The great thing about unsolicited advice is there's no obligation to take it. I promise to not lose sight of that, if you won't, either as I offer an unsolicited observation on a situation I read about it on the front page of a newspaper this past weekend. I'm a registered voter in the same party that's in the story though that's more accidental than anything else (I hope). Let's both pretend that's relevant, okay?
When I tell you sometimes I've voted for candidates for public office who are from the same party I'm in, are you surprised or do you shrug your shoulders? And if I then tell you other times I've voted for people who are not of my party, may I assume the reaction is about the same?
Like you, unless you're lactose intolerant, I enjoy a variety of different flavors of ice cream-I think having the same one all the time would get old and I'm doing a good job of that all by myself. I see political parties as houses, with many rooms and in each, to varying degrees, are people who share, and/or don't, similar values and beliefs. Feel free to add additional rooms or floors (there's an unfinished basement if that helps) and create your own metaphor to describe what you've built.
Ideally, the houses are large enough politically to accommodate all who seek to enter and if we end up with some participants with whom we'd rather not go shoe shopping, what can I say? For a lot of people I am that guy, which explains why I'm often mistaken for Shoeless Joe when I'm really Klueless Kenny.
The adage says variety is the spice of life (I can never find it in the store so I usually get paprika). I think of it as helping put the Pluribus in E Pluribus Unum. A cynic might argue when looking at the 'other' national party, sometimes called "The Party of Lincoln," Abe, himself, might have had difficulty passing muster with many of those who are members today. A less vintage example might be Connecticut's own Lowell Weicker or even Joseph Lieberman, both of whom chose different paths in pursuit of their respective elected offices.
It's not always the singer, so much as it's the song and while many of us can't carry a tune in a bucket, we can always admire the lyrics even if we don't always know all the verses (unless it's Henry the Eighth). And when some of us don't think any of the words have a meaning for us and that no one is listening to the words we choose to use, the question becomes do we keep silent or start our own dictionary.
In this particular instance, I don't pretend to know the whole story but I'm pretty sure what I've read didn't belong in a newspaper. Words, like stones, can be used to build bridges or, instead, erect walls. Which we choose speaks volumes about who we are.
-bill kenny
No comments:
Post a Comment