Hi all--yes, I'm around, and yes, I read posts to keep up on everyone. And yes, I have been busy--busy with estate stuff and taxes and house and car, busy with kids and ballet and soccer, busy with out-of-town guests and friends old and new, busy with projects threatening to become overdue.
Tiggs, I believe that attempting to categorize myself and others only serves to divide. Groups and causes, beliefs, and stances all serve as philosophical ideals--like those proposed by Plato--that adherents may strive for but never attain. In so doing, however, we forget what commonalities we may share. That is not to say that there are no differences--one-size does not fit all--but we all share a single planet and each desire to succeed among forces that seem to forever conspire against us. We are all human, and, as such, have our own weaknesses and blinders to reality in some way. Perhaps it is ego that blinds us and prevents us from seeing truths to which we'd rather not admit, or perhaps it is a willful denial or a desperate desire for things to be the way we wish that precludes us from accepting or considering the ideas of others. Regardless, we all share in the systems that surround us--government, culture, religions, biology--and must learn to negotiate these things to the best of our ability. I cannot control events in which I have no part, nor can I fully judge another's action without knowing all of the details surrounding their decisions. I do not dwell on what I learn from the news--rather, I seek to use what I have learned (both from the reports of others and my own gut-reactions to those reports) to better inform myself and shape my own decisions for moving forward within the frameworks in which I find myself entwined. One thing I have learned is that distilling everything down to two sides creates an "us versus them" mentality that often overlooks details and nuances that, upon reflection, may be just as important as the general ideologies espoused by each side. I hope this at least sheds some light on the question you have asked.