The Coming Civil War

Michael Tomasky has written a cogent, even-handed appraisal of the "Tea Party" activists. I think it is downright scary. The ideological nature of this movement is so closed-minded and self-contained and self-referential it seems impossible to break through. That is, you can't have a rational discussion with any of these people because they refuse to listen to anything that doesn't prove their point of view. After all, in their mind, the media lies, the president lies, the scientists lie, the liberal academic establishment lies . . .

I blame it, in part, on the left and the moral relativists who would argue that there is no Truth (with a capital T). Opinion is fact. Actually, scratch that, because opinion implies that there are some facts about which one has a different interpretation. One can have an opinion about whether Obama's plan will actually help or hurt you. But these aren't opinions, they are beliefs - people who believe things to be true that simply are not. You cannot correct people who believe, as opposed to think, that Obama's healthcare plan will take away Medicare benefits.

Tomasky's scariest point, in my opinion (it's something I think, not believe to be true) is that we are about to witness a "Nullification Crisis". Those of you who have no idea of the historical import of this, please wikipedia, or google, the term. It's a states' rights argument that was used by South Carolina to "nullify" tariffs during Andrew Jackson's administration. He had to threaten to use the military to enforce federal law before the states backed down. And guess what - Lincoln and Kennedy/Johnson faced the same arguments.

Welcome to American Civil War II . . .

Sad News at PIH

Dear Fearless Reader,

As you may have noticed, I haven't blogged in awhile. To be honest, I had given up. I started missing days, then weeks, of posts and then tried to get back into it, but it just wasn't the same. That, and I got a little disillusioned with the whole blogging thing. Self-doubt and a general feeling that I'd said everything I'd ever wanted to say crept in.

Lately, though, I've felt the need to express myself, so perhaps I'm back on the wagon. We shall see. Today I was inspired to break back into blogging by some very sad news. Apparently a surgeon working with my favorite organization in the world, PIH, was the victim of a homicide.

I've read about this guy, and he, like pretty much everybody associated with PIH, was just absolutely amazing. A beautiful soul doing the kind of work I wish I had the guts/smarts/general wherewithall to do. The fact that he was murdered is so just wrong on so many levels. It is what is so very wrong with this world.

I'm in mourning. I'd be depressed and despondent, I suppose, if I wasn't so angry. Anger is a gift.

Rest In Peace Josue Augustin. Here's praying that the rest of us get it together and create a world where this doesn't happen.