ljplicease | Somebody Blows Their Nose And You Want To Keep It

What in Tarnation?

Yesterday I went to see Tarnation with one of my hiking friends and some of her book geek friends. I mean book geek in the most affectionate terms possible, as I am quite the Computer/Camera/Whatever geek myself. The only other guy there was obsessed with Ghostbusters. I like Ghostbusters as it is an excellent 80s and very "New York" movie. As we crossed the street he was quoting the "Get Her" scene from Ghostbusters. Sad that I recognized it.

I can't really recommend Tarnation, as I am not entirely sure that I enjoyed it, but I am glad that I saw it.

Fishkill Ridge Hike

Today I went hiking up Fishkill Ridge with the same friend and we got to talking about politics. The cool thing about this friend of mine is that even though we come from very different political backgrounds, we can talk intelligently about politics without getting personal. Her gripe, and I agree with her, is that many Democrats tend to be a intellectual and elitist. She said something to the effect that many Democrats think that "if we could just talk to the backward ignorant masses who voted for Bush we can convince them of their incorrect ways." She got so angry at some of her friends that she told them that she was sort of glad that Bush won, because of how elitist and narrow minded her friends were being about politics. This is someone, mind you, who is an independent minded, registered Republican, who voted for Kerry because she wanted to vote against Bush. This is exactly the sort of person that the Democrats should be cultivating if they want to be anything other than a second rate political party.

I am not a Democrat, I am a registered independent, and I voted excitedly for the first time on the 2nd. Officially, I do not discuss politics in The Twilight Report, but this is so important that I must. If I were a Democrat, however, and I wanted to bring people into the party... and lets face it, that is how you win... I would be more open minded and think about how the party can help those that voted Republican rather than alienating them. It is fine to disagree with someone, but be respectful of people's views. You will not convince somebody of anything by telling them they are stupid.

Somebody has got to unite the country and it's not going to be George "I'm a Uniter Not A Divider" Bush, nor is it going to be snoby elitist intellectual big city liberals.