perfidy

Blogmatron Kathy Kinsley has an interesting piece up about how the Left (and, she admits, the right) in the US are "gripping." Gripping is, to wit, "If your way of handling a situation was to take a death grip on anything solid and hold for dear life, you were gripping."

I've seen the behavior on both sides of the fence (the marriage Amendment idea is a case in point on the other side). I linked this mostly because the concept is interesting. I've spent enough time on boats to know exactly what he means. I've also seen the reaction in cultural contexts (people living in other countries who speak only to fellow expats, preferably from their own country). Gripping when they should move with flow.

I think a lot of Americans, and not just the left, have been gripping since September 11, 2001. I've seen more stridency on both sides, less willingness to listen and more insistence on 'my way is the only true way™'. That is not a good thing. We need to learn from each other. We must adopt the best ideas from all sides. We must adapt to the changes, move with the ocean's swells. Gripping's just going to keep us white-knuckled in the same spot forever.

Absolutely.