1 Boring Old Man

The yearlyKos does an old man’s soul good. I got into writing here because it helps me. The first real depression in my life came when George Bush was re-elected. I just couldn’t believe it! That’s when I started reading things. That’s when I discovered the political blogs. They helped me a lot. The things I’ve learned since then should be depressing, but they aren’t. They confirm the truth.  So I don’t write here so much to be read. I’m writing to see what I think in print. Somehow, it makes it real.

I read an analogy between right-wing "talk radio" and the netroots blogsphere. I think that’s true. It was said proudly, but that worries me. Talk Radio united the Conservative Right along with the Religious Right media presence. That’s fine for them. The meaning of "Conservative" has always meant the consolidation of a set of beliefs that one sticks to in a rigid manner – something sort of like the Catholic Church. It’s a Dogma, a set of truths. Read anything Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh say, and that will be immediately apparent. Listen to James Dobson, or Dick Cheney and that’s what you hear.

"Liberal" means something else. It means all of what the "Conservatives" don’t want and mock:

• it means pluralism
• it means diversity
• it means debate
• it means skepticism
• it means compromise
• it even means confusion

The Ancient Greeks even had a school for it, The ¹Skeptics, and there was a leader, Pyrrho of Ellis. Liberalism is not a set of beliefs [no matter what Ann Coulter or Rush Limbaugh say], it is a way of thinking that actually questions any set of beliefs. Our Constitution is, in fact, liberal. It lays down certain broad parameters, rights, then says "okay, go for it."

So what does this have to do with yearlyKos. I have two worries:

• We are so oppressed by the Right, we are in danger of uniting around too narrow a set of beliefs. In fact, uniting can confirm what the Right says "they all think …" What unites us is diversity and tolerance, not beliefs. The Right says "diversity" is a code word to trick people into accepting things they disagree with. We have to prove that is not true. We also have to stand our ground that to Flip-Flop is to think! Flip-Flopping is a sign of strength, a natural consequence of deeply considering the relative truths in the world.
• We don’t need to follow the methodology of the Right – uniting diverse groups as one – Hawks, Christian Fundamentalists, Political Conservatives, Corporations. We need to engage the natural diversity in people and help them see that huddling together in fear is choking them. We need to help them be less afraid, not scare them.

So, I’m elated by the yearlyKos and I’m worried that it will stand for a too rigid set of beliefs and forget what "liberal" really means. Skepticism is not Negativism. It is the basis for Democracy, for the division of powers, for checks and balances. It’s a hard-won method for avoiding false dogmatism, while acquiring approximate or relative certainty [see below].

Alas! The confusion of a liberal…

¹ skep·ti·cism also scep·ti·cism   (skpt-szm)
n.

1. A doubting or questioning attitude or state of mind; dubiety. See Synonyms at uncertainty.
2. Philosophy.
   1. The ancient school of Pyrrho of Elis that stressed the uncertainty of our beliefs in order to oppose dogmatism.
   2. The doctrine that absolute knowledge is impossible, either in a particular domain or in general.
   3. A methodology based on an assumption of doubt with the aim of acquiring approximate or relative certainty.
3. Doubt or disbelief of religious tenets.