OK, so I'm back. I'm just going to write about impersonal things now. Only commentary on life, politics, culture, and the pathos of the human condition.

So here we go:

Why is it that liberals sitting in audiences have to clap and cheer anytime one of their beloved makes a statement that agrees with their view of the world? Case in point--Al Gore is making a point. He is in mid sentence, and he includes the phrase, "this war is the worst strategic mistake in the history of the country." This is not the point of his statement. Rather, it is merely a statement that is being used to lead to his point. The liberals in the audience, however, do not get this, and when they hear this phrase they begin to clap and cheer loudly, effectively drowning out the actual point that Mr. Gore was trying to make. What is this that causes these people to clap thusly? I mean, they've all heard that phrase a bajillion times before. Are they automatons? Are they really that incapable of developing a cohesive thought? Do they have some constant need for affirmation of their worldview? Or are they really so ignorant that they have attached themselves to specific thoughts and are unable to deviate from or expand upon those thoughts?

This happens with great frequency on Bill Maher's show. He gets some guest on who espouses a liberal worldview and makes statements similar to this one or about something like George Bush's lack of intelligence or other talking points, and the crowd goes wild. And the guests on said show never elaborate on anything/ Each week it is the same argument that has been rehashed for almost 5 years now. War is bad. Bush is liar. Cheney is evil. Gore won the election. Jesus, people, get over it. Engage in an actual argument and stop clapping like a bunch of lemmings anytime anyone makes a tired statement that has been repeated ad nauseum for years. Perhaps there truly is an Assault on Reason as Al Gore contends. In making this statement I am operating under the assumption that the contemporary conservatives have enacted an overt and aggressive assault on reason. Perhaps you'll disagree with that, but it is the assumption I am making. Here, instead, I focus on the liberal side who assaults reason much less overtly. These people claim superiority, but still act like brainwashed communists. I am picturing a scene from a movie in which mindless people clap like circus animals for their leader--perhaps it is a scene from the original Manchurian Candidate?

So anyway, it all makes me ill. You cannot win unless you engage the other side in an argument and prove the superiority of your view. Insisting on soundbites at which you can clap will not do it. Insisting on maintaining a sense of superiority and making statements like Gore won, War Bad, Bush lied, etcetera, will not allow you to win. It will merely make you look like unthinking arrogant monkeys.

I'm done with that thought, but now I return to the initial point--the clapping. Why do you need to interrupt speakers, even if you do agree with their soundbites? Why not attend to the argument? Why not absorb the nuances? Let's break it down: If you are sitting in the audience just waiting for the moment to clap when you hear a statement you like, HOW can you possibly be listening to the complexities of what the speaker is saying? A human being cannot both listen to and critically engage with an argument if he is on the edge of his seat just waiting for the moment to clap and cheer. I think that the act of waiting to clap and cheer effectively disallows critical engagement. For example, Al Gore is speaking--do you, audience member, agree with everything he is saying? I doubt it. How can a person truly agree with everyhting another person says? But how can you think about the points of divergence and discern the merits of his view versus your own if you are eagerly awaiting the moment to cheer a statement like "war bad?" You just cannot do it, and this is a major problem.

We don't listen. We don't think. We don't care about nuance, and we don't care about truth. This is sad, and this does not bode well for the future of our populace.

OK, so I am glad to be writing again, and I hope to do it frequently. I have very much missed having an outlet.