Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Weird Days

I spend far, far too much time following the news cycle of the day. It's toxic and unrewarding, yet I'm addicted to the information fix.

Anyway, it's a little bizarre to see liberals pulling all sorts of sexist stunts with Sarah Palin--she deserves to shown as a sex object, she's obviously stupid and superficial, etc. etc.--while conservatives throw out all sorts of feminist arguments. These positions would be exactly reversed if Hillary Clinton or someone was on stand instead of her.

I actually used to like arguments and the like. You hash things out, and get somewhere. Since then, I've kept seeing how ideas are more like the rationalizations and weapons people use to defend their gut reactions to things for which they feel an emotional affinity. All politics is identity politics, one way or another.

A good way to get over this is to follow politics in some other country, or listen to foreign commentary on the US. When there's less of a sense of who you're supposed to be rooting for, you can get a clearer picture. Or just accept the inevitable and become a partisan hack. Or better yet, turn off the TV.

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