Alarming News: I like Morgan Freeberg. A lot.
American Digest: And I like this from "The Blog That Nobody Reads", because it is -- mostly -- about me. What can I say? I'm on an ego trip today. It won't last.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: We were following a trackback and thinking "hmmm... this is a bloody excellent post!", and then we realized that it was just part III of, well, three...Damn. I wish I'd written those.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: ...I just remembered that I found a new blog a short while ago, House of Eratosthenes, that I really like. I like his common sense approach and his curiosity when it comes to why people believe what they believe rather than just what they believe.
Brutally Honest: Morgan Freeberg is brilliant.
Dr. Melissa Clouthier: Morgan Freeberg at House of Eratosthenes (pftthats a mouthful) honors big boned women in skimpy clothing. The picture there is priceless--keep scrolling down.
Exile in Portales: Via Gerard: Morgan Freeberg, a guy with a lot to say. And he speaks The Truth...and it's fascinating stuff. Worth a read, or three. Or six.
Just Muttering: Two nice pieces at House of Eratosthenes, one about a perhaps unintended effect of the Enron mess, and one on the Gore-y environ-movie.
Mein Blogovault: Make "the Blog that No One Reads" one of your daily reads.
The Virginian: I know this post will offend some people, but the author makes some good points.
Poetic Justice: Cletus! Ah gots a laiv one fer yew...
I disagree with much in this video, but I thought that line was ingenious.
Hat tip to Daphne, whose commenter James Wilson speaks for me:
Men who take the trouble to present their former leftist credentials as proof of their humanity, instead of being mortified by it, have not crossed that divide. He tells us further that he is not left or right, but something in between. There is nothing in between.
Mr. Condell says people on the left hate themselves and hate America.
This is not necessarily true. I wish it was; if it was, their numbers would dwindle quite drastically.
No, the left is made up of agenda-driven zealots like the ones he is describing, who in turn are hard at work recruiting new leftists from sheep exactly like what he used to be. And these sheep, by and large, are just trying to stay cheerful, positive and respectful…they’re just plain busy. Putting together spreadsheets the boss will never take the time to read, chatting up the folks in the other cubicles about who got kicked off American Idol, figuring out the perfect six-dollar unpronounceable coffee drink to order…
…Breaking the law talking to the missus on a cell phone while driving through heavy traffic, for thirty minutes or more, as if she was delivering step-by-step instructions on performing a brain transplant rather than orders to pick up milk on the way home…
…Cutting off other drivers and giving them the finger, as if racing to defuse an atomic bomb three miles away, rather than simply picking up milk on the way home…
They simply aren’t paying attention to what’s going on. They vote for Obama to get all kinds of things done, things that are the polar opposite of the things Obama has really been doing. Earn respect from other countries around the world, trim down that deficit, create a tax system that will work for “everyone,” create a post-racial America that doesn’t pay any attention to skin color…oh God, I gotta quite writing that stuff I’m laughing so hard I can’t keep my fingers on the keys.
Because all you can do is laugh or cry.
No, James Wilson is right. There’s nothing in between. There are people who accept that life involves risk, that absolute security in everything is a toxic agent, and that when a culture abjures its own identity on its own native soil it begins a slow certain process of suicide. And then there are other people who do not realize this. The people who do not realize this, as unconcerned as they may be with political events when the next cup of Macchiato is waiting for them, nevertheless manage to achieve that first lesson in short order…where they recognize those who do not pursue the same solutions, lock the cross hairs on them and scream “raaaaacist!” to whoever else might be paying attention.
They begin the certain tumble down the ten terraces of liberalism.
There is no “center.” It’s an illusion.
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And Alison speaks for ME, as long as we’re quoting Daphne’s readers:
God Save Us from those who see only black and white. And pity them for being color blind, too.
- bpenni | 09/19/2009 @ 09:27The center cannot hold…..
- chunt31854 | 09/19/2009 @ 09:45It seems to me the wizened moderate you are trying to be, would never use or endorse a paragraph that begins with “There is everything…” You and Alison are not making a water-tight commitment to prudent, case-by-case judgment; it seems to me you both realize you’re being fair-weather friends to it. The Faustian deal you’ve made, that alternates between extremism and moderation, is that “some” good and “some” bad should be seen in all ideas that come down the pipeline. All metrics in the universe are plotted along a bell curve, with the optimal point in the middle.
And there can be no exceptions to this. Which is what makes your side the extremist side. It’s a “packrat” pledge to never, ever throw anything away. Meanwhile, we have all these bad ideas we’ve tried so many times, just aching to be thrown away. We are reaping the bitter harvest from failing to abide by the Prager rule: “I’d rather have clarity than agreement.” And when ideas fail again and again, out of obeisance to this sometimes-illusory bell curve, we keep trying them again.
I wonder if you consider this mindset of yours fairly represented in last year’s contest? It got an awful lot of attention and adoration, on both sides. And it was put into practice. When the dust settled we got the most extremist government making decisions for us, that we’ve seen in generations. Do you think that’s an historical aberration?
- mkfreeberg | 09/19/2009 @ 09:47Go check out Daphne’s commenter #12. That guy really nailed it.
- mkfreeberg | 09/19/2009 @ 10:04I agree with Morgan, and I like what Stacy Mccain says:
“The simplest way to define conservatism is this: The belief that liberalism is wrong.”
Not much middle ground there…..
- KG | 09/19/2009 @ 20:26The journey from lefty to sanity is a process, not an event. Pat is hung up on his original opinions of conservatives (and Conservatives). And, to be honest, the Conservative party in the UK seems to take positions that would make a typical US Democrat blush.
- Gordon | 09/20/2009 @ 13:43Fortunately, I know several men who are mortified by their leftist credentials.
One of my friends, every time he sees or hears Jimmy Carter says “Jimmy Carter. I can’t believe I voted for that sonofabitch.”
- philmon | 09/21/2009 @ 12:12Is Pat Condell gay? My gaydar goes up every time I see his videos. Not a slur, mind, but if he is it might go a long way towards explaining his political quandary.
I really enjoy James’ clarity on socio/political issues, the man knows where he stands and expresses his position with precision. I also enjoy Alison’s robust views.
I would love to have the strength of James’ absolutism and Alison’s passion, they both bring a feast to any table of political discussion. I have lines in the sand that won’t be crossed, politically speaking. I have others that fall into clear line with my classically liberal/ libertarian political ideology that are anathema to GOP conservatives, they would call it liberal pap. I call it my rational distaste for government interference in personal liberties.
Drawing absolute political lines can be difficult without any clear definition of the labels; the words mean different things to different people.
I think Gordon made a couple of very salient points, the ideological political journey is a process for most people and imposing our American political terms on a British man is a hard thing to accomplish with any accuracy.
- Daphne | 09/21/2009 @ 14:48I will thank Daphne here for her kind approach to my opinions, whatever their nature, and Morgan for seeing those things I did not explain.
Through the work and experience of others we came to think that liberty was natural, if only others understood it. But it is not natural, and presently it could not even be defined.
As we return to what is natural, those who are horrified by this turn are considered extremist by most. Perhaps they have a point in that. Liberty is not natural, obedience is, whatever our pretenses.
- jamzw | 09/21/2009 @ 19:44