Okay, I have opinions. And I express them pretty clearly. Very
clearly. Okay, darn baldly. But it's funny how often it's assumed a
publicly expressed opinion is extreme. That if one is motivated enough
to blog about something or even post it on facebook, then the ideas
expressed must be extreme, by definition, somehow. Sigh. It's that binary thinking again - you must fit into the world view that people's strongly held opinions are either way over here or way over there.
Actually,
though I am sure I can still surprise because of my libertarian
leanings and can from time to time be a little extreme, mostly I waffle
about a little left of centre. I am one of those mambypambies in the
middle. Proud to be there.
It's funny, though, how the
slightest lean to the left can often illicit an extreme response from
folks who don't agree. Actually, the slightest lean anywhere tends to
illicit an extreme response from someone. Often with vituperative or
aggressive or dismissive language and link after link after link (many
of which were never read by the sender, it seems). I read all these
links, by the way. I am really trying to earn my nambypamby gold star.
So,
it dawned on me today -- I was listening to a podcast discussing a
flame war -- that one is marked by the company that disagrees with one
more than by one's expressed opinion, intention, word, or deed. Nice.
Okay, so I'm a crank.
And
you know what? Fine. Proud to be one. And I am going out on a limb
here. Way out. But I really don't mind too much. I hazard a guess
there are lot of folks with me but because I am The Crank, they're
letting me go at it.
So that's my opinion for today. I am sure I can link to some website or other that supports this opinion. Or two. Or three.
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