i got called a “hippie, liberal douche” today for posting the google bomb that used to be here. i’d like to discuss this now.
let’s start with hippie… maybe. i mean, i do enjoy my bowl of granola and organic low-fat milk in the morning, and i do buy fair-trade, shade-grown coffee. i take short showers to conserve water, i use a nalgene bottle to cut down on plastic consumption, and most of my choices as a consumer tend to favor the local economy. in addition, i try and do all of my shopping on one day and drive as little as possible in order to cut down my use of fossil fuels.
but at the same time, i enjoy the mindless banality of television as much as the next guy, i buy my clothes at target and the gap, and i leave my computer on all the time, which definitely contributes to fossil fuel use. so yeah, there’s definitely a hippie streak in me, but it’s not as deep as it could be.
on to liberal. yes, definitely. i think the war in iraq is wrong, i think that a woman should have the right to choose what to do with her own body, and i think it is the responsibility of the government to at least do something to reduce the cost of health care in this country, if not pay for it entirely. i also think deficit spending to stimulate economic growth is stupid, and that responsible energy policy isn’t developed in closed meetings with oil company executives. the current administration is corrupt to the bone, the republican majority in congress (with a few exceptions like olympia snowe, lincoln chafee, and to some extent norm coleman) aren’t far behind, and it’s time to reinstitute some checks and balances to stop Dear Leader from wiping his ass with the constitution and the bill of rights. so, yes, i unabashedly, unapologetically cop to being a bleeding-heart liberal.
douche. this, i think, is gonna be hard to determine. i mean, i have done stuff like forgetting people’s birthdays, not returning phone calls simply because i haven’t wanted to, and the other things that go on a laundry list of bad shit people do. so, sometimes, yes, i am a douche.
but am i a douche for having a hippie streak and being a liberal? with the exception of the aforementioned google bomb, i have rarely done anything to rub my politics in someone else’s face. i don’t pick arguments with conservative thinkers, and i’m not of the opinion that conservative always means evil. i’d like to think that i’m fairly respectful of other people’s opinions. and the only reason i put up that google bomb was to try and make a difference in an election I see as being critical to the survival of the united states. so, in the end, i don’t really think i’m a douche, but you can call me whatever the hell you want. i don’t regret my actions, and i will not apologize for giving a shit.
now, if you’ll excuse me, i have some election day volunteer-type douchebaggery to set up.
