On the frisson politick: Handful of nuts and something between the cheek and gums.

Olaf Turtletaub had his Battle Flag doo-rag tucked in one pocket, and his Skoal Mint Pouches.  But his raison de'tre?  He had a handful of Planter's Honey Roasted, and the damn deers, the ones not cleared-out, the does, the daughters and mammies, would come right up past the ditchbank, the edge of the wood, and eat right out of his hand.

Eating some nuts, like an obstinate ideologue friend of mine who made one of those pre-packaged meme-based statements and said, of the party line, "if you don't agree with me, you should un-friend."

And I was thinking, I didn't disagree with the point of the piece, but the attitude of cutting-off the conversation, ya know?  Cutting off the conversation with moral imperatives is kind of..... not good.  Un-American.  Its how wars start, pejoratives, absolutes and red lines and so forth, routes of cutting off, reasons for shutting down diplomacy.  And you'd think, if you were on the right, you could point it out from the left, but then the leftist can point that out from the rightey, like Roe v Wade being, in polite society, "settled precedent" but then, in front of friendlies, its not so settled is it, its more of a take down target.

Olaf wouldn't un-friend you for that nonsense, because he can see your humanity through all the noise and pre-made lines, lies agreed upon, pitched political battles, and so forth.

He can see right through that noise and junk, and he's not shilling for party donations either.  Maybe, despite being "straight white and Southern", he preserves his own judgements, and doesn't agree to blanket policies, and doesn't climb on board for every agenda item without questions.

Olaf Turtletaub is not your average bear.