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AnimusRex -> RE: Why so petty? (2/19/2010 6:47:15 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Sanity
Sure, for every animus theres a cuck, I'll freely admit it.
Ohh, you cut me to the quick, my friend!
Comparing this demopuke gooklover to the Cuckyman...well, that is just plain mean!
In truth, Steven has a very good point, and Tim elaborates pretty well. Our national dialogue is pretty low, and petty snark is the main form of argument one hears on the intertubes, and the cable news shows are masters of reurgitating Conventional Village Wisdom as gospel.
So I try to make calm rational points whenever possible. But there IS a legitimite room for mockery and ridicule, especially when easy targets present themselves.
Sometimes mockery can illustrate a point in a short and simple way that a longwinded argument just can't. Political cartoons are the perfect example- they are almost always unfair, exagerated, slanted....but when they make a point, it can be devastating.
The thing is, when an argument- even a petty one like Dick Cheney not finishing college or whatever- is not connecting to a larger truth, it usually falls apart. Even the hard left blogs don't bother with making an issue of Cheney's college stuff. It just doesn't connect with anyone. Cheney may be evil, but he is anything but stupid.
For example, the flap about Obama eating arugula was absurd; but it had staying power because it rang true for those people who see him as an out of touch elitist; just as Palin's crack about seeing Russia connected to her overall projection of being vapid and shallow.
And I have said before that politics is a rough and tumble business; it raises our passions precisely because it is so important. Our side talks about 45,000 people dead from lack of insurance, and they talk about a government takeover of medicine; these are serious stakes, and we are right to be passionate about them.
Which, ironically, is precisely why I don't take offense or get into flame wars here or on any of the other blogs I post at. I don't begrudge sanity or willbeurdaddy for getting irritated with my posts. I assume they feel as strongly about their positions as I do mine, and I when I post an argument or joke at their side's expense, I expect it to hurt. Likewise, if (God forbid) they retake the House or Senate, I expect to be on the receiving end of some taunts and ridicule.
In every struggle of ideas, there are some people on the other side who can be persuaded to join our side; some who can be met halfway and compromised with; and some who simply have to be defeated.
But it is a fool's errand to think there is some magical middle where we can all hold hands and agree. There are reasonable compromises, but ultimately we steer the ship of state in one direction or another. And one side has to lick its wounds, while the other side celebrates.
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