Things that make me sad

This. This makes me sad.

I used to live in Oklahoma. As a born-and-raised yankee, I suffered a bit of the ol' culture shock when first I moved there, but in the end, it was one of the most eye-opening experiences of my life. I had plenty of stereotypes in my head at first, stereotypes that a lot of my friends from back home would jokingly reinforce with comments like "Do they even have phones in Oklahoma?"

At the end of my short two year stay in the state, though, I'd come to see it as a place just as varied and flawed as the rest of the nation. I met diehard liberals, moderate Republicans, Baptists-a-plenty, a small but dedicated community of Jews (literally 8 in my town), plenty of intolerant jerks but also a wonderfully large population of good-hearted souls.

Still, for all of the decent people I've been fortunate to meet in my life, I know there still lurk ignorant, hateful individuals who are doing their damndest to keep us all in the Dark Ages.

That doesn't make it any easier to take when something like this comes to light, though. What's especially hurtful is the realization that this is the sort of rhetoric that's spewed behind closed doors all the way up to the White House, and is not reserved solely for obscure Oklahoman politicians.

That fact should infuriate all of us. People like Sally Kern need compassionate help and education to find a more tolerant and non-judgmental path through life. They don't need to be elected to positions of power and influence.

Please believe me when I say that this woman does not speak for all of Oklahoma. I don't believe she even speaks for a majority of people in this country. Sadly, though, this kind of speech tends to echo most loudly, as opposed to the larger number of people who quietly go through life without imposing their misguided views on others.

Shame on you, Sally Kern, and shame on everyone who agrees with this kind fallacious, hateful speech. Oklahoma, and our country, can do a lot better.