Neanderpundit

I don’t write this blog to educate anyone, write it- quite literally- to hear myself yap. I’m gratified by all the people who come here and are amused by my yapping, but it’s still just me yapping, and i did it long before I had a blog.

Here’s the thing: I know I cannot change the heart and mind of anyone diametrically opposed to my political position, because I understand something- well, a lot of people understand, just few will let that understanding surface to their forebrain.

There are several types of learning, and I want to speak about two.

There is the type of learning that forces you to remember all the names of the commanders in the War of 1812. This learning you only need for the time it takes for you to pass a test; you might retain it after, and you might not. History geeks retain it more because they’re history geeks (I’m looking right at you, Tam) and they find it enjoyable.

Even history geeks, though, can lose track of a name or date or whatever once in a while.

Now let me talk about the other kind of learning.

Remember that time you went to school with your fly open and nobody told you until you had garnered the nickname “Barn door”? Remember the time you showed up at the prom and discovered your date was already drunk before you got there? remember the time you tried to line up your new rim on the lug and sliced off the tip of a finger?

Your experiences are probably different from those, but you can all remember those moments or similar ones, because of one simple thing: Pain is the most effective teacher on earth. the lessons you learn in pain become hardwired in your brain and prevent you from ever forgetting them. You can remember with perfect clarity everyone who ever broke your heart and how, you can remember with perfect clarity every stupid or embarrassing thing you have ever said or done, and you remember them because pain is the acid that burns those memories into the ripples of your mind. And those fissures, once created, cannot be easily changed, except by a greater pain.

This is as true of animals as it is of humans, because you can fuck up an animal’s training in a new york minute if you don’t understand this, and undoing bad behavior is horrendously difficult.

Developing good habits- whether they be gun safety, exercise, eating, whatever- all difficult, all important to our well being.

breaking liberal morons out of their bad habits is certainly not something I’m up to, nor am I stupid enough to try. I have my hands full just taking care of me.

Is an establishment boy from way back. I’m not too sure about him yet, but Dick linked me to this bit about what is being said about him.

It’s a reasonable piece. It addresses a lot of the issues that the media has saddled him with, and does so fairly even handedly.

It still doesn’t address my concerns, which are many, but can be boiled down to this: Will he be Bush 45?

I’m surrounded by a lot of bush bashers on the left and right- I don’t, because though I intensely disliked a lot of his policies and he never seemed to see a spending bill he wouldn’t sign, he acted more or less properly as the Commander in Chief in time of national crisis (imagine if it had been Gore or kerry!!!!!!) and took the conflict to the enemy instead of letting it come here anymore.

Yes, homeland security is a joke, yes, the patriot act is shit, yadda yadda. Once again: Imagine if it had been Gore or Kerry.

Anyway. Perry has issues. All of them have issues. I want to be convinced that Perry’s issues will not become mine. I want to be convinced Perry can undo the damage caused by four years of wingnuthead. I know for sure that Bachman cannot, she is embarking on a campaign of being ignored and abused by the press, and since she’s not a beltway insider if she did hold the office nobody would help her. Ron Paul is and always will be a joke, he’s the goddamned Dennis Kucinich of the right.

Let me just say this about Newt:

It seems as if Perry is the guy who can win, if anyone can. I want to be convinced he’s worth it.

In case anyone here doesn’t read tam, there will be a blogmeet at the Broad Ripple Brewpub in Indianapolis on Sunday August 28th. Be there or be a parallel perpendicular quadrilateral.

The Indy 1500 gunshow is that weekend. I’m headed down because I’ve been there in the winter and have no particular desire to travel i-65 in the dead of winter ever again. Cripes, it took Partner and I a half hour to pry the seat cushions out of our asses.

Anyway, for this, the last summer gunshow, and the last nice day when we can have a blogmeet, it looks like it’ll be good weather, and it looks like a good crowd will attend. Roberta X commonly organizes these (And a damned fine job she does at that) but this time I’m assuming she threw up her hands and said “Fuck it! YOU do it this time, it’s like herding cats!!!”

Well, no, I can’t imagine R-X saying ‘Fuck it”

UPDATE: Well, shut my mouth, Rx is involved, Tam just took point this time.