One thing I like about Oregonians, on all sides of the political spectrum, is that a lot of them have a very Libertarian attitude of "I'm going to do my thing, you do your's, and as long as it's not harming me, go for it." I'd certainly count myself as liberal, but I bet that I share a lot in common with those who complain about the stinch of liberals.
I appreciate your tone, Josh, your willingness to seek common ground among diverse people who've been pulled together into some eddy on the Internet to discuss guns, their safe and responsible use, RKBA, and related issues.
As long as we're discussing deer rifles, handguns (even caliber X v caliber Y) or shotguns, we stay respectful and ignore differences. What politics?
But when the political genie slips out of the bottle, Katie bar the door: danders get up, words get slung, some of it
ad hominem.
It's why I mostly (except in rare cases where my better judgment faded) I stayed out of the now, at least temporarily deceased L&P (rest in the only peace you ever knew).
So, I appreciate you having the courage to state that you have at least some liberal fibers in you, but that you can also share things in common with those who describe liberals in terms like "stench". Of course, so do I. I suspect that I really contain roughly equal portions of liberal, conservative, libertarian and even a pinch of green left over from earlier years of my life. But mostly, when possible, I try to remain apolitical.
And speaking only for myself, the odd smells that I notice most are fundamentalist {insert political party, religion, philosophy or weapon type) who has zero tolerance for any other group but their own. I know liberals AND conservatives AND libertarians AND greens who have that odd smell about them, who whine and complain about how the world would be a better place if only those {insert political party, religion, philosophy} would just shut up and go away. I just refuse to play that game.
PDX seems to have an interesting mix, and overall it seems to be a stable even if fluid social stew.
OK, I'm rambling now ... back to work.
Anyway, welcome to OR. If you need an infusion of more conservative, traditional values, simply drive past that large volcano that you see out your eastern windows. You'll find all you could ever want ... and more.
Oh, speaking of volcanoes (anything but politics )... don't forget: you now live in a major earthquake zone. Just west of you, just off the coast a ways, is a large subduction zone where
the Juan de Fuca plate is slipping under the North American plate. Every once in a while, those plates just get hung up for a while and don't slide, and when they let go, things shake.
For example, there is geologic evidence that a mag 8+ occurred a few hundred years ago (pre-Europeans, 1450's, I think), which is what IIRC caused a mountain to slide into the Columbia, stopping it's flow for a few days. Indian spoken word stories report having walked across it until the river cut a path around it. It's called "
bridge of the gods". So point is, this end of the continent shakes a good bit from time to time.
Nem
.
