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 The Good Life. |
| Warning: I'm about to get political. And then I'm going to talk about soup. It's a typical Music Monday up here in the Brandiwyn Blogosphere. I try to keep my virtual mouth shut on social media when it comes to anything political, for a couple main reasons: 1. I own a small business, which employs two dozen people. It makes practical business sense not to offend the people in my community - or in my employ - who support us. 2. I'm a legitimate fence sitter moderate. I rarely agree with anybody, and therefore, I piss off everybody. If I do open my mouth, it's probably to say, "But have you considered the other perspective?" I've been avoiding social media as much as possible for weeks or maybe months. It sucks me in, it riles me up, it wastes my time - and my time is precious and limited. But it's a vital part of my marketing strategy, so I bite the proverbial bullet and make appearances now and then. Today was an appearance day, since the weather has given a rare interesting-but-politically-benign topic to discuss. Despite recent social media avoidance, I am aware of current events, including the events of the last week in Minneapolis. Before I dive in: 1. I'm not a Democrat/progressive/liberal. However, I found Obama smart and compassionate, Trump an embarrassing idiot his first term, Biden weak, tongue-tied, and generally disappointing, and Trump during his second term utterly horrifying. If that makes me sound left-leaning, it's only because I appreciate intelligence in the leaders who represent me on the world stage, and I don't like bullies. My opinions on policy or the role/appropriate size of government definitely don't always align with those of the leaders I find least mortifying publicly. 2. I'm practical, and so I realize why most legislation is impossible to pass. The laws that do pass are never quite what anybody wanted. Solutions that meet the needs of everyone rarely exist.Therefore, I understand, for example, why we still don't have equitable healthcare in the USA. I don't blame anybody specifically for that, and I respect the often conflicting sides of the story. 3. I like numbered lists. All that said, I'm forking angry about the events in Minneapolis. I grew up an army brat, and my dad was an MP - military police - which means he was both in the military and a cop. I believe in defense, and in funding it. I am proud that my country has the strongest and most scientifically advanced military in the world - and the best trained. I'm already exhausted by this rant, so I'm going to cut this short and skip the part about how inadequate training of new ICE hires is the fault of their superiors. I'll jump straight to the part where a Facebook friend who is a vocal follower of Jesus is publicly arguing in support of the agent because the deceased "attack(ed) ICE agents who are merely doing their jobs". I disagree, but that's not the point. The point is that this person was (1) uninformed about what actually happened and had clearly not seen any of the videos - even the one in which the agent does appear to get hit by the vehicle, and (2) this person is talking like her death was justified rather than, you know, offering prayers of healing and comfort for her family or something a little more compassionate and Christ-like. Educate yourself, damn it. And be fucking kinder. Whew. I feel better. Now, about soup: We made soup.  Bean soup, with the ham bone from the Christmas Honey-Baked ham, which has been in the freezer since December. We're still snowed in, we're still at DEFCON Snow Emergency Level 2, and the local schools are closed tomorrow due to frigid temps, so we (the music school) are, too. It's a soup kind of day. Warmly, Michelle |
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