The Whale of Ignorance
Sunday, October 31, 2004
Saturday, October 30, 2004
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Why is this Jon Stewart thing such a big deal? I gather that it's feeding into the whole alternate media (blogs, Comedy Central, et al.) calling out maintstream news theme that is all the rage now...
But what have the blogs & web sites really contributed to political discourse? Of course some of it has been quite valuable (#1 - accountability/fact-checking of claims made in the campaigns, which is strikingly absent from news coverage), but the other stuff has been as trivial as anything in the mainstream press (say, bush's bulge, the typography shit) and the major contribution seems to be more detailed race-horse stuff (e.g., day-to-day electoral college counts).
Back to Jon. Of course Crossfire is theater. Nobody would watch it otherwise. Okay, so it's bad because it poses as political discourse. Serious policy debates would be boring or, in most instances, would probably lead back to irresolvable differences in values, viz. differences in people's views on the proper role of government. That last sort of debate, as a philosopher, is a debate I'd love to see --- but it's a debate that, frankly, most people (liberals and conservatives alike) are not in a position to appreciate, owing to entrenchment in their ideologies.
I am also tempted to say that the differences between the two parties is not terribly significant, from the point of view of political philosophy or from a historical standpoint. This is not to say that re-electing W won't have terribly significant consequences (thus, disagreement with Ralph), but among those consequences will NOT be changing the political culture. ¶ 11:53 PM 0 comments
But what have the blogs & web sites really contributed to political discourse? Of course some of it has been quite valuable (#1 - accountability/fact-checking of claims made in the campaigns, which is strikingly absent from news coverage), but the other stuff has been as trivial as anything in the mainstream press (say, bush's bulge, the typography shit) and the major contribution seems to be more detailed race-horse stuff (e.g., day-to-day electoral college counts).
Back to Jon. Of course Crossfire is theater. Nobody would watch it otherwise. Okay, so it's bad because it poses as political discourse. Serious policy debates would be boring or, in most instances, would probably lead back to irresolvable differences in values, viz. differences in people's views on the proper role of government. That last sort of debate, as a philosopher, is a debate I'd love to see --- but it's a debate that, frankly, most people (liberals and conservatives alike) are not in a position to appreciate, owing to entrenchment in their ideologies.
I am also tempted to say that the differences between the two parties is not terribly significant, from the point of view of political philosophy or from a historical standpoint. This is not to say that re-electing W won't have terribly significant consequences (thus, disagreement with Ralph), but among those consequences will NOT be changing the political culture. ¶ 11:53 PM 0 comments
In line with my annual rite of rooting against the team with the most annoying fans, I've decided to root for the Red Sox to win the ALCS, go up 3-0 in the World Series and then lose four straight, so as to maximize the suffering of their fans.
Red Sox fans, are, I think, the most loathsome groups of fans in American sports, largely because so many of them are inordinately proud of being Red Sox fans. Imagine Cubs fans, but arrogant and sporting unbearable accents. Plus the 'idiots' thing is retarded, though not quite as bad as 'cowboy up.'
¶ 12:22 AM 0 comments
Red Sox fans, are, I think, the most loathsome groups of fans in American sports, largely because so many of them are inordinately proud of being Red Sox fans. Imagine Cubs fans, but arrogant and sporting unbearable accents. Plus the 'idiots' thing is retarded, though not quite as bad as 'cowboy up.'
¶ 12:22 AM 0 comments
Sunday, October 03, 2004
It recently struck me that the expression, "I owe you an apology" is self-falsifying. Upon further reflection, it seems that this reveals something about apologies, namely, that apologies are superfluous to the recognition of wrongdoing.
¶ 11:14 PM 0 comments
¶ 11:14 PM 0 comments
