what are we doing?

i am not naming any names- i don't think at this point i have to. sigh. who are we? what have we become? when did we lose our humanity? i am not preaching to the choir and i am not on my soap box. i am sick and i am tired and shouldn't even be at the keyboard. the blogosphere; the fashion world; the sports world; politics- they are all reflections of who we are as people. yes, they really are- as a whole. not necessarily individuals. but us as a sum total. we fight each other- we fight other countries- we fight our friends and make them enemies. we play up our differences in order to be 'special,' 'unique' and in doing so- we alienate and destroy common ground. many folks have stopped blogging on group blogs over 'creative differences' and many have stopped blogging altogether due to the incivility and hostile environment from folks who are supposed to be allies. the trolls- most folks can handle. they are 'the enemy' it's the 'friends' that cut the heart and soul our of us. we, as a nation, rolled over on issues such as torture and the death of our constitution. we peeped nary a peep. now, we see a burgeoning police state- and these are our neighbors. not just the ones being arrested- but the ones arresting. the ones signing the paperwork that puts us in jail for protesting. or disagreeing. that is really what eats the heart out of me. americans throwing away what the ideal of our republic is.

open debate- not the name calling and shrill rhetoric that passes for debate these days- frank and honest discourse in order to make informed decisions. honest, investigative journalism. freedom from any one religion over the others. constitutional civil liberties. we have lost the checks and balances within ourselves- and thus- have lost them as a nation. so, peacechick mary and pursey, and pam, and kvatch- and all those other folks i said i wouldn't name but have started to anyway- your voices have been silenced. and that has made the world a bit less civilized and more empty.