Divided we stand
Yesterday, we took the kids to a 4th of July parade in our town. We live in a town that is known for its progressive values, even though there are many wealthy Republicans who also make their home here.
What really put me off was the floats and placards from the various peace protesters, and groups like Amnesty International. I suppose some would say that their right to express their opinion is the point of this holiday, but I say that it totally detracts from it.
The point of a national holiday is to unite people not divide them. It's like being at a dinner party, people. You make smalltalk. You talk about non-controversial things because that's what you do to be inclusive, to make everyone feel welcome, regardless of the political beliefs they hold.
What really put me off was the floats and placards from the various peace protesters, and groups like Amnesty International. I suppose some would say that their right to express their opinion is the point of this holiday, but I say that it totally detracts from it.
The point of a national holiday is to unite people not divide them. It's like being at a dinner party, people. You make smalltalk. You talk about non-controversial things because that's what you do to be inclusive, to make everyone feel welcome, regardless of the political beliefs they hold.
posted by e-kvetcher at 8:50 AM
7 Comments:
I went to the parade as well, but I guess we left before the protest groups and so forth- all I recall were insane amounts of Shriners and minor government officials enjoying their moment in the sun.
Tobie, you went to the Evanston parade?
I can't think of a better way to celebrate independence day than by exercising our constitutional rights. Furthermore, it is the glory of America that we can have express those opinions in public and not have riots, police attacks, etc.
Larry,
I agree that these rights are precious, (heck, I'm practically a libertarian) I just don't think that this was the right time to do it. I am not denying their right to do it, just the menschlishkeit of it, for lack of a better word. There were ad hominem attacks on Bush, they were doing some kind of pantomime where they were draping the kids in the crowd with sheets to make them look like corpses - way over the top, in my opinion.
Thanks for dropping by and commenting.
Oops. No, I went to the Skokie one. Sorry. Is Evanston a lot more liberal than Skokie then, if you got all these protestors that we didn't? I had thought that Skokie was about as liberal as they came.
Is Evanston a lot more liberal than Skokie then, if you got all these protestors that we didn't?
Wow. I guess you've never hung out in the Evanston cafes? Yes. It has a very progressive constituency. Probably the University has something to do with it. Yes, Evanston is replete with all sorts of long haired hippy freaks, granola types, libertarian radicals, anarchists, sexual deviants, etc...
That's not necessarily a bad thing, though. They just need to learn a little derech eretz.
"Evanston is replete with all sorts of long haired hippy freaks, granola types, libertarian radicals, anarchists, sexual deviants, etc..."
For your information, I live in Skokie.
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