A Matter Of Concern

Perhaps I’m being too sensitive, but I cannot help but think that it isn’t healthy for a political movement to keep telling itself that if only America were tough enough, and if only it were run by “concerned parents and citizens,” all our problems would be solved, and we’d be moving back in the right direction. Because the fact is that there are lots of concerned parents and citizens on the left who feel like the country is going in the wrong direction, and have very different ideas about how to reverse that trend. ~Conor Friedersdorf

I second that, and I would add that the combination of being tough and concerned will get you nowhere, and will probably result in calamity, unless your concerns are grounded in reality and you understand the difference between toughness and bellicosity.  I might go a bit farther than Conor and say that it isn’t particularly healthy for a political movement to take advice on life and politics from celebrities, and it cannot say much for the state of conservative publishing houses that they are promoting books written by Chuck Norris.  I mean, what’s next–relying on radio entertainers for advice on how to vote?  Oh, right.  What might be even more depressing than the publication of such a book is the realization that a political book with Norris’ name on it would probably sell like hotcakes.