Mendy, you cover a lot of territory in your posts, so I can only commit so much time today to cover some of your thoughts…and offer mine. I do like reading your posts, even though I don’t agree with much of your writings.

You can decide I’m not the person for you to follow if you want. (MT)

Hmmm, challenging…. OK! I’m in!

And even one better…a thoughtful response.

Here goes. Background first…

I like freedom of speech. Not only do I like, it, I love it. I love it so much that I pledge my allegiance to a flag that represents this foundational idea, expressly and specifically itemized in our Constitution/Bill of Rights.

Just a reminder, (in case any of us has gotten comfortable about our rights) but this is a big deal…there are a lot of countries whose command governments hate* free speech and quickly kill those that dare to speak their mind.

· Sometimes, this happens by the millions (I have personally walked inside the somber gates of German concentration camp “Dachau”.) * via brutal suppression and Hate expressed by Stalin, Mussolini, Mao, Ho Chi Minh, and Leopold II of Belgium {look that one up}…amongst too many others

· Sometimes this happens singly, in dramatic fashion, such as being thrown off a building or some such similar barbaric evil in modern Islamic regions. *

So, I don’t need to agree with you to like you or want to hear from you. And, I don’t want anyone to confuse my disagreement with their ideas or behavior or belief-system or religion to be a basis for concluding that I am therefore, a ‘hater’ (or some similar pejorative).

Hearing any other point of view shouldn’t provoke us to ignore (unfollow) that viewpoint. Counter viewpoints test logic, challenge entrenched beliefs, beg the presentation of facts, and demand clear thinking for a response. So, I am promoting the idea of open discussions…I mean, really, just try to find someone that agrees with you on everything. Impossible.

So, with that disclaimer in mind….

I… saw a bumper sticker that said “Just Another Republican, Working Hard, So You Don’t Have To”. I thought “wow, how much of a self righteous nose thumber can a person be?”.

It could be that they really are a ‘self-righteous nose-thumber’. I know the type, I know what you mean, and I get your automatic response.

Or…get this… it could really just be a joke. Really. Just a joke. The hint of truth in this joke, of course, is the fact that some not-so-hard-workn’ people are taking advantage of the Fed US Govt’s generosity. Their generosity, with our tax dollars. Naturally, some folks are kinda pissed about that.

I know good, honest, hardworking Democrats, Republicans and Independents.

Of course there are.

And on a different topic…

I know for sure that public schools are some of the most enriching and life enhancing locales a person could ever step into.

The world isn’t a bubble. There are all kind of people with all kinds of backgrounds and experiences.

I happen to agree with you on this. I could send my kids to private school. I happily send them to GISD for my own reasons.

{Sending kids to private school} That honestly is their choice, and it isn’t for me to decide for them, but I think it’s sad.

Don’t pity the private school folks, please. Casting pity over a family’s school of choice echoes with the condescension you rail about on a jokey bumper sticker. Simply put, Public school is not always the best choice for the individual family….it’s not something to be sad about…and parents will decide that for themselves.

People generally, and conservatives, especially, value the ability to make their own decisions. They don’t request or require pressure from The State or the community to help them decide.

For family decisions on schools…It’s kind of like grassroots politics. Say good things about your opponent and better things about yourself. There are good things about public and private school.

The world needs more love and less hate and judgment.

Yes, true, the world needs more love and less hate. However, we need a lot more judgment. Not more judgmental people, but a lot more people with good judgment willing to stand up with it. And, the community as a whole will exercise its judgment when we vote in the upcoming primaries.

As to hate…

I grew up in a tough streets and hard-scrabble world of an affluent, mostly white, suburban private school in Atlanta, GA in the 80’s/90’s. Even so, in this iconic little bubble-world of khaki pants and blue blazers (you know, all preppy-like with the crest embroidered on the pocket)…I saw some actual ethnic, racial hate in Atlanta. And, I happily moved away from that crap to beautiful Texas. And, from my perspective, the average ‘Joe and Jane’ in Granbury, Texas today is a neighbor I like to live and work around. And that very much includes you and Chris, Mendy.

You can slap a hateful, condescending bumper sticker… but please be advised that you are very likely making your world more ugly….

We really need to exercise tolerance in the true sense…tolerance for different opinions on both sides of the ideological fence. Because…

In today’s PC world, we use this hate word so much that we forget about true evil and cousin hate. Hate ultimately expresses itself as a concentration camp, or in more modern times, masks itself in a jihad and in the way a whole Islamic culture treats marriage/women.

Ok, so maybe we need funnier bumper stickers….but…

Just because you don’t agree with it…and it doesn’t fit your worldview…doesn’t make it hateful.

#notmybumpersticker

#donthatemefordisagreeingwithyou

#lovemesomeGranburyTX

Brad Burnfield