My Birthday Present

My birthday was on the 19th of this month, but it was on the 20th that I got my real present. On the 20th of this month, a new president was inaugurated into the highest office of this country. Barack Obama, our first black president. And yes, I said black not African-American - I am not a creature of political correctness. At last, for the first time in 8 years, we again have a president that was voted into office. But that isn't the greatest part of why I consider this man's ascension to the presidency as a personal birthday present.

A year ago at Xmas time I posted this. And in the spirit of that post I returned to a nest of vipers that I had left (along with others) in order to give them another chance to show me that there was a way to avoid the cultural war mentioned in that post from turning ugly. I'll be frank - I was of the opinion that, given time, this country would face another civil war, with the lines being drawn mainly by religious affiliation this time. A silly idea? Perhaps. But I doubt many can honestly look at the heat of the rhetoric on both sides and honestly tell me that such a thing is completely out of the realm of possibility. Likewise, I defy any of my (non-existent) readers to tell me that concentration, err re-education camps are totally outside the realm of possibility in the long term if the likes of Palin were to take the presidency and continue Bush's methodical demolition of the Constitution.

So, with hope of finding a way to co-exist or reason with the other side of the cultural war, I went back to the web of deceit and arrogance known as ExWitch.com. In case you're wondering gentle reader, I was not looking to save the world here - I am well aware that one website and my meaningless babble have precisely zero real effect on the world. No, this was more of a social experiment, to see if that two larger groups could indeed avoid the outcome I foresaw by examining the matter on a smaller scale. Regardless, I didn't have high hopes, having clashed with most of the moderators in the past and knowing their methods (self-righteous censorship, arbitary bannings, and good old fashion lying, not to mention gaslighting and other amatuer attempts to "persuade" their audience). However, I wanted to give them a chance to prove me wrong. The experiment lasted til May. To be fair, yes I was banned (temporarily at first I think, but permemantly due to pressing the matter) for "bad behavior". I guess demanding justice - ie that others are not banned arbitrarily for no good reason - and calling out the moderators on their hypocrasy and lies if bad behavior in such circles. In any case, they failed, and proved me right.

I did learn an important leason from the Jesus Nazis there however - one cannot reason with a fanatic, especially in groups, especially when they are in power. One need not be a genius to see what this lesson means on a larger scale.

BUT...as it often does, reality surprised me. On November 5th, a clear majority of this country's population joined together in rejecting the dogmatism, intolerance, greed, and insanity of the Religous Right (in their unholy union with the Republican party), and instead chose tolerance, compassion, diversity, and pragmatism by electing this man, Barack Obama, to the presidency. And so, two days ago, I received one of the greatest birthday presents anyone could have ever given me.

Hope.