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Or perhaps Rorshach test would be the more accurate term. Pro-Palin blogger Joseph Sheppard argues that Sarah Palin's conservative admirers should, as a general policy, ignore anti-Palin bloggers.
Such a policy is wise where it is possible, and preferable to eternal flame-wars. And I say this not merely about the pro-Palin/anti-Palin feud, but as a general principle: If something irritates you, try to avoid it.
Take, as an example, Neil Young. His voice is lousy and he's a mediocre songwriter. As a guitarist, he's not bad, but not good enough to compensate for his deficits, especially as a singer, where he rivals Gordon Lightfoot for the Most Annoying Canadian Vocalist Lifetime Achievment Award. Therefore, whenever Neil Young comes on the radio, I change the station.
But there are occasions when I find myself trapped in a situation -- e.g., old buddies invite me to a dive bar with a jukebox -- where the avoidance strategy is impracticable, and the results can be tragic. Some idiot will drop a dollar in the jukebox and play "Ohio," and I find myself fighting the urge to begin loudly praising the National Guard and shouting imprecations against "hippie peacenik scum."
Is it just politics? No. Jackson Browne is somewhere left of Lenin, but he's a fine singer-songwriter. "Doctor My Eyes" and "The Load Out" are deservedly classics. Green Day are outright Marxists, but "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" is nevertheless a catchy tune. R.E.M. are also generally a left-wing outfit, yet they make marvelous music.
No, Neil Young sucks. And if you disagree, we'll just have to avoid talking about it, because you'll only aggravate me. Same thing with Ann Coulter being a Deadhead, or Smitty's inexplicable affection for '80s metal. De gustibus non est disputandum.
Sarah Palin is a potential contender for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. That fact should not be turning conservative friends into bitter enemies more than two years ahead of the 2012 Iowa caucus.
If you're a Palin fan and the very mention of Rick Moran makes the veins in your neck stand out, stop reading Rick Moran. If you're Andrew Sullivan and the very mention of Sarah Palin makes you start ranting like a madman . . . Well, I don't know. Smoke some dope or something.
Stop obsessing. Chill.
At any rate, Joseph Sheppard has made a useful suggestion. And don't get me started on Neil Young.
Illegal alien with five prior arrests robs Alvin Bragg’s assistant in
Manhattan
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Karma can be a real bitch, can’t it?? Scumbag Alvin Bragg’s assistant was
robbed by an illegal alien running around
The post Illegal alien with five prio...
30 minutes ago
Come on Stacy, it is Southern Man that drives you mad, and the only cure is Sweet Home Alabama.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you 100% on Neil Young. I liked Gordon Lightfoot though, at least in his early years.
ReplyDeleteWhat did 80'd medal music ever do to you?
ReplyDeleteI did like Stryper as a kid. :)
-Pat
Stacy.
ReplyDeleteJust wait til Jesus gets his hands on you, you little bastard (to quote a hate mail received by Abbie Hoffman). Remember what he did to Lynrd Skynrd as punishment for their disrespectful attitude toward Neil Young?
What's with the Gordon Lightfoot attack? The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald would make a fine theme song for the 111th Congress.
ReplyDeleteStacy, I have no problem with your animus toward Neil Young, but Gordon Lightfoot is Teh Awesome. And you have to respect someone who has battled back from a life-threatening illness that left him in a coma for several weeks in 2002, and from a minor stroke in 2007.
ReplyDeleteLook, if you want to take shots at other Canadian music "artists", I could always send you a list. There's no shortage of no-talent fools who think they can write and sing.
I remember someone placing the (all-Canadian) mid-70s Philadelphia Flyers in the no-DMZ category along with "opera, oysters and Howard Cosell."
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of obsessing....
ReplyDeleteToo lazy too link to it, but there's a funny cartoon with some guy typing like mad on his computer, and he's telling his wife, "I'll be up later. Some guy on the internet is wrong!" That pretty much sums up our desire to address these fools. Lately, I've tried more and more to follow the course that Stacy is advising here. Life's too short to spend time arguing with some idiot who is unlikely to be persuaded by logic and reason.
ReplyDeleteI've tried a few rounds in Rick's Thunderdome, and the denizens there, make Rick look sane.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many sites hailing the future Consuls Mittens and Huck, like GOP 12 and Race42008, that are afflicted with the same
problem
@Paul Zummo: That particular XKCD cartoon caused me to suspect that the artist had interviewed my wife...
ReplyDeletehttp://xkcd.com/386/
Points well taken, Stacy! I'm a pro-Palin blogger and manage the Palin Twibe Twitter account which auto-tweets 200+ pro-Palin blogs. "Pro-Palin" doesn't mean they are all going to support Sarah Palin in 2012. It simply means they're willing to refrain from saying irresponsible, nasty things about her. :-) It hasn't been all that hard to find 200+ political bloggers who are willing to give Sarah Palin a fair playing field.......and the number willing to do that has trended upward since I started the Palin Twibe, never slacking off. I've only had to remove one feed from our stream and it was for a reason that had nothing to do with Palin. Otherwise, I'm adding, adding, adding continually to our list.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, on my own blogs and as a contributor at Texas for Sarah Palin, we'll continue to defend Sarah Palin against any and all misrepresentations and we will do it boldly, no matter from whence these misrepresentations come. I've taken on this task personally not because of "infatuation" but because I've been politically active for 18 years and understand the value of STRONG, EARLY SUPPORT. If there were no such thing as Sarah Palin, I'd be just as strong behind my choice for President to oppose President Obama in 2012. It's just a political reality that strong, early support beats the opposition. That reasoning is what drives me personally and I do hope more people out there will be quite open about whom they are behind for 2012. Just sayin.....
Thanks!
P.S. I blip tunes from time to time on the Palin Twibe twitter account and Neil Young is NOT on the playlist.
ReplyDeleteClassic Skynyrd is still great. Neil (at least by comparison) still sucks.
ReplyDeleteAs he himself sang, it's better to burn out, because rust never sleeps.
Actaully Neil Young isn't that great of a guitar player.
ReplyDeleteHow you feel about him is how I feel about the Beatles. Recycling great American music to kids to stupid to realize it was recycled does not a genius make.
"Palin as litmus test" is perfect. I have been thinking this myself for some time, though I have yet to actually challenge someone on these lines.
ReplyDeleteSeriously though. Your attitude toward Palin tells me all I need to know about your politics.
Who's Neil Young? Just kidding!
ReplyDeleteJackson Browne's "Rosie" is one of the greatest double-entendre' songs ever.
ReplyDelete