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Look, before you get pissed off and start calling me out on the title of this blog launch, please understand that I do not regularly drink when our children cry. Sorry AA. Sorry MADD. I’m ashamed Dr. Laura; I AM my kids’ father. Sorry mom. I didn’t mean it, reverend, judge, whomever it may concern. Please don’t look down upon me. This is it right? This is your life. You have epic thoughts, but you are stifled.
Every time you exercise your right to produce an influential contribution to humanity or make a mildly controversial statement, the moral majority jumps all over you. The right wing conspiracy descends and the left wing cries foul. You may be right…your arguments may be solid…you didn’t say it to be malicious…you said it because you believed it and believed it was necessary, influential, and beneficial. However, you’ll never say it again, will you? The powers that be sucked the life out of what may have been a poignant, thought-provoking, necessary comment/dissertation/Tweet/status update/tirade/outburst/argument/blog/e-mail. But, let’s be clear: the statement is not attacked on its merits. After all, this is what you wanted…a chance to change minds or accept greater truths. In nearly every case though, the thought is attacked because it was voiced. It was wrong. It was blasphemous. It’s shameful. It’s blasphemous. It’s bleeding heart liberal bullshit. It’s Republican propaganda. It’s uninformed. Your jury shames you to the point that you remember this negative experience before you speak up the next time. You remember how they shunned you. You remember how they took your argument out of context, edited it, manipulated it, bastardized it and then used it against you. They didn’t listen. They jumped to conclusions. They took it personal. And now, you feel bad. You’re ashamed. You feel foolish. Stop it. Maybe, you should have realized that they were never intelligent enough to hold the conversation with you anyway. Nonetheless, you let them be effective. You let the naysayers and the censors and the “righteous” win. They shut you down. Once that happens, it’s fucking over. They won. You are now a cog in the process. A spoke in the wheel. You are vanilla, middle of the road, politically correct, mediocre, even keeled, normal, a part of the masses…Yay!...no one is mad!...but no one is happy…nobody learned…in short, you suck. Yep, I said it.
I am not that guy. Let me be clear. I will not be shamed into a belief system. I have one life. I am especially intelligent. I have one goal: to use the brain power gifted to me by whatever source in the most efficient manner as an effort to think every thought without fear of shame or rejection in an effort to identify, realize, and achieve “The Good”. I refuse to be anything less than an icon of thought. Religious, political, moral, ethical, economic, humanitarian, sexual, sport, pop culture, even the trivial and inconsequential topics and etiquettes of life are on the table at any time. I do not write to be controversial. Although, I have written very little that is not. I write to encourage crucial life exploration of both reader and author…sometimes. Other times, I write for pure entertainment. Sometimes I write to be funny. I often write to criticize. I thoroughly enjoy getting off an epic rant. I criticize to get my point across. I force you to see my point…force me to see yours! Upfront, I will tell you that I am sometimes very cynical. This is not done to shame you into my belief system (that’s bullshit, remember?). My criticism is a challenge. The challenge is to you. Stand up! Be counted. Fuck the shame! Believe what you know is right – not what you know is acceptable! I criticize because I care. My mind could be changed, but not through embarrassment, not as a mandate by higher “authority”, not because you cried. My mind will only change through examination of a rational, well thought-out rebuttal. My guess is 90% of people do not have the balls or the dedication to set me straight. Some topics in this blog will likely piss you off…it’s okay…it’s not my goal, but I will not pull punches because you are angry or because you misunderstood the point. Some of the topics will make you laugh…I hope so! Some of them will be fun. Others will force me to explore things that you are afraid to explore. Throughout the journey, I will make a commitment to entertain. After all, what’s less fun than a lecture? If you are looking for crap messages from a blow-hard, tune into the Rush Limbaugh show.
Before someone asks, let me reveal certain characteristics of me. This way we can head off the name calling and concentrate on the matters at hand. I am not an academic. I will not present facts and figures as a general rule unless they are absolutely crucial. I have a Bachelors Degree from a well-respected business school. My hobbies include business strategy and philosophy. I am male, white, and 30. I have children. Our family is solidly middle class. I am married (to a woman, not a life partner). I voted for 1 more Democrat than I did Republican in the last general election. I am very much one of the “swing voters”. I look down upon those of you that declare political affiliations prior to an election. I think you are weak and uneducated and likely to be duped into piss poor leadership resulting in your need to propagandize and perpetuate lies/half truths for the next four or eight years to justify your original poor decision. I am not a member of the left wing conspiracy although I take absolutely no offense to being called a liberal. I am certainly a liberal thinker and the fact that you noticed is appreciated. I can be very conservative on certain topics, especially on the subject of personal responsibilities and business. I detest Rush Limbaugh and am completely embarrassed by the Bush Administration. Neo-conservatism placed us in the most harm possible within an eight year period. I grew up in the Midwest. I attended 12 years of Catholic School in a run-down area of a second tier city and with substantial influences from many races. I paid for college myself. I worked full time during school and helped raise two small children. I have achieved a fairly high level of success. I’m pretty sure I believe in God, although it should be noted that I am highly skeptical and unimpressed by organized religion’s intentions, value, and message. I enjoy life. But I question life. I question the purpose of life, as we all do. I think I can begin to see a path and can imagine a purpose, but Point A, Point B, and the line joining them are immersed in a debilitating haze that I have not yet been able to navigate. I am not an asshole. I believe in freedom. I uphold rational thought as the truest testament to truth. Before you start lobbing insults such as “retard”, “low life”, “dreamer”, “pessimist”, “idealist”, “blasphemer”, “fascist”, “racist”, “blow-hard”, “Bible thumper”, “faggot”, “pompous asshole”, “Republican”, “womanizer”, “indigent”, etc., I thought it might be nice to address your most intelligent comments first.
I have named the blog “Iconic Voyage”. It is intended to be a very real, unique voice standing out from the indistinguishable mishmash of half-truths, ulterior motives, propaganda, political correctness, and censorship. This is not vanilla. Throughout this voyage we will laugh. We will learn. We will be pissed off. You may cry. Some of us (me) may be drunk. But remember, Daddy drinks BECAUSE you cry. I will lead you to new levels of thought. I will produce poignant thoughts sprinkled with satirical masterpieces. I will entertain you. I will seek to give you a voice. In the end, I will teach you to be iconic.
-B. Iconic
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