I don't want it. This is a non-negligible reason why I do not identify as conservative. Debate and the expression of contentious opinions, especially in anything as important as politics, can tend to get heated, even among friends. We all make mistakes; we all have an opportunity to apologize and reverse course. There is a difference, however, between a person who makes a mistake, and somebody who repeatedly misrepresents someone else's position. It is perhaps complicated by the fact that there are livelihoods and money involved, but it should be a first principle of reasoned debate to take your opponent seriously. More specifically, to take any representations of moral stands to be genuine, until proven definitively otherwise. If I see a bunch of white women marching in remembrance of George Floyd, and ostensibly advocating for changes in policing, the charitable assumption is that they mean what they are saying and doing. It's not "virtue signaling" if you actually mean what you are saying. Even if it were granted that black Americans have paid far more of a cost in the struggle for equality--which is undeniable--what should the rest of us do? Should we not take a stand on anything, because in someone's estimation we lack the personal stake to care about the outcome of some event or policy? On the contrary; the very essence of solidarity is to take a personal stake in something that may not be your burden, because it is someone else's burden. God was right, and so was Obama: we are our brother's keeper; we are our sister's keeper.
Now, the very essence of practical politics is to argue about the means to achieve certain ends. Let that debate continue. Indeed, it was the presumption of bad faith toward Republicans and conservatives that made me sympathize and become one myself. Since then, we have become contented with our own tribal signaling, and such a palpable disdain for everyone who is not like us, that we cannot even construct an argument in the proper sense. If you'll pardon the overstatement, nothing makes a liberal out of an intellectual faster than that.
You may say to me, "This is but one person. There are others who do better than this." Perhaps so; yet that is a "Who's Who" of the conservative media universe. Even those blogs, I used to read every one of them. I have no more interest in trolling anyone, or "owning the libs" as they say. I know what I believe; I would like to think at least most times that I know why I believe it. I'm not scared of Nancy Pelosi, or Chuck Schumer, or Ilhan Omar. They can't take anything away from me that I don't give them. And if I should have the singular honor of serving with them to make America a better place for the people who live here, I would have even less interest in treating them as symbols or objects of fear and derision.
I have no true enemies in the world of politics; the gravest threats to our country today are disrespect, bigotry, and the kinds of indignity that escalate to violence. Even the smallest effort that I can make to show respect for someone else--even where I might profoundly disagree--fights against this tumult, this roiling unrest, which threatens the national harmony.
Feel free to get about the business of making our country and our society better than it is. But I will not allow some of you to pretend there is no difference between "better" and "worse" and that I cannot discern between them.
Now, the very essence of practical politics is to argue about the means to achieve certain ends. Let that debate continue. Indeed, it was the presumption of bad faith toward Republicans and conservatives that made me sympathize and become one myself. Since then, we have become contented with our own tribal signaling, and such a palpable disdain for everyone who is not like us, that we cannot even construct an argument in the proper sense. If you'll pardon the overstatement, nothing makes a liberal out of an intellectual faster than that.
You may say to me, "This is but one person. There are others who do better than this." Perhaps so; yet that is a "Who's Who" of the conservative media universe. Even those blogs, I used to read every one of them. I have no more interest in trolling anyone, or "owning the libs" as they say. I know what I believe; I would like to think at least most times that I know why I believe it. I'm not scared of Nancy Pelosi, or Chuck Schumer, or Ilhan Omar. They can't take anything away from me that I don't give them. And if I should have the singular honor of serving with them to make America a better place for the people who live here, I would have even less interest in treating them as symbols or objects of fear and derision.
I have no true enemies in the world of politics; the gravest threats to our country today are disrespect, bigotry, and the kinds of indignity that escalate to violence. Even the smallest effort that I can make to show respect for someone else--even where I might profoundly disagree--fights against this tumult, this roiling unrest, which threatens the national harmony.
Feel free to get about the business of making our country and our society better than it is. But I will not allow some of you to pretend there is no difference between "better" and "worse" and that I cannot discern between them.
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