Falling Down by Paul Francesci 11/01/04

"They say you better listen to the voice of reason,
but they don't give you any choice because they say that it's treason."

- Elvis Costello, "Radio, Radio"

"I am just disagreeing with you. In America we still have that right."

- Michael Douglas as William "D-Fens" Foster, "Falling Down"

As the day the U.S.A. will elect its next President (maybe) approaches, the above-quoted song and movie seem to have defined not only this election, but American culture. It seems that people these days do not make room for the possibility that their taste, opinions or point of view are subjective. A lot of people we meet have a handle on politics, food, music and other subjects from important to trivial, which definitions are themselves etched in stone. It is the ultimate irony that as we get coarser, baser and less sensitive, we are also more sure that we are right.

A few examples: it is apparently a fact that the 2004 Boston Red Sox are a bunch of scruffy, lovable rogues with a better handle on big games than the 2004 Yankees. The Sox have lifted curses, validated the superiority of Theo Epstein to Brian Cashman and otherwise turned the mood of New England around. There seems to be no room for subtleties or contrary opinions. All this is well and good, but it begs the question: would all the latter "facts" be different if Mariano Rivera had gotten six outs without letting in a run in game 4 of the A.L.C.S.?
Example 2: Howard Dean was drummed out of the Democratic Presidential running for his crazy-sounding rant after losing a primary. What about the other 40-50 years of his life which got him to that point? Was that all erased by one emotional outburst?
Example 3: We went to war in Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein. Hussein has now been out of power for well over 6 months, yet even John Kerry agrees that we need U.S. troops in Iraq for four more years to ensure a proper transition. When did anyone say that soldiers and profiteering civilians should stay where they are not wanted and risk death or hostage-status for a peaceful transition? Hussein is out. Must we still treat the nation of Iraq as children, who, left to their own devices, will devolve into chaos? If so, why should we ever leave Iraq? Won't they eventually descend into chaos once we are gone, be it 4-5 or 10 years from now. Yet everyone seems to accept as fact that we cannot just leave after accomplishing our objective. What happened to going out on top?

So, the next time you hear or form an opinion about something which you KNOW is flat-out wrong, take a moment to pause and insert the clause "in my opinion" before you disagree. The world will be a kinder, gentler place for it.