Each day I start with an hour or two of NPR, then a couple with FOX (I like John Gibson), finish the day with a network broadcast, usually NBC, and occasionally add some MSNBC (I like Chris Matthews; disagree with him a lot, but like him).
I've discovered that If you abandon your preconceptions and let yourself follow the discussions on any of these networks, they can be quite thought-provoking, even convincing.
For this to happen, some things must be true:
- The speakers need to have my trust.
- The guests need to be allowed to speak without the host correcting or adding shades of meaning.
- Everyone needs to be polite.
- Everyone needs to be honest with themselves.
This is so rare (and I'm so rarely able to stow my preconceptions), that recently while watching John Dean (White House Counsel for Nixon) on Hardball with Chris Matthews, I was surprised at myself for considering an opinion I would have discarded 10 minutes before.
Despite Matthews's frequent inability to keep his internal dialog internal*, I found myself eager for Dean's every next word, the same sort of attention I give to Bob Woodward, Charles Krauthammer or David Gergen.
I realized then how polarized we are. We're not only not on the same page, we're not even in the same book.
And it's not, as you might suspect, that I suddenly realized ideas were flying all about me without ever intersecting. It was instead that I was gladly entertaining a new idea that wasn't intersecting an old one.
Perhaps not unlike getting on the wrong bus and not realizing it's the wrong bus until you see your regular bus going in the other direction.
Perhaps there's actually a smidgen of hope here. If I can go joyriding among contrary ideas, why can't others?
I wish it were that simple. We are intractable and angry, littering our discourse with logical fallacies, insults, lies, exaggerations, and redirections.
It's amazing we settle anything at all.
We all know what happens when a relationship descends into loathing and contempt. It's only a matter of time before it dissolves, sometimes bitterly and painfully, inflicting even greater pain on those around us.
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My opinion on the latest scandals?
- The Russians meddled in our election, just as we've done in others.
- There was no collusion.
- Trump was surveilled, and records were unmasked and leaked for political purposes.
- Regardless of who did what, no one of any status will be punished.
Just my opinion. I may be wrong. But I don't think so. I did say Hillary was unelectable. I also said Trump was unqualified. Just not as disastrous as Hillary (who continues to live at arm's length from reality). And I still maintain that.
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I had planned to write a follow-up titled "Why I'm not worried," but I realized there was very little to say, aside from the fact that I haven't the energy to look for silver linings right now.
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*He suggested Susan Rice was being targeted because she's a woman and Black. Look for the 4/4/17 episode here; you'll need to log in with your TV provider to watch.
[2017.04.05]
