Response from Devin Pope, on religious attendance
57 minutes ago
31 August 2009
A memory
I've decided the largest bulk of the explanation for why so many people active in right wing politics today make no sense is that they seem incapable of remembering anything at all. Even, perhaps especially, things that they themselves did and participated in. It seems like their entire concept of reality is made up and not grounded in the events that preceded it on the time scale that the rest of us inhabit (which is odd since they seem quite willing to pretend that events that didn't in fact precede this one are worth preserving as traditions).
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15 comments:
I'd consider this an aspect of all politics and people as well. To say that it is isolated, or even more prevalent on the political right is to greatly over estimate the intelligence of every person who is not of the political right.
I generally do consider it an aspect of people in general. Left-wing politics just hasn't been as vocal and completely annoying in its stupidity of late.
http://suntzusaid.blogspot.com/2009/08/everyone-is-insane.html
I offer this as proof of my culpability in blaming everyone for such stupidity.
I'm not claiming that you're bias. I'm just saying that when making such a statement, that linking to a recent article or event gives the statement form, otherwise it can only be interpreted as speaking of a deeper underlying trend.
Fair enough.
In general I have not had much commentary here at the blog itself, as a result I could interpret a segment of recent works here as having provided a context for this one isolated rant.
Rants on the incomprehensible behavior of characters like Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin which have served to divorce the country from larger more salient points about current debates over policy issues are going to be fairly common at present. That same critique of their methods and irrational argumentation can certainly be applied to alternatively, the left-wing, moderates, and people who don't fit neatly into the tradition left-right paradigm. But by and large those groups are not as annoying, vocal, and visible to the national debate right now in our current environment. When they are, as with the Whole Foods boycott and general attempts to declare "conservative" economics dead and buried with no answers and policies to suggest for the present or recent circumstances (ala Paul Krugman), I am just as happy to point that out for its inconsistency. Because people can disagree completely over a policy and express that as an partly-informed opinion does not mean it is always intelligent, or effective, to respond by attempting to boycott a business that the opinion holder owns. Likewise because party intellectuals have vacated the preeminent "conservative" party in favor of a neverland of independency (or completely defected to its opposition) does not mean that there aren't things going on which reflect those ideological and theoretical areas of research into policy solutions. It merely means fewer people are capable of articulating it in a manner that others will hear through the noise and shouting of the populist right.
They can certainly talk and shout all they want about anything nonsensical they choose. But I really wish they would shut up so the rest of us could get back to reasoning through complex issues.
Made sense to me. Plus, you do have those handy-dandy labels over there - great context as well.
You can sort of cheat as far as the making sense being more familiar with the extended narrative.
Otherwise I'm not sure what context was needed for a statement placed in the present environment. It's not like there are a surplus of crazy liberals or libertarians protesting and saying insane things without any reference to their previous agenda right now. Or at least, where they are insane they're not generally getting air time and taking up the valuable energy of our public discourse.
We'd be better off if we could ignore people of any persuasion who don't remember what they were actually mad about in a consistent way from week to week or at least can't tell us what it is they are actually mad about in a coherent way (usually because all they're really mad about is their guy lost an election). I don't think that's a surprising thing to notice and comment on as it relates to the current environment.
Really memory matters in case of some good things :)
Hey! Doing my homework is NOT cheating. LOL.
Hey, you're not in Florida!
Creepy.
Pakistan and a nutrition blog.
Not sure what the random spot for a Floridian health prison compound was doing for him.
I don't know if you could get any more random that that! Funny.
On the plus side it appears my blog was also detected by the government or some sort of nefarious agency (perhaps hackers) with uncertain aims. I must be moving up in the world.
Woot.
You are full of the creepy peeps ova heeeyah! Remember - just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you.
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