First let me say that micadelic, the Right-leaning commenter on this blog, is someone I know in real life and he is a very nice person. I don’t hate him in real life. But I HATE him in “cyberspace”. Here is why.
There are people I almost instantly like and respect and I’ve been thinking about why that is. I’ve narrowed it down to 2 things: they are intelligent and they are fair-minded. The first criterion is obvious — I’ve always liked smart people because I like to be challenged and I like to learn. I am also constantly seeking self-betterment. So intelligent people are usually people I am drawn to.
But that is only true if they are also fair-minded. Being fair-minded means at least 2 things: they acknowledge the interests of others and the leave room in their thinking to be wrong. They are authentic, genuine people who are confident enough to be willing to listen and willing to be wrong. Often they demonstrate this by giving a nod, if you will, to dissenting opinions.
This is why I didn’t hate John McCain. Some people are like lawyers and they never give an inch under any circumstances. John McCain, among others, was always willing to be fair-minded (with the possible exception of his Presidential campaign).
So when I debate I always try to give in a little, as a show of good faith and to show, hopefully truthfully, that I am not a brainwashed Leftie. Here, I’ll do it right now: I think government should be as small as possible (but no smaller). I think American needs to vigorously defend our interests abroad. I think law-abiding citizens should be able to own and collect virtually any gun on earth. This list goes on. There are many issues that Conservatives hold dear that I agree with. I am not a brainwashed Leftie.
Let’s take Obama. Obama is not my own, personal Jesus. He is less liberal than I am, he is part of a large party that I often disagree with and he will for sure do things that I oppose. I admire and respect him greatly but I expect to disagree with him often. He is not perfect.
Now take as counterpoint to this your average Right Wing retard such as Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck or the entire Fox News network. They guys are shameless hypocrites. They have no credibility whatsoever because all they do, all the time, on every issue, is try to spin it to make the Right look good and the Left look bad. No one should take these guys seriously. On the other hand, someone like George Will, I would argue, is not a brainwashed Right Wing kook. He’s wrong a lot, IMHO, but he is largely intellectually honest and he’s not going to carry the party line if he disagrees with it.
Now back to micadelic. I virtually never get the slightest nod of fairness from this guy. I saw him tweet to the effect that the pirate/hostage situation was a failure of Obama’s! Someone explain that logic to me. Rush Limbaugh criticized Obama and the US military for “shooting teenagers”. Had Bush been President, they would have been terrorists for whom death was too good for. Under Obama they are innocent teenagers. Why would anyone still listen to that asshole?
Micadelic admired Obama before he was a candidate and hated him as a candidate. How does that happen? He repeats the same half-truths that Limbaugh and Beck circulate. His position seems to be that if liberals believe it, it must be wrong. Ann Coulter must be proud.
So here’s my advice to micadelic, Hannity and every other rapid Right Winger. When you debate, agree with some stuff the other side says. Every once in a while, pull your head out of your sphincter and agree with some obvious shit. I do this all the time. I agreed with Bush on immigration. I agreed with McCain on torture. I’m not so stupid that I think that every single thing Bush thinks is wrong. Hell, even dumbshits like Hannity are right every once in awhile. When they are, I admit it.
Be fair-minded. The very best words to start with in a debate are “I agree with you that…”.
Try it sometime. And maybe I won’t hate you so much. 😉
lolife 
Fair enough. I never pretend. I agree with some of your stuff, disagree with some of it, and am amused by some of it. My leanings are small “l” libertarian, so I suppose I’ll tend to agree with you on issues regarding personal rights and responsibilities and tend to disagree on issues revolving around government intervention in the workings of society. Though if you read my latest blog entry (I’m not posting a link because I didn’t wind up here to recruit readers, though they are, of course, welcome) I’m reconsidering the market’s ability to solve problems with long lead times and complex knowledge requirements.
But again, I never pretend except in my personal life. 🙂
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I guess I’m asking my readers to distinguish between my venting posts and my more analytical posts. I am inspired sometimes to emotionally protest.
I’m talking to whomever listens. You seem like a smart and reasonable person. I welcome your thoughts. But many of your comments border on “concern trolling” where you pretend to agree with me while you pick away at little inconsistencies. I know I’m not always right. I know I am juvenile at times and I know that I undermine my ability to persuade because I give in to name calling and profanity-ridden ranting. I also know it rubs some people the wrong way. I’m OK with that. Who am I talking to? Whomever reads it. I’m have no agenda, I’m not trying to be popular, I don’t care if people think I’m an idiot. I’m just amusing myself.
With that said, I truly enjoy robust debate when the participants are fair-minded. I’ll gladly discuss anything you want! but yes, i’m name calling, yes, I know it is stupid. I am doing it anyway. the end! 🙂
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I did leave something more substantial on your two posts regarding Sotomayor.
To address this reply, I’m probably one of those unusual types who reads with his best attempt to maintain an open (but not sieve-like) mind and objective attitude. My comments here and on a couple of your other posts relate to that.
If everyone is a retard or a dumbshit or an asshole, then those terms lose meaning. I got that you don’t like Limbaugh and Hannity, perceptive reader that I am. Your best point, to me, about that was your statement (paraphrasing) that they evaluate everything only in terms of how to spin it to demean “the left” and aggrandize “the right.” This told me more than calling them “idiots” or “retards” or whatever.
It’s your blog, I just dropped in. But who are you talking to if not me?
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I think they are idiots. Look it up, that’s what I think they are. They are not smart. If they are liars in that they pretend to be not smart, they are even less smart. Their thinking is retarded, meaning not fully developed.
I don’t care how precise you think my insults are. I’m trying to insult their intelligence and I believe I have reasonable cause to do so. If you want to discuss something, please pick something more substantial.
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Yes but words have meanings. You could call them kleptomaniacs, necrophiliacs, pyromaniacs, horse thieves, baby rapers, or anything else, but they aren’t. I’m not sure what business you are engaged in, but I get the impression that either your business, your avocations, or both involve science. One of the essences of science is precision and your use of “retard,” etc. when you mean hypocrite or some other thing is very imprecise.
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I don’t think it is inaccurate. There are many people who I disagree with that I do not think are idiots. These guys are working the ratings — they are not honest participants in the national debate. They are propaganda hit men and nothing more. I have no respect for that whatsoever.
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It’s inaccurate to call people like Hannity and Limbaugh retards, dumbshits, etc. They may (or may not) be jerks, fools, hypocrites, etc. but they are not idiots, retards, or dumbshits. They are good at what they do, they have a high degree of a certain type of intelligence, and they are pretty effective.
I find me calling myself an idiot sometimes for some stupid thing I’ve done. I have to remind myself that I was merely a fool. There’s a difference.
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I never say never…
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So, I guess a blow job is out of the question?
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