This message was self-deleted by its author

[distantearlywarning]

136. I have family in Colorado Springs

They are good, kind people who welcomed me into their home with open arms and no questions asked once when I had some serious life problems in my mid-twenties, open-minded, with a bisexual daughter, and although we haven't discussed it, I'm pretty sure they were Obama voters in 2008. They are on pre-evacuation status right now, and there is the possibility that they could lose their home.

Also, I used to live in Colorado Springs. The general tenor of the city is exactly as you describe, and there are many religious, right-wing, hateful douchebags who live there also. I fully admit that I was never so happy in my life as the day I drove out of that sprawling bastion of smug mega-church Christianity. There are a lot of self-righteous, boring assholes there, many more than where I currently live (Pittsburgh). The city attracts that type, it's true.

And yet...and yet...

There are many good people there too, including my family, who I am very worried about tonight. And as much as I hate Colorado Springs with a fiery passion - trust me, you couldn't possibly hate it more than I do - I would never wish what is happening there on anyone. Even self-righteous, boring, smug religious assholes don't deserve to have a wall of fire bearing down on their house at 65 miles an hour, to lose absolutely everything to a whim of nature, to be frightened and homeless and helplessly watch their hometown burn down. They don't. Nobody does. And all the people who aren't like that are suffering too tonight, along with wildlife and farm animals and pets. And a lot of these hotshot fire fighters are young college students putting their lives on the line for their fellow man, many of whom are likely very progressive. I had a good friend who did that very dangerous job in college to pay her tuition (at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, no less!), and she was as liberal as they come. If I can have some sympathy and commiseration with my fellow human and non-human beings tonight, you sure as hell can too. Let's not be like the other side, who demonized, dehumanized, and blamed their fellow beings suffering in the aftermath of Katrina. Let's be better than that, and show them how it's done, ok?