Thinking about Faith (not that kind) and trust.
I've lately been trying to catch up and keep up with different threads in the news. Abranoff and this whole scandal, Ariel Sharon, the chubby Jew with two chick names and his HMO, lots of different stuff. I've succeeded in some of it, but not much. I'd love to spend a bunch of time really thinking it all through, but the more I look into things the more disconcerted I feel about a lot of things. I have lost faith in people, in society. I have lost faith in the things I do not trust and trust takes time to build but only seconds to destroy.
There's a (moderate) conservative by the name of David Brooks, for those of you not familiar he writes for The Atlantic Monthly, which is one of the better magazines and one of the few that I'm actually willing to spend money on (2600, is the only other one off the top of head even thought I get about half a dozen magazines each week). I'm usually both surprised and relatively impressed by his thoughtfulness on subjects. Sometimes I think that sensitivity to detail and logistics is lost in mindless support of, as he put it on Charlie Rose this evening, his "team." But there is a centrist view there that I know I support and I think would gain considerable following. Neither of the two dominant sides has strong trust or backing by the American people, nor does either side have any trust in the other to do the right thing.
If we face herein a culture war, it should be between those willing to offer a hand in faith, and an arm in support of compromise and cooperation. This "third way" is what made Clinton a pimp. Not the Lewinsky thing, that just made him, kind of skanky. It is the ability to look objectively at both sides and recognize that each philosophical foundation has valuable lessons and valuable ideas that can be used if both sides are willing to honestly work together in good faith with one another. It shouldn't be a surprise that in a nation with a stupid high divorce rate that our leaders look at the other side and thing "fuck I should have gotten a political prenup." I would support McCain if he ran because he looks objectively and sees the value in the other side. I would support Hillary because I believe she holds the same view. If it came to the two of them, I'd pick Hillary because in the end 1) She's a Clinton, 2) McCain is getting on in his years and I would have a hard time believing in his abilities to serve two terms effectively 3) I don't know who he would be able to pick from for a VP that I could support whereas with Hillary I can think of a number of different moderates 4) Hillary sent me a bumper sticker and I get bought very easily and 5) In the end, I see more moderate democrats than moderate Republicans and believe that the ability of those people to govern and govern effectively would be carried out easier under a moderate second Clinton Presidency.
What does any of this mean? Jack shit, I'm just trying to keep busy while the laptop I'm working on fixing right now does a virus scan and downloads updates.
It's been a long day, a long week and shit, I'm only half a month in, but it's been a long year so far. I'm tired. I'm tired of not being able to trust of have faith in those around me, I'm tired of not having faith or trust in the society I am a part of, I'm tired of thinking that so far, the highlight of my day is Guinness in a chilled stein.
There's a (moderate) conservative by the name of David Brooks, for those of you not familiar he writes for The Atlantic Monthly, which is one of the better magazines and one of the few that I'm actually willing to spend money on (2600, is the only other one off the top of head even thought I get about half a dozen magazines each week). I'm usually both surprised and relatively impressed by his thoughtfulness on subjects. Sometimes I think that sensitivity to detail and logistics is lost in mindless support of, as he put it on Charlie Rose this evening, his "team." But there is a centrist view there that I know I support and I think would gain considerable following. Neither of the two dominant sides has strong trust or backing by the American people, nor does either side have any trust in the other to do the right thing.
If we face herein a culture war, it should be between those willing to offer a hand in faith, and an arm in support of compromise and cooperation. This "third way" is what made Clinton a pimp. Not the Lewinsky thing, that just made him, kind of skanky. It is the ability to look objectively at both sides and recognize that each philosophical foundation has valuable lessons and valuable ideas that can be used if both sides are willing to honestly work together in good faith with one another. It shouldn't be a surprise that in a nation with a stupid high divorce rate that our leaders look at the other side and thing "fuck I should have gotten a political prenup." I would support McCain if he ran because he looks objectively and sees the value in the other side. I would support Hillary because I believe she holds the same view. If it came to the two of them, I'd pick Hillary because in the end 1) She's a Clinton, 2) McCain is getting on in his years and I would have a hard time believing in his abilities to serve two terms effectively 3) I don't know who he would be able to pick from for a VP that I could support whereas with Hillary I can think of a number of different moderates 4) Hillary sent me a bumper sticker and I get bought very easily and 5) In the end, I see more moderate democrats than moderate Republicans and believe that the ability of those people to govern and govern effectively would be carried out easier under a moderate second Clinton Presidency.
What does any of this mean? Jack shit, I'm just trying to keep busy while the laptop I'm working on fixing right now does a virus scan and downloads updates.
It's been a long day, a long week and shit, I'm only half a month in, but it's been a long year so far. I'm tired. I'm tired of not being able to trust of have faith in those around me, I'm tired of not having faith or trust in the society I am a part of, I'm tired of thinking that so far, the highlight of my day is Guinness in a chilled stein.
posted by rpalmeira | 11:58 PM
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