previous diary about the difference between heterosexists and homophobes) fucks. Does this mean we can't be friends?
So, here is what I also know, returning to the Hillary debate:
Your candidate (if you are a Hillary Supporter) is insufficient. Not insufficient to me, of insufficient to gay people: Insufficient to Democrats. Insufficient to the country.
The problem with HRC is at least somewhat with her outreach and her supporters. It will not suffice in the general election.
You see, whining about those bad Republicans won't be enough. I am waiting for an attitude from the Hillary campaign: an attitude that says, here is how to defeat them.
Whining, you see, will not be enough.
Another thing that came up, is, my basic and intrinsic familiary with the power of the internet.
It's not just the web, you see.
One thing I laughed at, recently, was the tongue-wagging of the Kos community at RedState. (Don't get me wrong, it was good, and perceptive, it was just, I don't know .. juvenile).
It was true, and it was good. But, it was also, insufficient.
You, normal humans, have no idea, the power of the Dark Side internet.
