I actually had to laugh out loud today, because I was surprised by the realization that even in the blog commentary world, a divided and often vitriolic crowd, at best, there actually are some things upon which everyone can agree. I was reading the comments on a CNN item regarding the nominated Senator from Illinois, Roland Burris, and was rather amazed to see the usually partisan crowd coming together to jointly respond to one poster for his raving remarks.
I am not talking about remarks regarding the CNN item, which were, in fact, also surprisingly similar from both sides of the aisle. Let's just say if Harry Reid was running for anything that required a national vote, I think it's safe to say he would not be elected for dog catcher. And my apologies to the dog catchers out there. I don't know why I am slandering them by the comparison.
I am not even referring to comments about Burris, which I am guessing were largely based on ire with the governor instead of differences with the man himself.
The thing that got my attention were the somewhat patronizing, and yet I think largely sincere, expressions of concern for one particular poster, who is, from all appearances, completely crazy. His post was misspelled and rambling, and didn't really make any sense at all. [That was not a partisan crack, by the way, although you often find those kinds of comments on the message boards.] This person is obviously a brick or two shy of the full load, and someone dropped the wheelbarrow, to boot. About every other comment after that referred to that poster, and his need for help of some kind.
It is nice to know that even in the hate-filled world of cyberspace, people do seem to care, when it comes right down to it. I know there were some that were simply tossing pot shots in his direction. It is cyberspace, after all. But I'll be honest, none of them really had that feel. Virtually everyone encouraged him to get help in various ways, a phenomenon I have never before witnessed on those boards.
It is, somehow, affirming to me to see that people do, when the situation is extreme enough, stop their own ranting and raving, and recognize another person in genuine need. We are inundated with stories of horrific happenings, usually carried out while witnesses run away or turn away or simply fail to do anything at all. We are exposed to a constant barrage of hate from the news to the video games to the movies and the books we read. We are told, seemingly endlessly, that the world is a harsh, cruel place that will eat you up and spit you out, without a single care or concern for anyone that gets in the way.
And then, I pull up this item, expecting a forum of the usual commentary, and am surprised to find that the online minds are all at the same party. I was totally unprepared for this, and am not sure if there is a larger meaning to it, or not. But it was nice to see people agreeing on anything, in this rather self-indulgent, my way or the highway culture we have grown into.
I am not sure if we can take that small moment and extrapolate anything from it, or if it was a simple quirk of fate that will not be repeated. I don't know if it was a harbinger of quieter, more peaceable times to come, or not.
But the tone and tenor of the other comments on the board, the ones that were aimed at the actual piece on Burris, changed after the post by Griff. People were suddenly more focused about the subject of their ire, and they directed it, for the most part, not at Burris, or even the wayward and incorrigible governor who nominated him, but rather towards the members of the Senate who are not only holding up his seating, but also playing "Mother May I" instead of working on the real problems being faced by this country.
Is it possible that the low approval ratings of the Congress, [an interesting factoid here, the 11% of the population that thinks Congress is doing a good or excellent job in the most recent poll is actually lower than the most recent approval rating of 13% for said governor, who has just been impeached by his own legislature,] may, in fact, result in a sort of ad hoc temper tantrum by the general populace? One in which people finally demand real representation from their elected officials, instead of the pork barrel lip service that has passed for Congressional action up to now? The Presidential race is not the only one which merits attention, even if it is the one that gets the most media play. We ignore the Congressional races at our own cost, and if we do, we deserve what we get.
Before the president-elect is even sworn into office, this newly minted Congress is already on the verge of making itself completely irrelevant. Their leadership is ineffective, the public is fed up with the games and the corruption and the money and the power being used for the good of the few at the cost of the many.
The majority of the voters in this country, over 50%, voted for something different. Change was not just a campaign slogan for them - it was real, definite, and non-negotiable. That 11% approval rating is not a joke, although we may get a giggle at the fact that even Blogojevich can exceed it - it means that most people on every side of the aisle are unhappy, and that is the basis for real change.
So what then, do we make of bloggers commenting in sync, people from the right and the left all asking for the same thing? Whether it's a demand to stop messing around and seat the legally, if irritatingly, nominated senator, [as any good parent will tell you, never make threats you cannot carry through, he called your bluff, now you need to get over it and MOVE FORWARD,] so they can get on with the work they were elected to do, or to encourage an obviously unhappy and needy person to get help instead of rambling away on a message board, I see change afoot. The strange bedfellows we find in the political bedstead may just be us.
Cheers!
