Politics and Passion

Thank God Barack Obama has a cooler head than I do. He's demonstrated throughout this long march to the White House that he doesn't rise to the bait. He doesn't get upset or bothered when people attack him - even when the attacks get personal. I wish I were as even keeled. I have a hard time keeping my passion in check when someone questions ideas near and dear to my heart. Today my passion spilled over at work.

One of my colleagues started attacking the Democratic party - claiming they and they alone are responsible for the disastrous financial mess we are in, even though they've been the party in power at all levels of U.S. government for most of the past decade. Sure, there have been small areas of Democratic governance, but for the most part, the Republicans have controlled the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches. My colleague tried to imply that Bill Clinton was responsible for the problems in our financial markets. Bill Clinton? He hasn't been president for almost eight years.

I told him he needed to occasionally watch somthing other than Fox News. At least I was able to get him to admit that he didn't watch anything except Fox News. He also said he was scared of an Obama presidency and that Sarah Palin is qualified to be vice president because of her vast executive experience. At that point, I knew there was absolutely no point in arguing with him because he had no ability to debate logically. Of course, we can disagree on political issues and exactly the best way to run a country, but when you begin to vilify someone saying he "scares you," you've headed off the logic track and into crazy land.

I'm pretty good at keeping the attacks from getting personal, but I can't keep my temper in check when someone turns illogical. I walked away and refused to engage after that. My colleague apologized later in the day for being so vociferous in his arguments, and I told him: "No problem; I'm a big girl and I can handle a disagreement." I have to admit, I also made a crack about being able to stand up to him because his arguments looked a lot like the BYU defense against TCU last night. It brought snickers from the other male colleagues. Hey, I can score points and hold my own with the boys.

Maybe I let my passion get the best of me at times, maybe I can't always keep my cool and have to walk away before my head explodes. At least I know a little bit about self-preservation.