I typed up a detailed reply, but I feel that getting too deep down this rabbit hole does a disservice to this great forum, so I will keep it brief.
I do think police need to be held to a high standard given their position of authority. I worry that they will be unable to recruit and retain good officers if we continue to villify them as an organization in our society.
Thanks. Just based on numbers probably a third of my subscribers will disagree with me. But based on community I think 100% of my subscribers would be great people to sit down with and have a beer. We could agree to disagree and we would not stop being friends and supporters.
So thanks!
Thanks for taking the risk Gregor. Despite being well thought out (per usual) I'm sure the thought, ... do I? or don't I?.. was going through your mind as your hand hovered above the enter key (more probably a finger over the left mouse button). I appreciate it.
.....from a Republican* in Texas.
(* but these last many years I'm called a RINO)
My life is a series of breaking and rebuilding things so perhaps that's where our country is at. RINO's are cooler than Elephants or Asses. Cougars are better than all of them.
I appreciate the ability we all share to express our opinions. However, I think President Ronald Reagan said it best in a speech called “A Time for Choosing”.
"Well, the trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so.”
I fully agree. We are all trapped in our own echo chambers. Realizing that is the first step towards expanding our media sources. I was a pretty regular reader of the National Review in addition to the NYTimes and Washington Post. I am always much more interested in having a conversation with someone who might disagree with me. It's how we see other perspectives.
Gregor
As others have said thank you for posting this and if I am being honest as I was reading I was thinking you could not be more wrong. But sitting here reflecting it is your opinion it is not wrong but is yours. I am not going to dive into one camp or the other on this what happened to that man was wrong what has happened after that is wrong. Now how do we all move forward and effect positive change boy I am not sure our country is so polarized right now with every thing that happens getting 50% of the country outraged and the other 50% thinking nothing is wrong. But again wish I was as articulate as you in expressing my opinion but thank you for putting your thoughts out there.
Sam
Thanks Sam. Consider this a standing offer to have a beer when this craziness is over. I'm sure we'd get along.
Thanks for sharing this Gregor. I hope that as people read what you've written, that they're not thinking about whether or not they agree with you, but WHY they agree or disagree with you.
Self reflection is essential.
Also, getting away from the news is recommended. Sorry for the delay in responding here - we got out for the first time since the end of February. It was a much needed break.
Oregon has begun opening up little by little. Mostly the more rural areas and some but not all campgrounds. Oregonians suffer a rather dreary winter so when spring comes there are few populations more enthusiastic about getting out than ours. Typically this means all campgrounds are booked 6 months in advance which is the earliest you can book a campsite. It's sort of crazy but with all the reservations cancelled due to Covid it was a clean slate when the campgrounds opened.
This place is called Laurence Lake or Kinnikinnick Campground. It's a small campground on a small lake just at the base of Mt. Hood and at the end of a tiny dirt road. Typically it's pretty full.
Our friend Matt (who I've shot a few Rev'It! projects with) booked a site when it opened and last week mentioned it to us. It looked like we snagged the last camper site so we fully expected the place to be full.
It was completely empty. Not a soul was there. Just Matt and us - there wasn't even a camp host. It rained two out of the three days we were there but in a miraculous turn of events the camper stayed dry. I kept expecting some leak somewhere but no - it was finally sealed up and waterproof.
After replacing pretty much every single part of the furnace I was thrilled to the point of ecstatic when replacing the gas valve finally got the furnace working. It's been four years without reliable heat and when night fell and it got cold I was more than a little excited to turn on the heat. In fact I was told to turn it down more than once.
I thought that was the final piece of the puzzle - that last part to make the trailer reliable but somehow fixing the furnace upset the gods of the RV universe and the water heater broke on the trip. The relief valve seemed to leak and while the heater heated the water it also ended up puking the bulk of our fresh water into the dirt. We didn't notice because it was raining.
And I didn't care.
We were camped by a lake in the mountains and out of our house for the first time in three months. It was great.
It's been a strange thing dealing with Covid. Everyone has their own level of seriousness and we've been pretty strict. It doesn't hurt that we both essentially work from home and with the kids home our isolation is pretty complete. I think the saddest thing was on the drive up to the campground when Lucas said, "You know what I'm most excited about on this camping trip? That I get to finally play with another kid!"
It has effected all of us and we don't quite realize how until we start to come back to normal.
Gregor
