#notapart

[xuemo]

Stillness Not Apart From Actions by XUEMOhimself

[betterquestionsproject]

US Political Parties: An Oversimplification

Liberals are the gas pedal, conservatives are the brake pedal. (Libertarians could be the clutch, but no one who drives an automatic pays any attention.) Voters are supposed to be be the steering wheel, but if so, lobbyists are the power steering. Perhaps the most apt way to apply this analogy, then, is that high polarization is, essentially, "riding the brake".

Is that where we are? Is that where we want to be?

[betterquestionsproject]

White Cards=White Flag?

We talk a lot about the damage partisanship does to our rhetoric and expectations, politically and beyond, but we too are affected by the tone of vilification and mistrust. So when we see something like this:

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/11/glenn-becks-teary-eyed-silent-monologue-my-vocal-chords-sic-are-paralyzed/

we're left scratching our head. A lot of what is said sounds like something we'd get behind, if it weren't for the source. And yet we believe in rehabilitation and even aspire to love those who hate us...

Is this The Revolution Being Televised (i.e., not the revolution)? Is it a turncoat or conciliator in the making? Is it the unifying dread of NSA spying overpowering everything else?

More importantly, though: how do we choose? How do we decide how seriously to take this? How do we sort through our feelings and data and hopes and fears... and to what end? Do we need an opinion on the matter? A plan of action?

What comes next?