Decisions, Decisions

      There's a comment in the waiting-for-approval queue that I wouldn't mind publishing.  Not because I agree with the opinions expressed; I mostly don't.

      The commenter mostly retells recent GOP worry beads about the economy, riots, military operations and medical misinformation, and if I publish it, I'll have to fisk it.

      If I fisk it point by point, it's going to anger the guy who made the comments.  He's pretty invested in his beliefs and I doubt I'll change them.  But if you put "vaccination" in scare quotes when talking about COVID-19 (they're actual vaccines, and they work), or bemoan the botched (and I don't think anyone believes it wasn't screwed up) withdrawal from Afghanistan under President Biden's Administration without noting that President Trump wanted to do the very same thing only quicker and with even less preparation (and according to people who were in the room, it was hard going talking him out of it), then you have not done much homework other than ingesting one-sided partisan media.

      The United States was supposed to be a country where you didn't have to do much homework.  You were supposed to be able to mostly ignore the Federal government, and count on them to return the favor.  It hasn't been that way since at least 1913.  You do have to do your homework.  You ought to know by now the the Feds have only the crudest and most indirect control over the economy -- and that, in a mostly free-market economy, is a good thing.  You ought to know by now that you can't just throw around sloppy labels without taking a genuine look at the thing you're labeling, whatever it is.

      And you ought to know by now that political polarization is not a simple red/blue binary.  The Proud Boys, Oathkeepers, Roger Stone, Donald J. Trump, Mitch McConnell, Mike Pence and Elizabeth Cheney may all be on the political Right, but they're not the same.  Joe Manchin, "Blue Dog" Democrats, Nancy Pelosi, the BLM protesters and Antifa are all on the political Left, but they're not the same. It doesn't take much nosing around on social media and the Web to figure out that the very far Left is particularly hostile to the moderate Left, even more so than the far Right is to "RINOs" on their side.  It's possible to vote for the "wrong" party without voting for the worst excesses of that side's extremists.  Conversely, a candidate too inclined to wink at dangerous actions by putative allies is someone to watch out for -- and vote against.

      Don't live in a bubble, where you look at the side you disfavor and cannot see any reason for any citizen to ever vote for any of their candidates.  Our modern media environment magnifies extremes, from the legacy oldstream channels to the edgiest of social sites and apps.  Most candidates are not out to eat the rich or push crazy conspiracy theories about stealing elections.  Nearly all of them aren't inciting riots.  The overwhelming majority of candidates and officeholders aren't out to undermine or destroy the United States.  The vast bulk of 'em (apologies to certain Governors and Senators for the phrase) treasure our history, our Constitution and our institutions, and have not set out to sap and impurify our precious bodily fluids.  Some of them have foolish, impractical notions, full of unintended consequences, but by and large, they're honestly trying to not screw up.  All of them want to be elected or re-elected, often more so than prudence would prefer.  They're human.

      You are not living in a post-apocalyptic wasteland and staggeringly few of your fellow citizens want you to.  Give 'em a little credit, willya?

     Edited To Add: a previously-banned commenter is getting after me for not publishing comments.  Go cry in your own beer, bub.  This is my blog, not a public square or a debating society.  I explained in the second paragraph why I probably wouldn't publish the person's comment and it's not because I dislike them or their expressing their own opinion; it's because I'd have to fisk it, in detail, with examples, and I don't feel like getting out the big guns this morning, especially against a guy who was probably just riffing.  Don't like that?  Then start your own damn blog.