Sunday, March 29, 2009
It’s Not About the Person
Pet peeve #1 - It’s not about the person.
Do yourself a favor: focus on the issue. We get so bogged down in the person in the process of trying to make a point about an issue. I try not to do it, and it KILLS me when it happens to me. It makes it hard for me to focus on the issue at hand.
Good example is our last two presidents, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. How many times is the focus of the conversation (and I am saying these things only because they are what is repeated in newspapers and on TV) that Clinton was always chasing women around (not Hillary) and Bush was dumber than a box of rocks? Here’s a good example - George W. Bush or Chimpanzee? I mean, is that the best we can do? Attack our leaders as if they really are the Saturday Night Live parody of themselves? If you don’t like what either of these guys did, fine. Say why you don’t like the policies they pursued. Why denigrate yourself by resorting to personal attacks?
This is why I have such a hard time watching Bill Maher. I love to hear the commentary of intelligent people with differing points of view, which is why I watch Real Time. But, man o’ man, does Bill and his guests go off on tears against people. Watch the show sometime and ask yourself, “Is that person making a thoughtful statement about the issue or playing to the crowd (or baiting the crowd) and Maher by being an attack dog?” The weight I put in their argument directly corresponds to how well they stay away from that kind of thing.
The weight I put into ANY argument often swings on the same evaluation. If you ever make it to a Council meeting, pay attention to what Ray Tell says. He’s like the Joe Friday of Council, “Just the facts, ma’am.” He doesn’t say much, but what he says matters. With Ray it is never about the person.
