Hope all is well with you and yours...

Last week I responded to a letter written by my new friend Jim Hansen. You know the story so I’m not going to bore you with the details. But I did invite Mr. Hansen to visit my blog where we could have an honest debate about our differences. So far he has declined the invitation, that’s alright. Who knows, maybe he’ll have another letter in the Metro this week.
Here’s the deal guys. I know from time to time I get pretty controversial and a lot of times I do it just to get a reaction and when I do get one I’ve probably got it coming. All I ask is that if your going to respond to something I’ve written be honest about what I’ve said.
I still haven’t been able to generate much interest in my blog but I do get quite a few e-mails and last week’s column generated more that usual. Okay, the number of replies I received was six. Hey, it’s a start. Anyway, for the most part everyone agreed with my response to Mr. Hansen’s letter and agreed that he had in fact misrepresented what I’d written and that he’d started it, but without exception, all thought I was out of line when I told Jim to take off the “liberal blinders” and accused him of being divisive. Alright, point taken.
I don’t suppose it would kill me to give my own “conservative blinders” a rest every once in a while. I won’t like it but I’ll try. Maybe we all should. And I’ll bet you that if we did and started having honest conversations with each other without the accusations and name calling we’d probably find out that we’re not all that much different. I’ll bet you we could find that we all want a lot of the same things out of this life. A decent, safe, and stable place to raise our families.
That doesn’t mean I’m going to stop speaking out about the things I believe in. I’m not going to all the sudden tell you I’ve decided to support things like late term abortions or gay marriage just so I don’t offend someone. When I see or hear a politician saying or doing something I don’t agree with, I’m probably going to say so. From here on out though, I’ll make an extra effort to understand where that person’s coming from and try to listen to why they support and believe the way they do. Who knows, maybe I’ll learn a thing or two along the way. Hey, anything’s possible.
Look, Obama promised “change” and people believe it. That’s a good thing I guess. But listen, and I’m not trying to put the man down but he can’t do it. Sure, he promises to get us out or Iraq and I hope he does. He can promise to cut our taxes and so on and so forth. But that’s it.
Real change must come from us. At some point in time we need to quit the constant fighting and name calling and realize we’re all in this mess together. And at some other point in time we’re going to have to realize that in order for anything to change we’re going to have to work together. And that’s all I’ve got to say about that. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and yes Jim, that means you too.
Just because I haven’t been able to generate much interest in my blog doesn’t mean I’m ready to give up. Stop by sometime, who knows, maybe we can learn something from each other at: www.rm235.blogspot.com or you can e-mail me at: www.kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net