What Are We Doing Here?
The same questions that haunt the great philosophers, from Woody Allen to Charlie Brown, also trouble bloggers. Or especially troubles bloggers, I should say. And it’s probably best not to ignore them.
A couple of blogs I visit occasionally, Squaring the Globe and Jules Crittenden, have suspended publication temporarily, one to tend to a sick wife, one to spend more time with family. Mark Steyn, too, is on hiatus while he carries out a mission for his country (though which country that is has yet to be determined). Ted Kennedy is dying and Tim Russert is dead.
Now is a reasonable time to ask: is this a good use of our time?
I maintain that it is, but then I have humble aspirations. What Aggie and I write here occasionally sparks debate (see the whole Party Unity My Ass thread), but rarely does it change minds. That’s not to say we’re not persuasive (not to mention right), but we all know from personal experience how hard it is to admit that a personal or political belief we’ve held for most or all of our lives seems wrong to us now. For me, it took airplanes smashing into a couple of skyscrapers; for Aggie (if I may speak for her), it was the slandering and demonization of Israel by the political Left which she (and I) had considered home.
What purpose I think we serve is to let those people who think the way we do—however [bleeped] up that may be—know that others think that way, too. That’s the impression I get from those of you who comment or send emails. This site, however inconsequential it may be next to the Drudges, LGFs, and Instapundits, serves its readers by speaking our minds. We justify our opinions, print every sane and civil rejoinder (and more than a few insane and uncivil ones), and admit when we’re wrong.
I can’t get over thinking that people like us—call us disaffected Democrats, neocons, recovering Liberals—are making a difference. Somebody reelected George Bush (sorry!), somebody isn’t persuaded that Barack Obama is God’s gift to America. We may be as worried over the state of our nation (and the world) as anyone else; we just aren’t persuaded that the people who brought us stagflation, Monica-gate, and accommodation of the Soviet Union, North Korea, Iran, and just about every other criminal regime in the world holds the answer to anything.
We have no plans to go anywhere, and we wouldn’t miss this election for anything. Heck, we’d rather be bigger than we are than smaller. But if you want to make God laugh, the saying goes, tell him your plans.
We’ll call them as we see them for as long as you, and we, and He is interested.
Jonn Lilyea said,
June 16, 2008 @ 1:34 pm
Whew!
TheBigHenry said,
June 19, 2008 @ 12:58 am
Dear Thirsty,
Can you spare a pint? I would like to drink to your health. You are making a difference. And you are not alone.
L’Chaim!
vanderleun said,
June 19, 2008 @ 1:10 pm
And so say we all.
Mary said,
June 20, 2008 @ 12:40 am
Kindred spirits! I have read through your material after seeing the cite by Jules Crittenden and I had the same history and identical reaction to 9/11. You do make a difference. I am looking forward to visiting repeatedly as a lead up to this important election.
Firehand said,
August 8, 2008 @ 9:31 am
I refer to the blog as ‘my soapbox’. It’s my place to bitch and yell, and pass on information. I know it’s gotten information to people who might not have seen it otherwise, just like I’ve run across things on blogs I’d never have seen on the (Fill In The Blank) Evening News.
Yeah, it’s a decent use of some of my time, and I think it’s worth it. Same thing for you, I’d say.