perfidy

Buckethead blogs thoughtfully about the seesaw. Nice!

On this point, one reason that I am a centrist is that I am naturally concilatory. ("Oh really," you say? "Oh, yes!" I say). That's not to imply that I have no opinions of my own, but I tend, in general, to give credit to the ideas deployed against mine. I'd like to claim that this grows out of my general thoughfulness and decency, but I doubt that's the case. I just like to feel like I know what's what, and if I have to modify my arguments to fit new evidence or previously unconsidered circumstances, fine. (Case in point, thanks to NDR and Ross' arguments, I have moderated my stance on the EU considerably, though I still don't like the Constitution as proposed)

As a result, I flip-flop around like a halibut on a pier.

The impetus for my urge to find common ground stems in part from a recognition that in general, within American political discourse, points of concensus outweigh fundamental differences. (I've read my Richard Hofstadter, and also my Louis Hartz.)

This general narrowness is neither right or wrong, and it's definitely not the whole story, but if you take any two reasonably intelligent, well-informed people (Buckethead and I will do, in a pinch) and put us in a room together, we will generally find that we share more big-picture opinions than we differ on, and can often find room to respect those where we do differ. There are exceptions. Nativism, racism, sexism, issues where moral boundaries trump political equations, all exist and are vital in American politics (I didn't say "to", I said, "in." So siddown.) But speaking generally, Americans agree on most stuff. See below.

I have stopped blogging about politics for the time being because I'm just so BORED with it all. The loudest voices in the political debate are idiots, almost to a wo/man. NPR does a fine job, but then comes out with some mealy-mouthed inanity which defies fact, logic, and the laws of physics. The Wall Street Journal engages in willing self-delusion. Marketroids run the joint at CNN, Fox News, and on the radio, and print is the domain of shrill, mendacious harridans like Ann Coulter. The decline of moderate discussion is a disease, and I'm weary of it.

I was in a discussion last night about politics, and the point was made that prior to September, 2001, American political identity had become complacent, and most people's attentions were turned towards locality-- their own kind, in other words. Times were good, so there wasn't much to challenge our assumptions. Now that the nation has re-asserted its patriotism in the face of external attack, that resurgence is tinged with that same provinciality, exacerbated by the tendency for many people not to engage in introspection before denouncing "enemies". For all the (sincere) outpourings of grief, gratitude, and unity at the time, the shock was transient but habit is not.

I don't like what I see-- it worries me. The California recall is turning into an event of high weirdness beyond belief even for that strange-ass place. The Presidential campaign is already a monkey knife-fight to the death, and it's not even October yet. Many Republicans, especially in office, seem to forget that they set the hate/loathing bar pretty fuckin' high back there in the days of slander, semen, and frothing, righteous rage, and yet get all petulant when their kung fu is used against them. Payback's a bitch, innit? The vocal liberal fringe seems to forget that there is a fundamental difference between: a President who--though you may totally disagree with every damn thing he does-- still thinks he's doing the right thing for the country as he sees it; and a bunch of religious fanatics who are working to kill as many of "us" as possible.

The few moderate voices out there are like Kevin Bacon at the end of Animal House, shouting "remain calm! All is well!" while a crowd buries them (me, delusionally) in the pavement (even though personally I'd rather be a crass sensualist like John Belushi and drive off with a cheerleader in a cherry Cadillac).

Granted, my perspective is skewed by virtue of the fact that this a blog, and I read other blogs, and blogs as a medium aren't exactly known for moderate opinionating [Heh. Indeed.]. But from the top of the Federal government down, everyone's behaving like children. If they were real men like in days of yore, you'd have the canings and fistfighting and the deuls at dawn on the cliffs of New Jersey, but instead all we have is a bunch of wealthy, overgrown infants grabbing all they can from the money trench, all the while trying to put devil horns on the other team. And there's another bunch of wealthy, overgrown infants reporting on it.

At least football is on, so I can watch some civilized brutality. Go Browns!