Tired of the empty kettles.

Once I heard someone say that it is always the empty kettles that bang the loudest; meaning that it's always the people that have no clue what they are talking about that people seem to hear the most. One of the places this seems to happen the most is when people discuss politics. It seems to me that more and more people are choosing sides, confusing opinions with facts and carrying a "you're either with me or against me" attitude. As a moderate, this is really sad to me. I have lost friends on both sides of the spectrum because of this and I see our country becoming divided more and more everyday and it breaks my heart. In many of these cases, people are not even fighting about the issues, it's mindless "Conservatives are nazi's and they suck" or "Liberals are bleeding heart douchebags" and there is no rhyme or reason to any of this. I think both conservatives and liberal groups have good ideas and contribute to this country and I don't think we could make it without either side.

Granted I know this isn't true for all left and right wingers. I completly respect the conservatives and liberals that can state their opinion and listen to opposing opinions without resorting to name calling and fighting. However from what I am experiencing, these sensible people are becoming less heard because of the empty kettles.

No matter what your political affiliation is, we all still live in this country together and I feel that if we keep dividing ourselves, we will destroy ourselves long before any terrorists or outsiders do.

It's hard being a moderate

I am a moderate; not just politically but in most areas of my life, and it seems to prevent me from making too many friends. I feel that many people that surround me are too ingrained in one thing or another and I like to dabble a little in both sides and fail to understand the idea of being one way all the time.

For example, I like to party as much as the next individual. It's fun to have a few drinks and let loose. However usually I do it once, get a really bad hangover and don't want to do it again for six months. I also enjoy more refined activities like sitting in a cafe and drinking a latte or dining at a fine restaurant. However the overly artsy folks at many cafes I can only handle in moderation and the prices at the restaurants make me feel like I am draining my finances for one meal. So again, I don't like to do them all the time.

So this results in my bar hopping friends thinking that I have the idea that I am better than everyone because I don't drink a lot. On the other hand my more refined friends think I am kind of trashy. I just can't win either way.

And this is all BEFORE we get on the topic of politics!!!