1 Boring Old Man

There is a particularly vapid t.v. program, "what not to wear," that sneaks through the cable attached to my house. But I got to thinking, maybe they’re onto a great political principle and I’ve been unfair in my assessment of their world view. Our political situation is so tangled right now, mostly all we can say is "No." So, if these blogs are going to stay on topic, maybe we ought to have an active category, "What not to think." I’m getting together a list of places to look in on to find the leading edge of bad ideas:

• Go to the American Enterprise Institute web site and read anything on it, particularly the archives of John Bolton, Michael Ledeen, and Laurie Mylroie. Guaranteed bad ideas. You may have to also look at the New Republic for Ledeen’s more recent things not to think.
• Michelle Malkin and Ann Coulter are worth a look. They both spend a lot of time saying made-up nasty things, but occasionally, there will be some really crazy ideas not to think. In this vain, there are some other sites, Bill O’Reilly and Pat Robertson. The problem with these four sites is that you are unlikely to ever think any of their thoughts, so you’re probably already not thinking them.
• Unfortunately, Administration officials like Bush, Cheney, or Rumsfield rarely say what they think directly, so it’s hard to get a good fix on what not to think from the news. One exception is Karl Rove. His speeches are infrequent, but when they come, they’re packed with juicy things not to think. Another exception is John Bolton. He’s monotonous, but his ideas are universally bad and give one some new nuances on what thoughts to not think. Don’t miss them!
• If your computer is down, and you have to rely on primitive information systems, tune in Fox News. While they do have periodic lapses into actual news stories, the main thrust of things is a steady stream of things not to think. It’s okay in a pinch.

I know it’s just a starter list. Let me know of other good sources…

 

Oh yeah, there’s another category, "What not to say to your Doctor." It’s easy – anything that is on a commercial on t.v. that has the line, "Ask your doctor if _____ is right for you."