The Rules

It would appear that political issues are clear … that politics is a world of black and white, right and wrong, good and evil.  Certainly there are a lot of people who talk as if it is.  They are, however, quite wrong.  Right and wrong are more than just a little fuzzy in politics.  The issues are complex and legitimate concerns often point us in opposing directions.  Even if you pretend that it’s not that way, it still is.  When it comes to the expression of your opinions, however, it is a completely different story. 

There is a right and a wrong way to express your opinion about politics.  Increasingly, more folks are doing it the wrong way.  It’s way past time we acknowledge this reality and start doing something about it … namely identifying and challenging the folks who are doing it wrong.  To facilitate this effort, I am writing up a rules list.  This is a preliminary list.  It’s short, incomplete, and unpolished.  Thus I will put this list on a separate page and edit it and add to it as time goes on.  I would love suggestions, so please offer them.  For now, however, this is what it looks like:

Rule # 1) Always have a clear conclusion and at least one logical premise that supports it. 

We need to return to a discourse that puts value on logic and reason.  We need to give reasons for why we think whatever it is we think.  If we have to tell other people why we think what we think, we will have to find out.  That would be a huge thing. 

Rule #2) No insults and no name calling.

We should instantly disregard the argument of any person who refers to the people with whom they disagree as “radical liberals,” “socialists,” “elitists,” “right wing nuts,” “un-American,” “reds,’ etc.  There isn’t any place for this nonsense.  People who want to work with other people to solve problems don’t talk to each other like this, and we ought to be interested in being, hanging out with, listening to, following, and electing people who want to work together to solve problems.  We certainly have enough problems to solve.  Feel free to criticize ideas, if possible politely and constructively.  Stop criticizing people.  Let’s focus on the message rather than the messenger.

Rule #3) Stick to the facts.

This seems obvious, but more and more it seems to be OK to lapse into fiction in order to make your point.  There are not and never were death panels.  Anyone that said otherwise was lying.  Birthers were lying.  People who say that pre-natal testing leads to abortion are lying.  People who say there is no hard science to support theories of global warming are lying.  Disagreement is fine.  It is necessary.  It needs, however, to be based in the facts.

That’s it for now.  Next Monday I will call out folks who have violated these rules.  Mondays, from this point forward will be rule violation days … days reserved for calling out violators and adding to and reefing the rules.