Comments on: Fisking Sullivan

By: The Decline and Fall of Andrew Sullivan « Dispatches

The Decline and Fall of Andrew Sullivan « Dispatches — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:54:15 +0000

[...] Decline and Fall of Andrew Sullivan Jump to Comments John Schwenkler wades through the muck so you don’t have to. All I can think to write is that I’m genuinely [...]

By: Election Exhaustion - Refocusing and Reengaging – The Politics of Scrabble

Election Exhaustion - Refocusing and Reengaging – The Politics of Scrabble — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 04:20:03 +0000

[...] than re-type my frustrations and waning interest in the US election, I’ll direct you to my interaction with John Schwenkler at his site. It feels like serious discussion about the US election has become [...]

By: John

John — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 03:07:10 +0000

Not at all, Scott! I think you make a lot of important points and offer some good advice … I only wish I were disciplined enough to follow it.

By: Scott H Payne

Scott H Payne — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 03:04:56 +0000

I hope that didn’t come off too haughty or imperious. It was meant to imply a certain fortitude and determination I feel on the subject and not to convey any sense of arrogance.

By: John

John — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 02:53:45 +0000

Well said, Scott. I’ve had that same impulse quite a few times. But like I said … I couldn’t resist. :)

By: Scott H Payne

Scott H Payne — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 02:46:03 +0000

At this point I am beginning to believe that indulging Andrew by posting and writing about his actions over the past weeks is only serving to keep this fire going and cause even more damage to a family that, regardless of how much one might disagree with them politically, does not deserve this treatment. Andrew, for all his moments of inspiration and profundity (yes, there have been times when I have found Andrew Sullivan profound) seems, in some deep way, drawn to political drama. The firestorm over his posting about Palin plays directly into his hand in terms of creating the drama he seems to desire and fueling the ongoing soap opera he has played an instrumental part in generating.

Not only this, but it continues to detract from a serious conversation that is, in no uncertain terms, both warranted and desperately needed throughout this election. People all around, and Andrew in particular, need to get over their Palin-mania and get back to a serious discussion about the options available in this election and what those options mean to the future of the country.

For my part, I have gone one step further than no longer frequenting the Dish, at least for the time being. I now also refuse to post about its goings on and will supplant the role that I’d hoped someone like Sullivan would play in this election: focusing on important issues and asking important questions that help to cultivate a clearer and more comprehensive picture about what serious people can do to right the course of a vitally important country that has, in many respects, lost its way over the past 7.5 years (though, admittedly, my attention has shifted greatly to my own country’s federal election of late).

As you mentioned in our conversation, the cult of the presidency in the US isn’t at all helpful, particularly when it subsumes the honest work in which citizens of the country need to engage to maintain the exceptionalism that has made the US such a pivotal global player. Let us (or you, collectively, I guess) get down to that work and not let the machinations of power drown out our (your) own sense of responsibility t do that which must be done.

In the words of a once infamous infomercialist: stop the insanity!