I Know I am a Filthy Political Noob (Open letter to Political Veterans)

Dear Sir,

I have not always been an especially political poster.

I've had my opinions, but I've gone a long ways through my life not often bothering to point out current news and what I see as pretty obvious facts.

That's changed. Obviously. Partly because what I thought of as obvious facts are, to a significant portion of the population, neither 'obvious' nor 'facts.'

And here I am.

My posting has invited some great conversations and comments, and I love that.

I don't love… all of it.

I don't always love when the Political Veterans drop in.

Don't get me wrong: they have good insight, they've been "here" longer, and their comments and additional information are great, and I mean that sincerely.

But sometimes (sometimes often) they drop a comment like "this is not new" or "it's been like this for years" or "all this is part of their playbook" that, while absolutely TRUE, comes off as a sort of hipster "I liked/hated this band for YEARS before the rest of you caught on."

And that's not especially helpful.

Now, I know, Political Veteran, you've been doing and feeling all this for longer. Far longer, maybe. And I also know some people WON'T get that, and think you came in with the rest of us noobs, and there is a legitimate need to establish credentials.

It's just kind of… off-putting. I love what you bring to the conversation, and I TRULY VALUE historical information as it relates to what can be done NOW, so I hate that it sometimes has that negative effect, because I think it dilutes your contribution.

And here's the thing: the noobs may not always have all the details, but we'll usually acknowledge that a lot of this has been going on for awhile in some form or another.

But the ongoing fight is, by definition, now. People are waking up now.

So when new allies show up and start shifting sand bags, reminding them the rain started falling years ago isn't going to keep them coming back to the fight.

With great respect,
A Noob