Saturday, March 14, 2009

A Clarification

March 14, 2009

One of the biggest disadvantages of the Internet is that while it gives the illusion of making communication amongst users all the more possible, what it often really does is inhibit quality interactions. Words on a screen can convey a thousand different thoughts and feelings, but there is no human sitting there to explain if there are misunderstandings.

I want to make it clear that many of the things I argue on this site, are more for the sake of argument, and giving a contrary point-of-view, rather than this just being a place for me to establish, unequivocally, exactly what I believe for any out there interested.

There is probably more equivocalness than not in what I'm saying. Therefore when I argue, for instance, that I think this or that about President Bush, or some other defenseless conservative bystander, I am not saying I don't think there are positive things about that person, or that it is impossible for someone to support George W. Bush, or vote for a conservative/republican.

On the other hand, I do make a lot of my observations with the idea (at least in my mind) that there are many conservatives out there today who question my intelligence completely just because I would even consider, for even a second, a liberal perspective, let alone endorse one. Thus, one of the main reasons I exist is to point out the inconsistency that for the last two presidential terms, many of my associates have pointed out how awful it was that liberals hated Bush for no apparent reason, other than to hate (and they - conservatives - are probably right); yet now that the president is a democrat, these same people have turned around and are doing exactly the same thing, justifying it all the way.

I know they probably don't see it that way. But when you've made up your mind, evidence to the contrary be damned, that's what it looks like. When you've established in your mind that the president is a liar, then it is easy to say he is a socialist, even if he says he is not, or that he wants socialized medicine, when he doesn't. Or, the converse: it is easy to believe that a president is a war criminal, even though he says he had America's best interests at heart, because he lied about going to war in the first place.

My purpose is at least a tiny (probably insignificant) attempt at avoiding such extreme positions. Because arguing that someone is less intelligent than me just because they disagree, or because there is no possible rational explanation for liberal (or conservative, for that matter) ideas, is really just evidence of the absence of a good argument.

P.S. I've gotten a couple comments that people are unsure what I believe exactly, and I take it as a compliment. It means I have not been ferociously defending and fighting for one particular viewpoint. I am perfectly comfortable with people wondering whether I'm really a liberal, or a conservative, or some weirdo in between.

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