digitalreporter wrote:
] ] As she wrote in an op-ed essay for the Atlanta Journal-
] ] Constitution: "I was frightened that my neighbors were
] ] going to hurt me because I dared to express my opinion.
] ] This could not be happening. Not in America, right?"
] ]
] ] But it is happening here. This incredulty sounds false to me. The reality is that politics are FAR more polarized right now then they usually are. You either think that the U.S. attacked Afghanistan primarily because they wanted to build an oil pipeline or you think that we should turn Iraq into a parking lot. We live in an emotionally charged time and the radicals rule, on both ends of the spectrum. Woe be to one whose gut takes them to the wrong side of the spectrum, whether you are right in San Francisco, or left in Houston, or middle of the road anywhere. You will be attacked. You are being attacked. Calling yourself out as a victim in the manner portrayed in this article is just self serving bullshit. Its a way of claiming the moral high ground. There is no moral high ground. You will be attacked if your beleifs conflict with your community, regardless of where your community is on the spectrum. Its really affecting MemeStreams. We're all here and we're all posting and we know we all have different feelings about whats going on. We're NOT discussing. We can. The capability is there. The will is not. I sense that people are afraid to really engage this subject because they know that any engaged discourse is just going to devolve into bitter arguement. Weblogging has taken over the past world of bulletin board systems BECAUSE weblogging is a way of broadcasting your views AS OPPOSED to conversing about them. Blogging is popular NOW because of the war, and the polarization. At some time in the distant future we will seek warmer and more engaged forms of conversation. Today we do not because the tension between all of us is as thick as mud, and we dare not cut it for fear that we will rip our society apart. RE: Pseudo patriotism vs. American values | 
