Well, howdy there internet peeps, and those with or without opinions
It's Troy again.
I'm hoping it's a good sign that my sciatica pain is moving up out of my calf. We're back to my hip aching. I suspect the Teeter table and some exercises are behind it.
The teeter table is currently blocking access to the train layout on the side I need to work on. As I said in a much earlier post, I don't have room for both it and the treadmill.
I need to get the teeter moved, take a few photos of the treadmill, and post it for sale. The three or four times I use it each year are not enough to justify its footprint in the crowded basement.
When it comes to respecting opinions, let me offer the following:
Somewhere after Clinton was elected, a friend turned me onto a radio host whose name rhymes with Lush Rimbaugh. I listened to him (and some chap whose name rhymes with Blenn Gleck) for over 20 years. So when that movement that sounds like the Pea Tarty started in 2009, I was all in, and got myself into two governing boards for the state groups here in Indiana. And on a statewide campaign for US Senate.
During those, as a non-religious conservative, I watched fellow conservatives embrace a lot of ... well... crap. They claimed to LOVE and SUPPORT our constitution. But the dreck they were consuming from talk radio, and talking heads on TV wasn't informed.
I fancied myself as the "Jeffersonian Conscience of the Indiana Pea Tarty" and told a future VP that when he came to "Listen" behind closed doors to what the Pea Tarty folks wanted him to do if he ran for Governor of IN.
About that time, a fellow named David Barton - a self-proclaimed "Historian" on the right came out with a book called "The Jefferson Lies" about... yep, my man old TJ himself. I'd made TJ a study point for myself over the past few years, and was slowly wrestling with the dichotomy of TJ the author of the "all men are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights...." and the stark reality that the same author owned other men and women, and sold and purchased slaves as needed for the rest of his life.
Barton tried to sweep all of that under the Monticello rug. In fact, he didn't write a history book. He wrote Soviet style propaganda. His book was roundly debunked by historians - real ones, with degrees, teaching credentials, books of their own - on both sides of the aisle. The publisher (Thomas Mercer) eventually pulled the book citing errors by the author. Barton had to purchase remaining inventory, then made a few changes to move from "statement of fact" to "opinion" on a few of his more outrageous ascertations. And he republished the book under his own Wallbuilders business entity. But the damage to what was left of his reputation was done.
Much of the right's grasp of history is rooted in David Barton's pseudo-history. And my bookshelf groans under the weight of books debunking Barton's works.
That is why I stopped calling myself "conservative" and started looking beyond the spin chambers on only one side of the opinion gulf.
Why do I bring all of this up?
Because I want to respect all INFORMED opinions.
Feed me David Barton levels of Bull-Cookies and my respect wanes. There is plenty of room for differing opinions on the political front. Or the religious front. Some of my most interesting religious discussions have been with friends who are true believers in XYZ religions, because we're able to offer the respect for the other's opinions. Why? Because it's always a discussion open to changing one's opinion.
A few years ago, Bill Nye the Science Guy debated the owner of the Big Arc in Kentucky about Evolution. The closing question was along the lines of "What would change your mind about your current position?"
Bill said ~ Evidence. Science is all about building theory based on available evidence.
The Arc Guy said ~ nothing. I have a book that tells me all I need to know.
I respect Bill's opinion. I respect Arc Guy's right to his opinion, but I don't believe it to be well informed. And he told the world his mind was closed, and not open.
I hope this makes sense.
