EditorialJoe.com | A Hack You Know and Love

I love conversation. I’ll talk about literature, music, geography (you know, travel), film, I keep up with football and baseball enough to shoot the shit, and I pretend to know what I’m talking about when it comes to general topic-style knowledge.

In most topics, I can hold a good conversation. I’m a very critical person, but if I’ve only just met you, I’m not going to start slagging off all your favorite books and movies. In fact, when it comes to arts and subjects I don’t have a taste for, under the best circumstances I’ll listen in earnest to an eloquent enough fan while they explain the how and why of their affinity (after all, this conversation might be the one that changes my mind and sparks my interest).

The exception here is a dangerous one, and that exception is politics. Despite the fact that my core political beliefs have aspects that can appeal to both of the major parties at some level, my methods of response and demonstration of my ideals usually include vitriolic, insulting, and decidedly divisive writing. This impish, sarcastic tone comes from misguided frustrations about the level of attention given to the most polar voices in our country.

But alas, the hypocrite’s curse: my lashing tone serves only to create a third pole, in equal opposition to the other two, no more able to come to the terms of a pragmatic negotiation than the two major parties.

So honestly, I need to stop talking about politics unless I can bring constructive thoughts to the table every time. The politics of our country need to change, but what the country doesn’t need is another self-important angry blogger spewing half-truths to any aural sieve allowing Cable News expertise to coat their minds like buckwheat honey.

It’s better for me to head back into Socratic mode, asking questions and asking questions long before opening my mouth to speak. I’m funnier, I’m more pleasant, and bloody hell, I have something like 35 domain names. If I want to fire up the ideological broiler, I can build a whole new blog for it.

I need to make sure I remember this post next time I’m furiously complaining about something in politics. I can use that energy to start work on DefendersOfTheConstitution.com.