Smooth-Talking Afghan
"There was order, yes, but there is order in a graveyard." - Said Jawad, Afghan Ambassador to the U.S., on NPR's Morning Edition, responding to a question about the Taliban's ability to keep domestic peace vs. the chaos under the Karzai administration.
posted by Dave Kopperman | 8:18 AM
2 Comments:
Whats with you and the politics lately?
You've always been so rabidly anti-poltical.. pooh poohing all who try to engage you in conversation.. even getting annoyed..
Strange.
Two entries doesn't exactly constitute 'me and the politics lately,' but I get your drift. I think it's only in this blog that I've avoided them, as it's part of my overall mission statement for the Rambler: http://copper-man.net/2007/05/echo-chamber.html
As I note at the end of the blog, in real life, I can very easily - TOO easily - be engaged in a political conversation. But I don't, as a rule, like arguments, and even with people with whom I agree on many points, there's still plenty of fertile ground for a political argument.
But what I really like to engage in is my approximation of a reasoned debate, wherein I can follow a fairly lengthy thread of logic to a conclusion. Which is difficult enough for me to do at the best of times. Writing about it when I have thoughts seems better than getting mumbly-mouthed about it in real life.
I know I've mentioned this point to you many times, and there's even audio record of it (Fly on the Wall), but I have a hard time being interrupted when someone asks me a question, because I always feel that a question asked of me deserves the best answer I can give it, and sometimes, my 'best answer' is lengthy and discursive - two qualities that I know drive you nuts. Conversely, what I perceive to be your reductive tendency drives ME nuts.
As far as your perception of me, well, that's about accurate. Our method of talking to each other doesn't really allow for the type of lengthy, reasoned debate I prefer, since you tend to interrupt and I tend to (as you note) get pissy. If I can't help who I am, and you can't help who you are, why put both of us through the hassle? As Karl can attest, having a political 'debate' with me is about as much fun as manual self-dentistry.
D.
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