More intro-y stuff

Welcome to the swimmin' hole. Dip your toes or dive right in, have a good time, just don't pee in the pool, the rest of us want to swim, too.

To continue from yesterday...

I registered as a Democrat as soon as I was legal to do so. I said yesterday that from that point I promptly ignored politics. The translation of this is not that I didn't VOTE, cuz I did. But I didn't pay very much actual attention to stuff. Mostly I picked up on whatever commercials I saw and things my friends said. Oh, and sometimes, with judges and the like, I voted by whether I liked their NAMES. Yes, I was ridiculous. I didn't read anything about anyone or any propositions. I was a follower, parroting what my friends said/did...and since most of my friends were/are liberals, everything I did went that way.

THAT was the bad plan. Not that the friends are liberal, but that I followed unquestioningly.

I started noticing a few years ago that I tended to not be especially right or left, more middle ground with leanings in both directions, depending on the topic in question. I do tend slightly more left than right, though. So I switched my registration to Independent. I have come to the conclusion, however, that most "party affiliations" don't mean much, except to decide which shindig you get invited to.

So about....oh, 6 months ago, I decided I was fed up with not knowing anything. Part of the impetus for this was the simple fact that I couldn't debate any politics with my husband, since I couldn't refute anything he said. His leanings tend to be similar to mine, except mostly right leanings. As such, a lot of his....blame?...I guess, for want of a better word, since it's early....lands squarely on Democrats and "bleeding-heart liberals". I told him he had to stop saying that, as I used to be one and it kinda felt like he was blaming me.

Which is dumb, but whatever. After any ranting is over, he will usually agree with me that neither side is completely to blame or completely blameless and that most politicians are only in it for the power, no matter what ideals they tout.

This kind of thing, plus the fact that I actually felt like being an adult finally, led me to start reading more and listening to various points of view. Also, having moved back to Arizona puts me back in more regular contact with my family (hi, guys!), who tend rather more right leaning. This gives me both POV, mostly left from my friends and mostly right from my family.

Of course, this causes me to be more confused than ever, as both "sides" have rather a tendency to insist that the other side is wrong wrong WRONG and why are you reading/watching THAT???? Don't get me wrong, I'm completely open to honest discourse/debate/conversation, but when it gets vitriolic I get irritated and walk away.

Hey, check me out, it's 8 a.m. and I can use words like "discourse" and "vitriolic" properly.

Anyway, since I've been back here, I've mostly been researching "right", as my "left" info has been predominant whilst I lived elsewhere.

I've been reading Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly and watching their shows with my dad. I even read Sarah Palin's book "Going Rogue" - damn, did she get shafted by her own campaign people. I have learned a lot of things that have disturbed me. And no, just so you know, I'm not just parroting them now. I am looking stuff up on my own and hitting the library ALOT. Research is what I DO, after all. I learned how for SCA and it carries over nicely.

That's all for today, I think. I'm not sure where to go next with this, so I have to mull it over some. Also...I'm going to the library. :-)

No links today - I have a ton but I have to check them out first. Ain't nothin' gonna be posted here until it's been personally checked.

Wanna hand me that towel? I got things to do.

Here we go....

I guess first there should be some sort of introduction post, right? Right.

My name is Natalie and I live in Arizona. It's hot here. Bright side of that is picnics in the park on New Year's Day, which is pretty awesome. I was born in Chicago, moved here with my parents and sibs when I was six. Moved to Idaho in 1999, then to Oregon in 2007, and have just moved back here with my husband and three daughters.

Let's see...I am a history geek extraordinaire and a voracious reader. I love to sing and hang out with my kids.

Whatever. Stuff. Anyway...

I grew up in a kinda conservative family and attended a church-based (Lutheran) grade school. I hit high school and discovered that not everyone thought the same way. Partly due to my friends and partly for the whole "rebellion" thing, I promptly registered as a Democrat when I turned 18. At that point I kinda decided that politics was boring and I was going to ignore it. This was a bad plan.

A couple of years after that, I started doing some religious exploring and found paganism/witchcraft. This has worked for me since and was not a bad plan, contrary to what some people in my life think. No, I am not ragging on anyone in particular and if you feel that comment was directed at you, I don't mean it in a horribly negative way.

The aforementioned bad plan was only really discovered earlier this year - and I have set about to educate myself. The first thing I learned was that most politicians are only in it for the power, no matter how much they talk about taking care of "the people". The second thing I learned was that religion or lack thereof seems to be way more tied into politics than I have wanted to believe.

From those two things my brain has started whirling in circles, trying to find the right place to land. My oldest daughter has been very helpful, by loaning me the workbook her 5th grade class used (5 years ago now, she's a soph) when they did a section on the Constitution. It's written at just the level I needed!

This blog is going to be used to straighten out my fevered thoughts regarding politics and religion and things attached to them. I do have another blog that is my life in general, but it's locked to friends only and I want this one 1) more focussed and 2) available to people who don't read the other one.

So that's my intro. And now, in an effort to NOT make this post one giant wall of text, I leave you with a couple of links. First, The Constitution, and second, The Declaration of Independence. Who knew they were posted right there online? Surprise! Go. Read them. No, really.

I mean it, what are you waiting for?