Politics
Garrison Keillor continues to use his Prairie Home Companion show as therapy for wounds suffered on Nov. 2nd. Humor as medicine, I guess. Bill Buckley once wrote that there are much better things to think about than politics, but that having to do so is a natural consequence of giving tremendous power and money to the government.
Part of what makes politics interesting to me is the unpredictability. A person's politics are a hodge-podge of tribalism, self-interest and altruism. What makes someone vote the way they do? What caused Keillor to hate Bush so? Admittedly, probably everything about George Bush. The president induces a sort of "perfect storm" of hatred in his foes. From his lack of articulateness, his pro-life position, his seeming disinterest in things intellectual & lack of sophistication, the war in Iraq, his serious Christianity, etc...
I wonder where the tipping point would be with Keillor. What issues would George Bush have to flip in order to gain Garrison's imprimatur? It's pure conjecture, but I think if Bush flipped on just two issues all would be well: his pro-life position, and his disinclination towards universal health care. Most Bush haters hated him before 9/11/01, and thus before the war in Iraq, so I never bought the "Iraq spoiled the broth" argument. It would be fun to re-run the script and go back in time and see how the left reacted with just the abortion issue changed. Or to try a myraid of different scenarios and thus attempt to separate out self-interest from altruism from tribalism.
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