Uncategorized

I’m Not Saying

38 Comments

Today’s post comes from Minnesota’s 9th District Congressman Loomis Beechly, representing all the water surface area in the state.

Greetings, Constituents!

I’m not about to say “I told you so”, but there are a lot of people here in Washington DC who are a bit red-faced today about the latest news that the planet broke its all time heat record in 2014.

Some of those faces are red with anger, and others … well, it’s been hot. What do you expect? I’m not saying I fully understand the meaning of this short video from NOAA, but if I was still a teenager and this world map was my face, I’d be alarmed at the blotchy mess it has become. I thought this was supposed to go away as you get older!

I’m not saying we’re incapable of dealing with this problem in a meaningful way, and I’m not naming any names, but I can pretty much assure you that the people who did nothing to address climate change before this latest news can be counted on to keep doing nothing well into the foreseeable future.

That means it’s up to the rest of us.

Now, I’m not about to try to take advantage of this calamity to promote Minnesota tourism, but I do want to remind you that Minnesota is far from all the coasts and we do have lots of nice cool lakes. I’m not saying that Minnesota will be the only safe and/or comfortable place to be when things get harsh everywhere else, and although it pretty much makes that case without saying a word, I’m not trying to draw your attention to the widely published map that clearly indicates we were in one of the world’s rare cool (meaning “normal”) zones last year.

CLIMATE

Why the American Midwest looks so comfortable while all the other parts of the world appear to be sweltering (except out in the middle of some oceans and in Central Africa, where they’re fighting wars right now) is something I’m definitely not saying. But the only reason I’m not saying any of these things is that I know people will get mad at me if I do. Biting my tongue is a real test for me, mostly because it moves so much and my teeth are so tiny. But part of being a politician is knowing when to speak up, and when to be disingenuous.

Your (cool) Congressman,
Loomis Beechly

What makes you bite your tongue?

38 thoughts on “I’m Not Saying”

  1. Morning all. I’m just finishing Oil & Honey so this is a perfect topic.

    I work in corporate America. I bite my tongue over something almost every day.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  3. Rise and Bite your Tongue Baboons!

    Like VS, I defer comment daily, hourly, etc., just not about the corporation I work for–since I work for me. However, with the airline I want to re-ticket me, the insurance company I want to pay me (as a provider), the client I want to return, I bit me tongue, reduce the judgement and say it a different way.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  4. Good morning. As an older person, who has not always resorted to biting his tongue when I should have done this, I am getting a little better at knowing when to bite my tongue. I have found out that I don’t always need to have the last word. It does take some tongue biting to refrain from trying to have the last word when you know you are right or think you are right.

    Sometimes it is impossible t convince someone that you are right. When you know you can’t win an argument by getting a person to admit you are right it is often best to not try to have the last word. That will not do any good and might end badly turning a friend into an enemy. I’m not saying I am always able to hold off on trying to have the last word when I should do this. Can’t everybody just agree with me so that I don’t ever need to bite my tongue?

    Like

    Reply

  5. Besides the daily nibbling, the most recent event that had me chewing on my tongue like a cow chews cud was at the hair salon. I was sitting with my person, getting my hairs all prettified and was treated to a half hour rant worthy of Fox News from another stylist. Her topic was primarily about immigrants and “The Muslims” and a bit about taxes for good measure. None of them were being praised for their virtues, and little of what was said was based on actual facts. She also had a bit of vitriol for our president (had I said the same thing about George W I’m sure I would have been told I was a communist, un-patriotic and probably a few other things). It was almost enough to make my curls go straight. No good could have come of me saying something right then – I can only go forth into the world with a different set of opinions and do my best to spread understanding, tolerance, and acceptance regardless of where you come from, what faith or beliefs you have, or who you are. And if I have another half hour like that at the salon, I may have a chat with the management – I will defend anyone’s right to free speech, even if I find it abhorrent, but in a service-industry setting, that level of vitriol moves beyond bad manners and into something that could cause the salon to lose customers (I think there is a reason the chair next to that stylist’s has been empty for months). At the very least, I may need to bring ear plugs – I like the people I see there too much to quit going to that salon.

    Like

    Reply

    1. My leftish hairdresser are able to have our rants within the (I assume) privatizing glass barriers between chairs. At least I never hear what’s going on outside our pod. I would have no tolerance for what you describe!

      Like

      Reply

      1. No glass between the chairs – big open space. And the stylist in question has a voice that carries. Oy. There is another part of the salon that is not as open – my left-y liberal stylist is in that part of the salon (moved away, I’m sure, from Ms Fox News). My thus-far-politically-neutral colorist is in the open space (she’s fabulous – though being an immigrant herself, I’m not sure how she puts up with Ms Fox News’ opinion of immigrants day in day out…).

        Like

        Reply

  6. Some sort of spasm in my jaw while I’m chewing a bite of food. Dang, that hurts when it happens!

    And you’d think I’d have mastered the art of eating after almmost 59 years of practice. “-( *sigh*

    Chris in Owatonna

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. Morning–
    Always nice to get back on the trail after being busy. I enjoyed catching up on all the comments yesterday.

    Working in theater with other designers and builders I sometimes want to question what they’re doing or why they’re doing something ‘that’ way.
    And it depends on the person and their temperament doesn’t it? Some people I could ask and we would talk about it. Others you just walk way and leave them too it. And fix it when they’re gone.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  8. I often have to bite my tongue at church when our highly annoying and evangelical organist has had a hand in choosing the hymns. I prefer depressing, old, German and Norwegian selections. She chooses bright, insipid, modern songs. She also plays everything at the same, slightly too slow speed no matter what the tempo is supposed to be. Aargh!

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    1. she should perhaps team up with our pastor, who mostly controls things and insists on a good deal more “new” stuff that involves questionable rhyme schemes and text being mashed in to fit a melody it doesn’t for the sake of “message”

      Also melodies that are not easy to catch on to or easy to sing. I belong to a very able musical congregation, it is painful to hear them struggle.

      This old kraut is very crabby about it.

      S&h has been promised that I shall reach out and haunt him if such twaddle is dragged out for my memorial. He is particularly aware that Earth and All Stars and Eagle’s Wings will be severely and relentlessly punished.

      He has to smother his laughter when those are trotted out.

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

      1. Totally agree about Eagle’s Wings. I have promised to haunt each and every person responsible if that is even hinted at for my funeral. I will rise from the dead and smite them.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

        3. I must remain officially neutral on “Borning Cry” due to familial connections to the Lutheran Musical Publishing Industrial Complex. (Unofficially it doesn’t bug me the way “Eagle’s Wings” does, but it’s not a favorite either.)

          Like

      2. At my mom’s funeral we had “For All the Saints” and “O Day Full of Grace” with the F. Melius Christiansen alternative verses, with daughter playing Ave Maria on the violin. No hauntings as yet, so I guess Mom approves.

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply

      1. I love this hymn conversation. I thought I was the only one who remembered these old saw hymns.

        Accompany this comment with a sigh of satisfaction.

        Like

        Reply

  9. Grammar, of course.
    My father never bit his tongue on the subject and so I’m aware of every “I instead of me”, “less instead of fewer”, “real instead of really”, “lay instead of lie”, etc., etc. Oh, and his fave, “like instead of as”. He would always correct the old jingle, “Winston tastes good like a cigarette should”. “AS it should!”, he would shout.
    I know that I’m not perfect but I get it right in my pet-peeve areas (though I admit I’m much more casual about using a preposition to end a sentence with).

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    1. Daughter texted me in a panic Saturday. She had e-mailed her favorite English professor, asking her to be a reference for her in her formal application to the Social Work program at her college. To her horror she realized she had misspelled “recommendation” and had used “an” before a word that started with a consonant. I suggested she resend her request with the corrections and apologize for her poor proof reading. She was somewhat embarrassed, but did so. The professor was tickled and told her she was proud of her corrections and would be more than happy to be one of her references.

      Liked by 5 people

      Reply

  10. Being a cynic, my humor encompasses (but is not limited to) the acerbic, sarcastic, and satirical. What is commonly referred to as ‘snarky’ in polite circles. As such, my internal censor has a big red ‘Bite Tongue’ button that gets pushed a LOT.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  11. I believe the fact that I still owe on my mortgage is probably the most effective curb on my tongue.

    that and the fact that sometimes my jaw gets out of alignment and then I give myself an almighty chomp. owwowowoow!

    Like

    Reply

  12. Biting one’s tongue implies wanting to speak out but choosing instead to be silent. I long ago lost the impulse to pipe up when someone who isn’t close to me says something stupid. People have been saying stupid things as long as they have had the power of speech. And I can’t think of a single case where correcting a jerk made any difference in his or her behavior. So I am not motivated to speak up . . . which means my tongue is not bitten.

    How different it is with people I care about! If someone I love persists in conduct I think will hurt them or others, I am tempted to say something. But even then, speaking up has only a slight chance of making a positive difference. I don’t believe in criticizing others just to vent steam, and it is often counterproductive or hurtful. And once I have spoken critically to someone I care about, I almost never repeat it. To speak critically once is possibly instructive; to repeat a criticism is pointless and even possibly boorish.

    It might seem that I’m overly fastidious about when to speak up. Of course, more men should be! And I run about with folks who are sensitive, so I don’t need to clobber my friends or family members with a 2 x 4 to call their attention to some dumb thing they are doing. And of course, some people welcome constructive criticism and don’t have thin skins. I just usually assume they do.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  13. Hard as l try and as futile as it always is, being in the presence of a person who has nothing any deeper or knowledgable to say except right wing talking points gathered from FOX “news” compels me to speak up. l might as well be talking to Sean Hannity himself. Where l never bite my tongue is on the anonymous Strib opinion boards each day. Libs are definitely outgunned by cons, but somebody has to present real life facts – right? Where l regularly bite my tongue, though, is with my three kids. They just don’t need to know about my travails because they’ve got enough of their own.

    Like

    Reply

  14. I see from the map that ND was sort of cold last summer. It was a colder summer than usual. I could go with some warmer temps this summer. We plan on lots of peppers, and they need heat.

    Like

    Reply

  15. Lately, my mom will say things that are really funny, but it would be rude to laugh. She’s actually gained some ground in the last few months, but still says things like “Did you know there’s a restaurant downstairs?” to her friends who thinks she’s gone round the bend. (Well, we are talking about the Alzheimer’s wing here. She’s referring to the lovely main floor dining room, where we sometimes go for a special meal.)

    Like

    Reply

  16. Once at a holiday celebration a relative started off on an anti-evolution treatise, about how the Bible tells us the earth can only be 6000 years old or some such whimsy. I changed the subject very quickly.

    Like

    Reply

Leave a reply to reneeinnd Cancel reply