O Canada

[mikoy]

I was going to beging this with "Hello, Ohioans," but I realized that wouldnt have been fair. After all, there are obviously some sane people living in Ohio, and it wouldn't have come down to one state if the rest of the country hadn't let it

Comments

[dreagoddess]

Wow. Thank you SO much. I now see the light and realize that all of my beliefs are wrong. Why didn't I just ask you ahead of time how I should vote so I should do it right? Oh, woe is me! Fortunately our country still has people like you, whose true spirit of unity is exactly what we need to heal after a divisive election.

[fiannaharpar]

Good to see that the spirit of unity and reasonable discourse is alive with you as well.

[dreagoddess]

I have been called stupid, idiotic, various other unprintable things, and outright evil for voting the same way as 51% of the country. (Incidentally, no Democratic President has won an actual majority since LBJ. Even the vaunted Bill Clinton never got over 50%. Gore got 48% in 2000 and everyone said he was the voice of the people, yet W's 51% has liberals reminding him that he doesn't have a mandate.) Since the election results became obvious, liberals have wasted no time in painting LJ with vitriol, hysteria, and outright tantrums. They've not only insulted the President and his policies, which is completely understandable when it's what you've just been campaigning and voting against, but painted with a broad brush every person who voted for him. This post was a stunning example of that. Meanwhile, I haven't seen any of the conservatives on my list gloating over the victory (most barely mentioning it for fear of reprisal) or insulting the other side

[fiannaharpar]

I appreciate your frustration, however, I don't see in what you are saying here being expressed in anything resembling a "spirit of unity" or doing anything to heal, which is what you were admonishing mikoy for not doing. Greeting overgeneralizations and vitriol with the same doesn't help.

I would love to hear your positions and to actually have an intelligent discourse. The healing really does start with people talking and listening like reasonable people.

Are you willing to start the healing? I am.

[bzarcher]

Thank you for very nearly stereotyping my entire state. (And I voted for Kerry.)

On the one hand, I am glad you held back. On the other, I think you really need to step back and take a look at the brush you're set to tar people with.

[mikoy]

Beg pardon? I do believe the first paragraph is pretty much entirely about how I realized I would have been wrong to stereotype your entire state.

And, no, I don't need to take any steps; I know precisely how broad my brush is, and you may rest assured I meant it to be as it is.

I'm sorry to be snarky, but I am in fact immensely pissed. Ann Coulter can publish books that say, in essence, all liberals are traitors, and I can't point out the many and varied reasons that it's stupid to have voted for Bush? Sorry, try again.

[bzarcher]

It's not wrong to say you feel it was stupid to vote for Bush.

It is wrong to say anyone living in the states which Bush carried (usually by a less than 5% margin) are stupid/fools/assholes.

[celebrin]

Just a note...

Gas hasn't been under a dollar since before I was driving. (And that's over 10 years ago.) Maybe in some rural parts of the state, but not in and around CMU, or really not that I saw. (I may be wrong) The lowest I recall filling my tank in PA was $1.31 per gallon. (I remember it because it happened to be on 1/31) Yes, the price of gas is up but don't paint the past rosier.

[bredmold]

I started driving almost four years ago. The price of gas in Pittsburgh has dipped as low as a dollar since then. As I recall, gas was about $1.60 when I started driving. It dipped down to $1.30 and then to $1.00 in relatively short order. The price has been steadily climbing since then.

Sorry I can't provide higher quality information than this.