tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post408316838434458359..comments2024-03-28T10:49:14.510-05:00Comments on Horizons: Why I chose silenceNancy LeTourneauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614317154146836694noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post-78352432227321355392021-07-12T10:16:22.166-05:002021-07-12T10:16:22.166-05:00I have been commenting on sites for decades, and d...I have been commenting on sites for decades, and did quite a bit of canvassing until I had to stop for health reasons, and I have never felt it at all reasonable to talk to the other side. It's not just the past two months, it's decades that it's been true that there is no point talking to them, for all the reasons you cite so cogently.<br /><br />The reason to talk politics is to talk to the people of common sense and common decency on our side who are actually listening. I never criticize the Rs in anything I write, or anything I would say to voters while canvassing. They are beyond redemption by sense and reason. In what I write I only question and criticize what our side is doing, because only our side has any potential for the shame over wrong or stupid public policy that might get us to change public policy.<br /><br />In this piece you have started to do that, at least implicitly. Why is any time at all spent on our sites castigating Rs? That's a waste. What we do need to worry about and discuss among ourselves, what is the only legitimate set of questions for us to examine, is why the hell our side isn't doing better at throwing these bums out of office. Oh, okay, maybe in the last 2 months (more like 6 months really, since January 6) that question has evolved to "why the hell isn't our side throwing the bums in jail?". That's a depressing and alarming evolution, but there it is.Glen Tomkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16615965629335985194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post-72042879424526889512021-07-11T06:57:20.978-05:002021-07-11T06:57:20.978-05:00Thanks for this characteristically thoughtful and ...Thanks for this characteristically thoughtful and incisive post. Yours is one of the voices I've relied on over the past decade or so to help me think through what's happening in our politics and our society, and it's been missed these past two months.<br /><br />I think one of your talents is writing not so much to counter and demolish the extremists as to illuminate the debates so that those who might be influenced by the extremists are better equipped to resist them. I hope you continue to find ways to do that.<br />massappealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17883213166005005577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post-81227996316515119592021-07-10T16:15:53.598-05:002021-07-10T16:15:53.598-05:00Makes sense. No point in talking when talking seem...Makes sense. No point in talking when talking seems pointless.<br /><br />Even so, if you're looking for a reason to speak up, I'll offer three:<br /><br />1) There is still a value in making sure the simple, honest truth is said by somebody somewhere. Very few people do a better job of that than you.<br /><br />2) In theory, some number of people are going to snap out of epistemic closure, as they decide that being a Trumpling and a Republican just isn't working for them like it used to. That's when your words may make a difference in someone's life.<br /><br />3) Over on the Left, there are people equally dishonest who need to be called out; if your heart isn't in it to going after the Trumply-inclined, there is always the analogous wing on the Left, whose modus operandi seems to be to be critical of Democratic accomplishments no matter what. Some people light a candle, others curse the darkness, and still others curse those who light candles ... that last group is worth calling out, always and without fail.<br /><br />But! -- do whatever suits you best. You are made out of awesome, and any decisions you make are likely to be good decisions.King Beauregardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04043228078537079759noreply@blogger.com