getting a bit of rest

I'm taking a little time off from ranting, here. It's not that I have to be somewhere, or that I've got important things to do. I am getting a bit behind in my reading, and time spent blogging is time not spent learning HTML, but that's not why I'm cutting back. It's because of my attitude.
My wife thinks that all my political blogging is turning me into an "angry" person. She may be right, maybe I am grumpier. I look at it this way, though: It's as if I woke up from a nap, and found the kids sitting on the kitchen floor, surrounded by cookie crumbs. Of course I'm pissed, and like most single-issue-focussed males, I tend to spread that grumpiness around a bit. This is not an excuse, just a reality.
My wife, who refuses to talk to me at all about politics any more, is an American History teacher. Why she wont talk Politics, given its role in History, given that in 10 years it will be History, is one of those Great (probably Female) Mysteries. But given her attitude, can she really wonder that I spend so much time talking about it (okay, bitching and moaning about it) online, because she wont talk about it with me.
No, no, that's not quite true. I wouldnt stop if she did talk about it with me. I probably wouldnt even slow down, much. Let's go back to the Nap analogy. For the last eight years, (while my wife has been teaching) I've stayed at home with the kids during the day, and worked at night. I spent a lot of time watching TV, trying to wring out a little sleep when I could. A normal weekday for me begins at about 6:30 a.m., and ends at around 2:30 a.m. I get to spend very little time with my wife except on weekends, so I dont get out much (make that "at all"). Most of my friends have quietly slipped away over the years. Frankly, considering my level of correspondence, I'm surprised they stuck around as long as they have.
So think of me as having spent the last eight years in a deep sleep (TV or sleep, much the same). One day, I discover a community of people, who think similarly to the way I do. Eureka! Do I join in the conversation, or do I go back to sleep? I wake up, of course (I think I've slept enough).
And what do I discover upon waking up? The government I was raised to believe in (despite Watergate and Viet Nam) has been hijacked by a group of cronies who espouse an Religio-Conservative Ideology, but practice Kleptocracy. That the Love Thy Neighbor philosophy of the Church I knew as a child has been replaced by a Correct Thy Neighbor To The Error Of His Ways And The Correctness Of Mine philosophy. That Science, once the Savior of Mankind (except in 70's sci-fi movies) has now become the Path To His (Moral) Destruction. And that Money has become the Be-All-and-End-All of American Culture.
I have, in effect, woken up to find all the stupid little children called the American People, surrounded by crumbs in the kitchen, pointing fingers at each other. And I know, I know, that to get them to clean up this mess is going to be very, very hard, and require a lot of yelling, and possibly a few swats on the butt.
And I also know, to my own shame, that part of the reason that they were in the kitchen making that mess, is because I was asleep.
Anyway, so I'm taking some time off from ranting. I'll try to find my center, perhaps. Let My Anger Melt Away (isnt that a song?). But I'll be back, because I can still see some crumbs on the floor, and the cookie jar lid is still missing.