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Republicans, Democrats, and Rodney King
2004-07-14 - 12:58 p.m.

Before you flee, thinking that you may have happened upon a "love fest" for any particular political party, hear me out.

I was having a spirited discussion with some co-workers today about the "bias of the news media". The bias being how some folks consider certain news outlets as being inherently conservative or inherently liberal.

I'll preface this article by saying that I would probably be considered more liberal than conservative. But I also don't think that the Democratic Party has it right. At least not 100% right. For that matter, the Republican Party doesn't have it 100% right either.

For these reasons, I consider myself politically agnostic.

Since I lean a little more liberal in my views, watching news programs that other folks consider "very liberal" doesn't set off any alarms in my head. If the "liberal reporting" isn't offending my "liberal senses" then I won't notice that anything's wrong. The other side of the coin: my largely conservative co-workers watch Fox News, and don't detect a "conservative slant" to the reporting. You see what you want to see. Or, you don't see what doesn't offend you. Something like that. Maybe.

As I said, I consider myself politically agnostic.

I guess that the literal meaning of that could be considered that "I'm not really certain that I believe in politics". And while that's a funny thought, my intended meaning is that I'm not a Democrat. I'm also not a Republican. It's at this point that I could take the cheesy answer of "I'm not a Democrat, I'm not a Republican - I'm an American". But that kind of seems like a really cheap answer.

Like I said, I'm probably more liberal than conservative in my point of view. What did you expect? I'm an artist that posts his diary online. Hands up - who was shocked by this revelation? Yes, that was sarcasm. Put your hands down.

My co-workers seem to be more conservative than liberal. It's fun to get into political discussions with my co-workers, especially because I can really play Devil's Advocate for either side of the discussion. It's easy to argue for and against both parties if you're not tied to one or the other. And it's especially fun to raise someone else's blood pressure over it. Yes, I'm EEE-VIL!

But how boring would it be if everyone had the same point of view, the same political leanings, the same clothing, the same genitals? Pretty damned boring. I wouldn't be able to argue with Republicans about stem cell testing. I wouldn't have cooler neckties than my boss. And I wouldn't get laid. More importantly, I wouldn't have any opportunity to aggravate anyone about anything.

Rodney King asked, "can't we all just get along?". I'm glad to say that we can't (and don't think that I'm praising rascism, because I hate that crap). Although the differences sometimes make daily life a bit more challenging than I would prefer, they sure keep things interesting.

I think that the worst trait that any human being can demonstrate is apathy, and the greatest tragedy in a human life is boredom.

I'm happy that I live in a breathing, varied world. A world that brings lots of different sights, smells, and sensations.

Although I sure could have done without American Idol.

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