I shall sport a scarlet "R"

Like Dr. Helen, I can't honestly say I would be happy declaring myself wholeheartedly a member of the Republican party, or even call myself a capital-"c"-Conservative. Although, "right-leaning Libertarian" doesn't do it for me, either, for reasons I will not go into right here.

And, like Dr. Helen, I'm finding myself more and more weary of the nastiness and foul attitudes coming mostly from the left -- and not always the far left. (I'm not so concerned with the far right. The far right is a bunch of ninnies who have a talent for shooting themselves in the foot with their sanctimony.) I find political extremes distasteful and usually destructive toward the society which follows them.

Yeah, I tend toward the right on a number of issues, but, more often than not, I simply enjoy playing devil's advocate.

I like a really good, honest dust-up. Sometimes I go looking for a proper scrap. Sometimes, I post here just hoping somebody will come by and throw an honest punch or two. Without open debate, I'm stuck listening to the sound of my own blatherings, and, when you're crazy, that's frowned upon.

But when I'm looking for a proper rumble, I expect the discussion to be based on facts, not on ad hominem attacks upon anybody. Name-calling isn't really any sort of battle. That sort of nonsense is what we older broads used to call "chick-fighting". It wasn't even up to the level of mud-wrestling. It's sniping and whining and cattiness and bullying without muscle, because you know you'd never win in a real face-to-face, facts-against-facts fight, so you'd rather just be snide and self-absorbed.

And too often, even the people I count as friends (despite or even because of the fact that they trend leftward) get caught up in that sissy crap. And, by and large, they're better than that, if they'd just apply themselves.

Unfortunately, the "chick-fighting" path is seductive. It's much easier to simply say, "you suck!" than it is to explain why the practices or policies of the person don't or won't work, or to bring up actual evidence of error or sin. It's fun, when sitting all alone with a keypad, to type vulgarities in somebody else's comments... it makes a person feel all naughty and powerful, all at once.

Because it's such a siren song, I am thinking long and hard about declaring myself a Republican, then painting on the scarlet "R" and joining the nasty, dirty "chick-fight".

Lucky for me, "R" is also my initial, so if I get tired of madly flailing my words about, I can honestly tell people I have a colossal ego. I can wear it with pride, if I so choose. Or I can wear it with slime, as I earnestly say, "Hillary, you ignorant slut."