Why "political sobriety"?
Well, in essence, this blog is going to be about my ruminations on politics and society. But with, hopefully, some sober reflection. In most places on the blogosphere, we have ranters ranting about the latest rants they read. Over the last ten years, we have all noticed how crazy political discourse has become. Not really amongst us common people as much as in the media--both digital and analog. Both electronic and print. And we've all hit our level of toleration some time ago. But the ridiculousness doesn't stop. It takes on different forms. It's spoken by new people looking for their 30 seconds of fame on the Fox News channel. And they do so by saying the most extreme things they can. Although there are many who probably pre-date her, even in 18th America, Ann Coulter seems to be the best example of it. Just see how the titles of her books have "evolved" over time.
It's aggravating and exhausting. We're pretty much sick of it. But that doesn't mean we should retreat into re-runs of Law and Order (BEFORE Jerry Orbach left the show). There are a lot of good reasons why we should become cynics and withdraw. But, mostly for worse, there are too many people that do have influence over our lives. If these people were not having some effect, however minuscule, on our lives, then we could ignore them. But they do. And their fire of rage and irrationality should be met by the cool waters of reason and rationality. By sobriety.
What I'm trying to do here is tone it down a bit, while still giving you a strong dose of opinion. Rather than something "fruit-forward" and 15 proof, I'm trying give you something more subtle, but that still has substance. I'm going to try to give you a version of my own "sober" analysis. Try to see recent political and social events through some cool, calm reasoning. With evidence and reality-based claims there to back me up. Or provide you with just my own "unique" point of view.
Now, that doesn't mean I don't have my own passions. And, Yahweh knows, a chief reason why anyone creates a blog is to share her outrage, anger, contempt and disgust about something that happened just five minutes ago. This can lead to some outrageous statements devoid of fact and logic. And I will be guilty of doing that once in a while. When I am, I look forward to your reactions. Unlike some people on the political boob-tube (am I describing TV or politicians?), I can revise my thinking once in a while.
In my first real, substantive posting you will see my own reflections to an essay by a prominent political scientist that has stirred up quite a debate recently. Although I've been meaning to start a blog for some time now, it was her piece and a few others by that ever-annoying David Brooks that just left me fuming. But I had no vent to release all that steam. Hopefully what follows are some reflections after some sufficiently sober thought.
And, by the way, the title for this blog came from a close acquaintance who is usually good at naming things..including my own types of miscreant behavior.
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