Political story?

One of the things I've observed throughout my life is that I am usually a surprise to no one, least of all myself. Though I grew up in a home in which my mom was very active in the local Republican Party, even serving as a delegate to the state Republican Convention, it just didn't seem to rub off on me. Perhaps not on Mom, either. Oh, Mom served as president of the League of Women Voters for awhile, but after all, said state is Minnesota, home of the Democratic Farm Labor Party and one that almost always votes blue. How long could she hold out in that setting? In her even further advancing years, she will regularly rail against the current holders of her former party. She says it isn't her Republican Party anymore, anyway.

Politics was a regular topic of family mealtimes in a household like mine. Mom likes to tell a little story of my childhood, one that occured in the days leading up to the election of Pope Paul after the death of the much-loved Pope John whatever-his-number-was. Now, we weren't Catholic, but most of my Nordeast Minneapolis neighbors were, so you couldn't help but remain informed during the ongoing Papal Conclave. The story goes, so Mom likes to say, that the discussion at dinner that particular night revolved around the election of this new Pope. I sat there listening and then finally burst out, "You mean they even have to vote for a Pope?"

In other words, at a young age, I was already questioning the political order. That hasn't changed. Like Mom, instead of mellowing and becoming more conservative as I age, I just get more firmly entrenched into my quiet form of rebellion against the prevailing order. For proof, I can point to the results of my Political Compass test. Good old RedMolly shared her results on her blog, and I had to follow the link and see where I fared. So perhaps I'm slightly more mellow than Molly, but good grief, I've got twenty years on that young thang, I'm entitled!

Still, I'm squarely in the corner with Gandhi, much as I was when I graduated from high school in 1972, protesting the secret war in Cambodia and celebrating the very first Earth Day with my high school's "Environment Club."

Economic Left/Right -5.63
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian -6.92

As I said, I really can't seem to surprise myself with anything. Maybe I should go do something really wild and unexpected in the voting booth next time. Nah, don't think so. There's just too much important stuff at stake to do that. Instead, perhaps I'll bird an unexpected locale today. Where's the nearest sewage pond, anyway?

Just to prove I'm not completely a "pinko" and do possess a heart, I'll also reference this entry from last November, in honor of today's U.S. holiday.