Voice of reason (not mine)

I don't blog much any more, and I've thinking recently about why that is.

Part of it has to do with time, of course. There are only so many hours in the day, and if middle age reminds us of anything, it's that time is not an infinite resource; it's a commodity, best used with care up to the point when it will eventually, inevitably run out. And -- no offense -- but I doubt I'll ever look back and think "Gee, I wish I'd spent more time sitting at the computer."

So, I try to focus my energy on things that matter.

And therein lies the second part of the dilemma. Because the aspect of the current state of the world that alarms and depresses me the most is the tenor of our political conversation. I mean, you can't even really use that word any more -- it's not a conversation, it's a shouting match. Precious few people even try to reason with one another any more, both because so many of us on both the left and the right have long since lost patience with the back and forth, and because there's precious little reward for being the voice of reason, when everyone else on both ends of the spectrum is busy shouting you down.

So how do you talk about things that matter, without becoming part of the problem?

An excellent example of how showed up today in the form of the most eloquent voice of reason I've heard in some time -- Theodore Olson, a lion of conservative thought and solicitor general under President George W. Bush, arguing the case for gay marriage. Take it away, Ted...