What surprised me was the ageist angle that the gals took.

We definitely need to worry about protecting the sanctity of straight marriage–otherwise how could family values men like Rush Limbaugh get married four times, the most recent to a woman 26 years his junior?

What’s it to Feministing to pick on the age difference? This is an organization that embraced a woman live-tweeting abortions, cannonized Dr. George Tiller, the murdered abortionist, and took Palestine’s side in the flotilla situation, since Feministing’s opinion is so crucial in that issue.

Katheryn Rogers, Rush’s new wife, is a 33-year-old woman. She is old enough to decide for herself if a 26-year-old age gap is a big deal. The Feministing nags lost any shred of credibility a long time ago, and they have absolutely no right to take an ageist bent on their union. Not surprising but tacky and shallow, like most of their writing. Who are they to judge? Don’t they believe that all women should be empowered to make their own decisions? That applies to women who marry conservative talk show radio hosts.

When combined with the news that Elton John played at the festivities, should I be surprised that they went with that angle?

I wish Feministing and other outlets like Jezebel (Broadsheet and Double X, I”m pointing at you too!) would do something as simple as perform a Google search to verify facts rather than just read TPM, Kos, HuffPo or whatever source the talking points gods sanctioned that day.

Had they searched, they would have found this interesting exchange on Mediaite that described the evening with Megyn Kelly, who was a guest.

Sheesh, Mediaite is even on their side. How much lazier can those women get?

Secondly, Allahpundit makes a valid point. Elton John has a history of performing with people who disagree with his views.

First, Kelly quotes Elton as having said that he’s “all about tearing down walls and building bridges,” which is true to form. Remember when he teamed up for a Freddie Mercury tribute with Axl Rose, whose most notorious song for Guns ‘n Roses sneered about “immigrants and faggots”? Remember when he dueted at the Grammys with Eminem, who has his own share of gay-baiting lyrics? He has been to known to bridge-build from time to time.\

Plus, factor in that it was his wedding day. Since the women at Feministing are so opposed to that patriarchal sign of female oppression, I’m sure few of them have experienced many weddings. Newsflash, the groom is generally pretty busy. Plus, who cares about politics on your wedding day? All that matters is the person you’re saying “I do” with.

After realizing how ridiculous that reaction was and turning off the phone to conserve battery life (no one else had a charger that would work), I looked forward to this opportunity. I was in Indiana to celebrate the wedding of a dear friend and help her out, not share the minutiae of my existence with those who follow me on the global conversation known as Twitter.

I joked that I was suburban camping, and only went through withdrawals for a few hours. While I was busy helping with preparations, I soon noticed I wasn’t as jumpy or tense as I normally am. I didn’t feel the compulsion to read 800 newspapers or blogs a day to keep up with every breaking news story. I could focus on a task longer than 10 minutes. I was relaxed.

Now, I was hardly cut off. I checked email once a day, and sent out a couple of tweets on Saturday, but it was far from my usual time spent online. Honestly, I didn’t miss it.

Given my job and geographic location, I can’t maintain this level of disconnect, but I appreciated it. Outside of urban areas, I noticed that people don’t obsessively check their phones and BlackBerries for messages. Actually, not that many people had smart phones. At the rehearsal dinner, no one pulled out their phones for hours at a time. It was so noticeable that I commented on it, and a fellow guest, who lives in the New York area, agreed. People were focused on the conversation going on physically around them rather than activities back at the office or chatting with other friends.

Checking your phone constantly or texting while out with other people is a pet peeve of mine. I’m guilty of doing it, but it is rude to focus on some web device when out with friends for dinner or happy hour. It’s even worse if you’re on a date!

While situations arise when you do need to check your phone for something important, we blur the lines far too often. Following the latest trending topic on Twitter does not count as an emergency. If you are physically at an event with others, you should mentally be present as well.

Of course my period of disconnection didn’t stick. As soon as I got to the airport, I took advantage of free wifi. When I got home, I immediately spent a few hours catching up on the interwebs and penning this post.

I’m hardly turning into Wendell Berry, but I do think that humans need to disconnect regularly. Perhaps it’s just the news-obsessed culture of the DC area, but everyone around me would benefit from a tech break. Humans were not created to constantly absorb news and regurgitate information. Just because we can share information immediately, doesn’t mean we need to comply. The expectation to react 24/7 is not healthy, and it made the political world much worse.

I still love technology, partially because it pays the bills, but I do wish that it was easier to step away from it all.