Friday, September 24, 2010

Why it hurts to read the right

This is not painful to read ...

John Gordon is not of my tribe. My God says all who are not of my tribe should be enslaved. John Gordon must serve me.

It's not painful because it's all consistent. Fact (not of my tribe), Value (follow my religious doctrine) and Goals (enslave John). I appreciate the logic, even if I don't like the implications.

So why are Limbaugh and Beck so hard for me to listen to?

Of course I don't agree with their goals, but that's not what causes me pain. It's the disconnect between their Facts, Values and Goals that makes for nails on the blackboard [1]. Their "Facts" are often trivially disprovable and their stated Values are often inconsistent with their Goals and Facts.

Beck and right wing bloggers like "level_head" would be easier to read if they simply said "Crush the weak, save those I love, because they are weak and I care only for the strong". I would not agree with them, but at least they'd be logical.

[1] Of course blackboards are gone, aren't they? We need a new simile.

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