Who are you?

    By EmmaZahn on Wed, 08/02/2006 - 1:14pm |

    In one of his posts yesterday at TAPPED, Matt discussed a sort of generation gap between his and Ed Kilgore's views that he thinks resulted from the series of events that first attracted each to the political arena.  It was a very perceptive, thought-provoking observation.  One worthy of more discussion.  So, who are you, politically speaking.  I really want to know.

    Thinking back I realized that the first time I became aware of things political was during the Cuban Missle crisis which was followed a little over a year later by JFK's assassination.  I was young enough that I probably would have been only vaguely aware of these events except for the extensive television coverage.  Literally there was nothing else on and my parents were abnormally glued to the screen.

    Television continued its overwhelming influence on my politics until I just couldn't stand it anymore.  I turned away during the Watergate hearings.  I know a lot of people on the left venerate the reporters and senators involved.  To me, the hearings were a kangaroo court and the media, a lynch mob.  As truly dispicable as I believed Nixon to be, I was nauseated by the media circus Watergate became. 

    I never stopped voting and tried to stay as informed as I could on my own terms.  I was always repelled by the media's over-involvement.  They over-simplified the process and dumbed down both the candidates and the electorate.  Then the fiasco in Florida in 2000 shocked me back to greater attention.  

    Thankfully, the internet offered an alternative to the MSM.  I was able to find original documents and first-hand accounts to find answers to questions I had.  More importantly, I was able to find other like-minded people to discuss concerns and issues with.

    Sometime in the mid 90's, a rightie friend once asked me how I could vote for a Democrat.  I half-jokingly told him it was because Democrats were less dangerous than Republicans.  I had no idea then how truly dangerous they would become.  And I don't know what, if anything, I can do to effect political change.  I feel on the verge of burnout again.  How much outrage can a rational person stand before abandoning the field to the crazies?

    Matt's thoughts made me think about the children whose formative experiences are 9/11 and this pseudo war on terror.  How will it affect them politically?  Do I really want to know?

    Comments

    Your question about September 11's visual impact on the political views of children is interesting.

    What a contrast with my initiation, the Kennedy assassination weekend. In a Demoncratic household the sorrow, the pagentry and sense of leaders as very special people gave me a positive sense of what politics and government can do. As world leaders walked down Pennsylvania Ave together in the funeral procession they conveyed security to me, guys on the same team as an American President. I carry that sense of what politics and government can be to this day. Underneath my cycnicism and skepticism at times there is still a bedrock of faith.

    If instead I was born in 1992 this 9 year old would have learned that foreigners were not part of the same team as Americans, but instead killed lots of Americans. In those first few days of despair, I would have seen good only in the actions of individual Americans, firefighter or passengers on a plane.  The lesson for a 9 year old would be to have hope that some individual Americans reaches out to help you.  The government was missing as a postive force in the early days so a nine year old would have no sense that government was something to trust and have faith in.

    We adults are more than our childhoods but your question makes me think of how different I am because of what I saw as a 9 year old in 1963 than someone born in 1992.


    by irishkg (not verified) on Wed, 08/02/2006 - 2:24pm

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