I'll just admit it...I've been away for a bit. Got lazy, stopped paying as much attention, took a break from the frenzy of 2008. We won. And the fight was over...or so I hoped. Of course I still kept up with important events in a very non-involved way, but the fervor that I held during the 2008 election had greatly subsided. I didn't think I needed to log on every night and chime in the conversation anymore. I could exhale for a minute...couldn't I? So what if my Trusted User status went bust? With President Obama in the White House--how bad could it ever really be? Certainly I didn't have to go, go, GO all the time--right? We were okay... So, I stopped by here now and then but just didn't feel like wading through diaries and doing the hard work of staying really informed. Again, I was lazy and complacent. And then when it became clear that the President would never be allowed to get a THING done, I grew weary of the fight. So, coming here was mentally exhausting. But then...
Chick Fil-A happened. I happen to live in Ruby-slipper Red Kansas and had to endure the enormous nonsense that was Chick Fil-A day. I found myself in horrible Facebook fights with total idiots that unfortunately are my friends, co-workers and neighbors. It was really gut-wrenching (I'm not kidding) to come to terms with the fact that I am surrounded by people that I genuinely like but that I now know to be supporters of hate.
My daughter's dance teachers proudly posted how they waited for hours to get a chicken sandwich and didn't mind the long lines. Good (ignorant) friends were thrilled to give their "thumbs-up" to Chick-Fil-A and there was absolutely no reasoning with them. I've always known that many people I interact with are Republicans and that they supported McCain/Palin...okay, whatever...we still need to get the "Back-to-School Bash" organized and we still need to share carpool pickups and I know that my daughter will sleepover at your house this weekend and we'll take your daughter the next...
It's been like that for the most part. They know I am a die-hard Obama supporter but we seem to go along and get along fine when it comes to the values we all share: making sure our kids are safe and that the Jayhawks win. And if you've got family in town, you can EXPECT a neighbor to show up with a plate of brownies just in case you might need them (that just happened to me). If you are having surgery and can't get dinner together, you should know that these same people will completely take over--show up with several meals and may even clean your house! So, these are not bad folks. But every now and then...every now and then, their crazy crap just is TOO MUCH!! Like it was on Chick-Fil-A day. I couldn't look past their stupidity like I usually do in the name of good neighbor-ness. I can't excuse their support of hate, and I just really can't stand that I feel this way about people that I don't think are bad. I just know they're really, really, REALLY stupid. It's astounding. And heartbreaking.
So on that horrible day, I came here. I read great diaries and felt at home. I found support for my views and great ideas and camaraderie in the midst of an unspeakably degrading day. And then I came back the next day, and the next. It was heaven! The conversation of course moved on to other issues, but once I came back, I stayed. I needed this place--and not so much because I do live in Kansas and I'm politically isolated, but because this is where smart conversations are happening and where good journalism takes place. I'm stating the obvious, but the depth of the reporting is unparalleled, and I know that even when the truth is unhappy news, I will get it here.
I would love to tune out and hope for the best, but these are outrageous times. I owe such a debt to this place and to the regular diarists who didn't give up and get lazy and who continue to keep the pressure up and call out the nonsense for what it is. I am thrilled to be able to enter into this election cycle with DKos in full effect. I can face the crazies next door and the idiots at the bake sale and moms at dance rehearsal and the fools at my job. I don't want to ramble, but it just needed to be said: THANK YOU.