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...

The Bush Administration's war crimes

I admit, I have been known to roll my eyes when friends on the left begin frothing at the mouth at all that has been wrought by the dastardly Bush Administration. Yes, it's been a horrible eight years. Yes, the country is crying out for change. But no, verbal bomb-throwing is not going to get us anywhere. The more spittle that apoplectic liberals spray in the general direction of the nation's moderate swing voters in this country, the more likely we are to be watching John McCain's inauguration next January. The best thing we can do, folks, is simply to remain calm and keep pointing out the facts.

There are two reasons for this. One is that yelling and screaming and name-calling doesn't get you anywhere. The other is that it's so unnecessary. One more left-wing flamethrower calling George Bush a war criminal is not news -- hell, at this point, it's practically satire. What's news is when one of Bush's own generals accuses his Administration of war crimes. Now we're getting somewhere!

Former Bush press secretary lambastes administration

Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, point man for the Bush Administration media machine in the run-up to the Iraq war, apparently isn't feeling too proud today about his role in hoodwinking the American people. In a new memoir he writes that "Over that summer of 2002, top Bush aides had outlined a strategy for carefully orchestrating the coming campaign to aggressively sell the war... it was all about manipulating sources of public opinion to the president's advantage... History appears poised to confirm what most Americans today have decided: that the decision to invade Iraq was a serious strategic blunder."

Summing up his three years manning the White House podium, McClellan concludes, "What I do know is that war should only be waged when necessary, and the Iraq war was not necessary." Strong words from the guy in charge of spinning the media into supporting the war. Nice to see he has a conscience, though.

Excerpts are here and here.

Miley Cyrus: role model

Boy, are you people cranky. To wit:

• The new CNN poll issued today is a historic one -- George Bush is now officially the most unpopular president in U.S. history, with 71 percent of Americans polled disapproving of how he is handling his job as president.

• Miley Cyrus -- she of the mega-popular Hannah Montana show in the Disney Channel -- has been put through the media wringer by tut-tutting puritanical pundits and parents outraged about a new photo in Vanity Fair which portrays the 15-year-old entertainer exposing... um... well, nothing. Your average teenager swimming down at the local community pool displays more flesh than young Ms. Cyrus does in the photo in question -- they just cover up with swatches of cotton and spandex instead of a rumpled bedsheet.
  

Now, George Bush has certainly done plenty to deserve your approbation -- don't know if you heard, but the White House has FINALLY come around to agreeing that maybe that "Mission Accomplished" banner wasn't the greatest idea -- but piling on Miley for taking an innocent and rather artistic photo? It's classic postmodern build-'em-up, tear-'em-down behavior. We try to make our stars into way more (squeaky-clean role models) than what they are (entertainers with lives beyond the stage and screen), and then act outraged when our idols behave like three-dimensional human beings. More to the point, shouldn't these kids' role models be someone closer to home, like, say... their parents?

Lies, damned lies, and presidents

I demand a recount -- he told more than that just in the State of the Union...