Score Another Point for Brooks

For the second day in a row David Brooks scores a worthy quote. I don't always agree with this man, but this quote is precisely how I feel right now:

I have nothing against partisanship, but I do have something against self-deception. In the final months of a campaign large majorities in the country simply shut off all information that doesn’t confirm their own candidates superior virtue and intelligence. I’m amazed at the number of pundits I see who are simply campaign mouthpieces. I’m amazed at the bloggers who have lost all independence and are simply operatives.
-- David Brooks, New York Times

I challenge anyone who reads this to dial up a site that contradicts your established point of view and give it a read. If you are left-wing, dial up Michelle Malkin, Hugh Hewitt or the National Review. If you are right-wing, dial up Markos, Huffington or "The Nation".

For us independents, this is a daily exercise, trying to read both partisan hype-machines, and then attempting to discern the truth amongst the cheerleaders and echo chambers.

It's not easy, but it is what responsible voters do.

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Swines Compete for the Swill...

The bailout is now the hottest lobbying game in town.
-- MARTIN CRUTSINGER, Associated Press

Cunning Realist links to an AP story that is truly frightening.

MY COMMENT: Swines, competing for the swill.

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No Shame in Science

Christopher Hitchens is the kind of editorialist many people loathe. He is loathed by some, because he is both a conservative and an atheist, he’ll cross any party line when it suits him, and because he can make eccentric arguments with great cunning and reason. Now, I don’t always agree with Hitchens but there are times he writes with great clarity and wisdom, and this is one of thos times.

My favorite quote from his latest editorial is:

This is what the Republican Party has done to us this year: It has placed within reach of the Oval Office a woman who is a religious fanatic and a proud, boastful ignoramus. Those who despise science and learning are not anti-elitist. They are morally and intellectually slothful people who are secretly envious of the educated and the cultured.
-- Christopher Hitchens

A link to the full article is here

My comment: One of many positive possibilities from this election is that fiscal conservatives who value civil liberties more than religious dogma, might finally get their lungs back in the Republican party.

If Republicans would simply diminish their slander of science and secularism, this would make them a far more attractive political party for many independent voters.

However, if Sarah Palin is dragged out of the Alaska wilderness and is offered to voters again in 2012, the Republicans will officially become a farce. The choice belongs to Republicans and it will be interesting to see which way they turn.

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