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...
Outrage!
One of the things that fascinate me about the intellectual differences between conservatives and liberals, is this tactic liberals tend to have of arguing through outrage. (Sometime later, I’ll get around to “arguing through calling the other person stupid.”) This is where you respond to the recitation of a fact, or reasonable inference, or proposition of what to do, or article of faith, by proclaiming a sense of outrage you have that properly ought to be resonating with everyone.
This allows you to save face while being non-intellectual. You don’t have to confront the fact, opinion, proposition of what to do, or article of faith.
California Assemblyman Mark Leno, from the 13th district, just managed to squeek out a textbook-case of this, and upon further research from me it emerges that this was a repeat performance. He was confronted by the following:
Gov. Schwarzenegger is going after the vigilante-justice vote. He’s announced his support for a bill to require one-time sex offenders to wear a GPS device for the rest of their lives. The bill probably won’t get much support from Democrats, since it has no Democrat co-sponsors. This is how he chose to address that:
“I think there’s certain issues that Republicans have interest in, like public safety,” he said. “Then there’s other issues that the Democrats have more interest in. That’s just the way it works here. But we’re really looking forward to working together with Democrats and Republicans.”
Okay, this is fairly simple. Republicans are interested in public safety, Democrats are interested in something that isn’t public safety. Which he’s leaving undefined. And you know, when you think about it that isn’t even a slam — Democrats could be interested in all kinds of noble things. They could be interested in the rights of the accused, they could be interested in budget, hell, they could even be interested in the environment. Those are good things.
Being bought-off or blackmailed by perverts would be a bad thing. But the Governor didn’t say anything like that.
Assemblyman Leno, now, chose to address this. Pay attention to the excerpt closely. He’s going to disagree with Governor Schwarzenegger. How does he do this? Does he refute the notion that Democrats and Republicans are interested in different things? Does he establish that Democrats are concerned about public safety? Does he attack the notion that Republicans are interested in public safety? Does he contest the statement that that’s the way it works here? Let’s take a look.
That comment drew an immediate condemnation from Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, chairman of the Assembly Public Safety Committee.
“Of all the reckless, partisan statements he’s made the last couple of years, that’s the most egregious,” Leno said. “If they’re going forward without a single Democratic co-sponsor, they either didn’t try or they don’t care.”
The statement is reckless, partisan and egregious.
How much of it is true? How much of it is not? Why is it true? Why is it not? Ah, if you want to know such things then you’re not part of Mark Leno’s audience. You people who want to be told what you’re supposed to think about something, step right up, Leno has pre-packaged outrage for you. If you’re seeking confirmation or denial, new things to consider, reasoned dissent, you’ve come to the wrong place.
If this seems familiar, it’s probably because Assemblyman Leno was leading the charge against Governor Schwarzenegger a year ago when the Gov. referred to California’s state legislature as a bunch of “Girlie Men“. Let’s take a look at what he said back then:
Assemblyman Mark Leno, a San Francisco Democrat who is chairman of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Caucus, said the comment was “as misogynist as it is anti-gay.” “To disparage a group of law abiding tax paying citizens is just wrong,” Leno said.
There’s a fundamentally different view at work here, about how our government is supposed to work. People who think like me, think it’s up to the voters and the Constitution to determine what’s “just wrong”. People we vote into office, translate those values into positions, and then the positions into action. Mark Leno seems to think it’s the job of the noble, inspired elites to decide these things for the commoners. What politicians like those need from unwashed masses like us, I don’t know.
But the point is, when politicians do this, on average, people start to tune out. They lose interest in politics. Watching a bunch of legislators get all agitated about each other, is about as exciting as watching car salesmen or insurance executives get agitated about each other. The human brain has a natural gland built into it, that sends out a chemical carrying the thought “eh, you know what, I don’t have a dog in this hunt.” It makes us sleepy when we sense lots of angst shared by several parties, on an issue we don’t know too much about. Call it the “I think American Idol is on” enzyme.
It also makes Mark Leno look bad. But in addition to that, it makes Arnold Schwarzenegger look bad too. It’s a worthwhile exercise in an adversarial relationship, because when Mark Leno sends his own approval rating down a point, he sends the Governor’s rating down by two.
And it doesn’t address the issue.
The Governor may be right, he may be wrong. At the end of the day, the question is left unresolved. That’s a good thing, for anybody who may be damaged by the truth.
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