Monday, April 04, 2005
The Same Things That Make A Great Blogger...
...make a great legislator. Namely: 1) Integrity (your views are your own, not bought or coerced, and you tell the truth) 2) Accessibility (you actually interact with people who aren't millionaires) 3) Knowledge (goes without saying) 4) An engaging written persona. As proof, I submit for your perusal the excellent blog run by The Honorable John Conyers, Jr. Here's the opening passage of my favorite post of his so far:
The British comedy troupe Monty Python performed a famous sketch in which a man went to an "Argument Clinic" seeking an intellectual exchange of ideas with a professional debater, only to find mere contradiction. When the man pointed out that mere contradiction is not argument, the rejoinder from the professional debater was "yes, it is." And so it goes in the debates of our time with the Radical Right. I have been struck time and time again with, when faced with less than favorable facts, the radical right does not refute the facts, it simply makes up facts of its own. That was repeatedly the case with the Schiavo matter. When faced with hours of courtroom testimony about Terri Schiavo's medical condition, the right simply props up other questionable authorities to say such facts are in dispute; first, a bogus "nobel prize nominated" doctor, then, a nurse deemed not credible by a court of law, legislators claiming to be medical experts, and finally -- and most laughably-- a TV psychic. The news media, of course, in a "fair and balanced" way treats both authorities with equal weight, despite the obvious differences in credibility, and, thus, indisputable facts are placed in question. I am not the first to say this, but it used to be the rule of reason was that "you are entitled to your own opinions, but you are not entitled to your own facts." Today, you are indeed apparently entitled to your own facts.Go read the rest of it. In a just world, Conyers would have a column in the New York Times.
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I've admired John Conyers ever since seeing him stand up to Henry Hyde in the House Judiciary Committee's Impeachment hearings; but I never imagined he was a Monty Python fan! Now I must worship him.
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: 4/05/2005 06:08:00 PM
: 4/05/2005 06:08:00 PM << Home
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