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Saturday, June 12, 2010

The Poles Have Reversed!!

    The other night I watched the CMT country music awards hosted by Kid Rock.  While I'm not necessarily a fan of Kid Rock I was struck by the fact that when he came out on stage smoking a cigar and then was chastised by a fan in the audience for smoking in a non smoking arena he acknowledged the admonition but continued smoking his cigar.  Later in the show, the camera brought us back stage where a shot bar had been set up for performers who had left the stage.  I loved the political incorrectness.

    You know two score and plus or minus five or so years ago, our nation was preoccupied with millions of long haired, left wing, pot smoking liberal hippies who lived by the mantra "do your own thing" and who were inspired by Richie Havens singing Freedom, Freedom.  At the other end of the spectrum were the right wing, conservative, clean cut, country music, and mostly southern rednecks who considered the long haired, liberal freedom fighters to be unAmerican.

    So here is what has happened.  The liberal anti-establishment people who have now become the establishment and who once advocated legalized pot and free love want now to dictate how much salt we can put on a cheeseburger.  And on the other hand, the conservative red necks want us to be able to smoke in public places.  How did this happen?  When did the poles become reversed?

    I've long said that I would have loved to live in America when it was a free country.  As one small example why can't I open up a bar called let's say Mark's bar and allow smoking?  And then down the street someone might choose to open up another bar that did not allow smoking and call it Roy's bar.  That way if I chose to go have a drink and have a cigarette I could go to Mark's and if I didn't want smoking I could go to Roy's.  At least I would be free to choose.  Who says that in America some asshole politicians get to make that choice for me instead?  How did we let that happen?

    In my younger days I would have considered myself to be a liberal.  However, as I have become older I have learned that there really is a fundamental difference between liberals and conservatives.  Here it is.  If a conservative decides that he or she should eat less meat, he or she will eat less meat.  If a liberal decides that he or she should eat less meat, they want to pass laws to make sure that everyone eats less meat.  If a conservative thinks that it's a good idea to wear a seat belt he will.  But liberals aren't satisfied until there's a law to make sure everyone conforms to the same behavior.

    So here's my suggestion.  Get off my case!!  The only way we are ever going to regain our freedoms is if politicians come to recognize that while they might like to mull over future legislation while sipping Scotch, others might like to do the same while smoking a bone.  And you know what, if you want to maintain your freedom to own and carry a gun just maybe you will have to give rights to two men or two women who want to marry each other.  I know that's a stretch and maybe we just can't get away from people trying to cram their personal ideologies down other peoples' throats but if we want to maintain our freedom I'd like to quote J.P. in the movie Angels in the Outfield when he says "it could happen".

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