Havasimy

I found this blog entry today. I forget where I got it from, but I believe it was from a column on Slate. Anyway, it's written by Barack Obama. Like a lot of people, I first heard of him around the Democratic convention. Now I was skeptical at first about him, as I am with anyone or anything that seems to come out of nowhere to suddenly get a lot of hype. One moment I had never heard of him and the next everyone seemed to be touting him as a presidential candidate in 2012 or even 2008. But I can honestly say that this piece impressed me. Essentially, its message is that the Democratic party should not attack its moderate members for not following the party line on an issue.

Of course, attacking is the way politics seems to be done nowadays. No more debates. The sides seems always to have been decided before hand. Since there are few people left to be undecided, the only way (really not the only way, just the easiest way) is to tear down anyone with an opposing views. This isn't just in politics. It's in other parts of life. Someone says something that is, or simply can be interpreted as, prejudice and the public immediately calls for his head. No apology accepted. He (or she) must resign in disgrace, even if the objectionable action was an accident. This is wrong. If it truly an accident, you've lost an potential ally. If it wasn't an accident, you've just driven hardened an opponent's feelings. Now, if someone says something you disagree with, tell them why they're wrong. Maybe they don't have all the information or don't have a good understanding of the issue. You convince someone to change their views, you not only lose an opponent, you gain an ally that has seen both sides and chose yours. That's alot better result than if you go tearing someone down.

A great example of people liking to tear others down are sports fans. Not all, but a good portion. They don't want to debate who's better or why. They just say their team rules and your team sucks. They're the reason why I don't go on sports internet message boards. Now that I can't watch football games in a Steelers bar anymore, I have to watch surrounded by fans of other teams. Occasionally someone will come up and say "The Steelers suck" and I'll ask them why. "Because they suck". If I go as far as to say someone or some team sucks, I try to have a few reasons to back up my statement. When the steelers did suck two years ago, I could tell you why they sucked.