A War Called Home

The title bears no significance. It's just the name of a song that I really like off of the latest Strung Out album. I don't feel like spending the time on campus it takes to write out a more focused post, so at least this one and maybe the next couple will be a potpourri of items.

I came across this website this morning, Big Hollywood. It is a website that discusses popular culture through the conservative lens. The site already features some pretty good conservative voices. Check it out.

And this is the latest Impromptus from my man Jay Nordlinger. This article discusses in depth the various places where politics enters the fray when it is probably inappropriate. He starts out the article with this excerpt that prompted a high response:

One reason I became a conservative, many years ago, is that the Left in my hometown — Ann Arbor, Mich. — insisted on politicizing everything. There was never any respite from politics. There was no “safe zone.” Politics was infused into everything — and it was one kind of politics, of course: Left.

This sort of “creeped me out,” to use a modern expression.

So, on Friday night, I go to Carnegie Hall for a Christmas concert. The King’s Singers are performing with the New York Pops Orchestra; Marilyn Horne is a special guest. This should be an evening away from politics — just a little fodder for my next New Criterion music piece, you know?

Shortly into the concert, the conductor turns to the audience and speaks about “the holidays.” This year, he says, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa are overlapping with Christmas. (According to what I can find, Kwanzaa begins on December 26, but never mind.) Then we have New Year’s Day. And “on January 20, there will be a new beginning for our country.” The crowd, of course, erupts into cheers. Then he says, “I see I’m not the only one who’s ready.”

They can’t help themselves, can they? They can’t help preening, saying, in effect, “See how virtuous I am? My politics are correct. I am a fully paid-up member of the herd — nothing independent-minded about me.” I have seen this in Carnegie Hall before (as elsewhere): The conductor, or someone else, makes a partisan political statement, releasing a little stink bomb that smells up the entire evening, no matter how good the music is.

At least it’s that way for some of us.

Politics aside, where are manners? Where is consideration for a minority of audience members? Where is a sense of public space, and what is appropriate and not? The guy was uncouth, as much as anything. And the sad thing is:

There’s no one to call him on it.

And, no, I don’t count. One of his own — someone from the New York Times or The New Yorker or the local arts establishment — has to call him on it. Otherwise, it doesn’t count.

I suppose that conservatives, somewhere, act like that conductor, injecting politics where it doesn’t belong, transgressing against public decorum (and simply displaying bad manners). I have not witnessed it, though.

There really isn't any safe zone. My dad gave my aunt a Christmas card that featured some Bush bashing. Almost every time I read stuff by Peter Gammons (probably the most recognized and acclaimed baseball writer) he has to include some kind of jab at the W's presidency. Listen Peter Gammons. If I wanted to read about politics, then I have my outlets. Just talk about baseball, dummy.

It's just crazy to me. And Jay makes this point in the article, but this is a phenomenon that seems limited to the left-side of the political spectrum. If a conservative speaks up or out about his opinions that person almost invariably gets criticized as being barbaric or unintelligent.

Maybe that is a biased perspective because I'm not looking for evidence contrary to my own ideas (that's a self-serving bias), but that really does feel like it's the case.

I'm excited about this qualitative methods class I'm taking this semester. The cool thing about qualitative research is that rather than trying to capture information and analyzing it using statistical methods, it focuses on finding meaning through interviews with respect to experiences, relationships, etc. I like stats stuff fine, but I think the most interesting information comes from when you can get people to elaborate on what they think and feel.

Plus, I think this helps me develop a skill set that will allow me to eventually get into work that is less academic, and more widely read. I'd love it if at some point in my professional career I could write stuff like you find in pop psychology books, but have the academic grounding and background for added credibility. Be warned - most of that stuff you find out there isn't actually based on any research. It's colloquial and sounds appealling. It has face validity, but no construct validity. If I could have it my way, I'd love to just be able to write. Then I could work from anywhere, and according to my own schedule. Someday...

Bye for now.