edteach: blog 
edteach's blog
politics and the barroom brawl
Published Oct. 7, 2008
As someone who always tries to avoid both but has never had much luck escaping either, I can’t believe how long it’s taken me to see that a barroom brawl and a political race (or discussions) are basically the same thing. I realize that the election is a month away and most of us seemed to have stopped thinking rationally better than a year ago, but let’s study this for a minute…
They begin when one side is dead certain that they are right and the other party is wrong… and, generally speaking, not just wrong but perversely wrong, foolish, weak, and all-around begging to have a mud hole stomped in them and then walked dry by people of better sense for the good of future generations.
They tend to involve people of low character—for the record, that now includes this author and you, who are wasting your time reading someone else’s well-intentioned political musings ; )
Brawls and political discussions are made both worse and more likely by the presence of my dear friend Jack Daniels. Further study into this cause and effect relationship will frequently see a brawl follow (or even interrupt) political discourse.
There’s no such thing as a “fair” fight or political race, but one doesn’t generally see the eye-gouging, straight razor-pulling, pool cue-swinging, hair pulling, “what’s that behind you!!”-sucker punching, brand of dirty fighting until things are looking bad for one side and folks start getting scared and desperate… which may well be why we’ve stopped talking about the economy and started talking about who palled around with terrorists when they were still rockin’ the Underoos™.
They may well be at their ugliest when people with no experience or who are waaaaay too old to mix it up pile into the fray.
And finally…
Generally speaking, EVERYONE comes away feeling dirty for having jumped in.
Those are just a few similarities right off the top of your old pal EdTeach’s noggin… you got any for the list?
close6 Comments
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GOLO member since January 25, 2008
October 9, 2008 4:32 p.m.
GOLO member since March 18, 2008
October 9, 2008 4:03 p.m.
I never claimed I wanted to make peace or that I was above sucker-punching, find clowns terrifying, and am barely tipsy!
GOLO member since January 25, 2008
October 7, 2008 3:26 p.m.
Ahh... see? Bar room brawls also require that one drunk clown that wants to be the peace maker while throwing in a few cheap sucker punches. ;-)
October 7, 2008 3:14 p.m.
GOLO member since May 16, 2008
October 7, 2008 2:59 p.m.
October 7, 2008 2:57 p.m.
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