The politics of personal perception.

2015 is shaping up to be one of those years where I think about blogging, for a minute, and then find something far more important to do in real life.  C'est la vie right?

In reading Victor Davis Hanson's NRO article on violent extremism however I stumbled across a quote that struck me as both profound, and worthy of a bit of expansion.

How to Empower Violent Extremism, Victor Davis Hanson, NationalReview.com

Add in the fact that most people have little ideology other than wishing to ally themselves psychologically with a perceived winning cause

Hanson is dead on here. But this quote is only one piece of the puzzle. In my experience most people become interested in politics for a combination of three reasons.

1. As Hanson said, they want to be on the "winning" side.

2. People want to align themselves with what they think is "cool".

3. For the worst political hacks political activity is a desperate cry for attention.

Admittedly, this list is not comprehensive. There are, in fact, very earnest and honest political activists out there who are supporting causes for very real, very honorable, reasons. I'm not pessimistic enough to say that all political activists are attempting to make up for some flaw in their lives.  But if you look at the above reasons you begin to understand why....

Cognitive dissonance is so prevalent among partisans.

Political writers (especially bloggers) jump back and forth between disliking a candidate and suddenly finding them to be incapable of wrong-doing. (There are Houston political bloggers for whom this is the status quo)

People take it personally when their candidate/issue loses.

Successful (although not necessarily good) politicians understand this dynamic and play off of it to win elections. If they're really good at it then they can be elected on a stump speech that they have no intentions of adhering to during their term. They can then go back and get re-elected despite not living up to how they campaigned.  John Culberson is very good at this, as is most of the Texas Democratic Congressional delegation. They can do this because they understand the mind-set of the voter they are trying to attract. On the other side of the spectrum Wendy!? Davis was not.

Most, not all, of politics then is less about governing than it is about crafting a message that brings in the votes while satisfying those who supply the money. What the actual votes are on the issues matters little, with politicians understanding that a bad vote will be flushed out of the news cycle before the next election and the power of the incumbency (even in a supposed "anti-incumbent" environment) allows the message to be shaped and molded.

Of the two major parties the Democrats have been marginally better at using these dynamics to create party loyalty. They understood the power of celebrity and used it (see: The Oscars) and they dumbed down their logic to pre-teen levels. Republicans have been less successful, allowing "conservative" to become a cooler brand than themselves. What this means is that the "establishment" is now a dirty word among so-called "conservative" voters which leads to the rise of players such as Lt. Gov Dan Patrick (who is a true opportunist clothed as a conservative) and Sen. Ted Cruz (who is a true conservative who understands the mob).  Of the two give me more Cruz and less Patrick but that's a different topic altogether.

One of the off-shoots of our current "beauty pageant" election system is that, quite often, we're not voting for the candidate who would govern better but the candidate who either looks the best or sounds the best on TV. One of the reasons the political career of David Dewhurst fell apart so rapidly is that he was unable to grasp the change in the Texas Republican Electorate. He was running on establishment competence when what the voters wanted was "cool" movement conservatism.

If all of this sounds like we're beating our heads against the wall politically you're right.  We are.

It goes without saying (but I'll say it anyway) that the media's role as enabler in this dynamic is one of the reasons politicians are so successful at it. From the Scott Walker brouhaha to The Texas Tribune, the functional idiots at Vox and the other 'newsish' sites it's fairly clear that political reporting, as an industry, is dead.

The only question remaining is this: If the media is not there to report the facts and social media is only a trumpet for self-promotion, how in the world is the populace to be informed?

I don't have that answer.

 

Je Suis Me

With all of the cacophony over the Charile Hebdo terrorists attacks over the last few days (Were the attacks made in the name of Islam? [yes] Did the magazine have a part in provoking them? [yes] Does this mean the magazine is to blame? [No] etc.) It's getting lost that the historic role of provocateur is being diminished in the name of either political correctness or inclusion. There are many reasons society is heaping scorn on publications such as Charile Hebdo and none of them portend a glowing future in terms of freedom of either speech or one's person.

When the New York Times quasi-intellectual, sycophant columnist David Brooks decides he's going to start classifying opinion as either belonging to either the 'adult' or 'children's' tables it's very easy to see where this is going.

All of us, self included, are suffering from an increasingly severe bout of confirmation bias when it comes to our political, and social beliefs. Not only has this reached pandemic status, but we're getting very close to it being a slate-wiper in terms of common sense.  A large portion of this problem lies with our inability to understand the shades of gray in politics and personal belief.

For partisans, it's not enough to be on the 'right side' of an issue, you also have to crawl down the rabbit hole of the true believer to ensure that no variance can be tolerated from the official dogma. If you're against radical Islamic terrorists then it must be said that you're against all of Islam by those who fee that the greatest threat to mankind is white, middle-aged workers in the American system. If you're worried about Americans then, according to those on the other side, you must also be hateful of everything American and a dirty communist who wants nothing more than a return to the gulags of the Stalin era.

While it's easy to lay the blame on social media for this, Twitter especially is a terrible bullhorn for political debate, it's also too easy to overstate the media's role in perpetuating these false beliefs. It is just as silly to paint all conservatives with a broad brush as it is to say that everyone of the Muslim faith is a Jihadist in waiting.  That said, every Jihadist in waiting IS a Muslim, it's just that understanding that distinction is lost on most. Lost to the point that I'm unsure if society contains the self-awareness to get it back.

Instead, I think we're doomed to an ever-diminishing feedback loop where our proclivities of assigning those we don't like to a second class results in an increasingly smaller subset of opinion.

What I would like to see is an acknowledgement that everyone is sitting at the same 'table', whether or not they agree with us or no. After all, opinions are only worth something in minds of those who hold them.  What is important is fact, and reality.

Which is why I titled this post Je Suis Me. I am only me and no-one else. I am not Charlie Hebdo and neither are you. Nor should we be. Our roles in the opinion making process are singular and unique. Whether or not that makes us "trolls" as some might say or "geniuses" as others would point out is entirely the opinions of those doing the labeling.

Houston Area Leadership Vacuum: The New Mrs. White makes a puzzling statement.

Forgive me if I'm just a little confused about the closing of The New Mrs. White's wish-list for the New Year.

Granted, most of the editorial is the typical left-of-center wish list. Is Houston's economy DOOMED(!!) because of falling oil prices and does this mean that all of those silly oil people will move away? We hope that Texas new elected Republicans will act like Democrats and take out a loan on our catapult to throw large amounts of money at problems etc.....

Fine, I get all that and, to be honest, could care less. As a matter of fact, were it not for the last paragraph I wouldn't be writing about this editorial at all.  It was THAT forgettable.  But then The New Mrs. White wrote this:

New Year, The NEW Mrs. White, Chron.com

With no heir apparent to Mayor Annise Parker, election season should be a debate about pensions, pot holes and public safety, not a contest to see who can raise the most money.

Wait what?

If issues like pensions, pot holes and public safety are so important then why hasn't tNMW been calling out Mayor Parker for avoiding these issues? Instead of a "focus on the basics" plea to Mayor Parker tNMW has been knocking herself out heaping praise on Heronner for focusing on potty rights, junkets and trinkets.

Of course it's normal for tNMW, and the rest of ChronBlog to yearn for campaigns filled with 'issues' but then gush like pre-teens at a Bieber concert when the latest trinket is unveiled. In a way, this type of pie-in-the-sky editorializing shouldn't surprise us but it inevitably does.

So, as we start 2015 full of hope and promise (and, in some cases, hangovers) and with the desperate yearning of tNMW ringing in our ears (until the next trinket that is). I think it's high-time to renew my wish for the Chronicle and all who work there:

Shutter the Editorial board, get rid of the increasingly noxious political cartoonist and slash the budget for opinion writing. Once this is done clean house on the web-design side and cut the budget for so-called 'lifestyle' reporting. (No more side-boob!!!)

Then redeploy all of these assets to hard news reporting, where the Chron still has some talented reporters working and could do with a whole lot more.

Happy New Year.

YDOP: New Year's Resolutions and such.

Given that Thursday is, technically, the start of 2015 and not just another Thursday in a long line of the same, I  guess it's appropriate that I offer up a navel-gazing list of New Year's Resolutions for the 'ol blog.  So, grab yourself some Champagne, a cold beer or a cocktail and let's get to work.....


1. Give this editing thing a try. - If you're a reader of this blog you know that, too often to be honest, I'll post things on a whim and then go back and edit them for clarity.  If you read my Houston 2015 Predictions Post earlier this morning go back and re-read it now.  Typically, when I do this, it's only to clean up readability and what-not. If I make substantive changes I note them at the bottom of the post and try to use strikethrough to make it all more traceable.

In 2015 I resolve to try and edit things more tightly before I hit the publish button.  As usual however, there's no money in this blog so you're really getting what you've paid for. If you find something egregious just leave a comment and I'll correct and give you credit.  For your editing assistance you'll be paid exactly the same as I am for writing this blog.  Go ahead and spend it all in one place.

2. Don't partyblog.....ever. I am not now, nor have I ever been a fan of partyblogging. The only thing worse is blockquote blogging.

In 2015 I resolve to try and never, ever write a post that is nothing more than a glorified press release for either a political party or political candidate. The one exemption to this is if I specifically note that I'm reprinting an e-mail or some other form of communication (with permission of course) that is a rebuttal from a politician to something I write.

3. More Video. - Because I think it provides a classy feel to the joint.

In 2015 I resolve to try and incorporate more video clips into my blog(s). Not only 3rd party (with proper attribution and within the bounds of fair use of course) but also, possibly, personally produced stuff as well. Don't worry though, I also resolve to make sure that I'm on this video as little as possible, if at all.  I respect my remaining reader base after all.

4. Podcast, a lot. I am a big fan of what they are now calling "Internet Radio" which is really a live podcast which is then recorded and saved online in traditional podcast form. Given that this technology is many years old I think it's high-time I get off my tookas and bring things up to the 00's here.

In 2015 I resolve to incorporate a podcast into my blogging. Fair warning however, this will not be a politics only podcast and will probably run the gamut from Houston issues, to food, drink and sports, with a big nod toward my love of sports betting, poker, sports, Michigan football and travel.

5. Don't sell out. Don't ever sell out. For almost 10 years now I've been blogging/livejournaling on various platforms and various blogs. I've, for the most part, kept this blog as an independent voice.

In 2015 I resolve to do everything that I can to not allow myself to be infected by the fatuous optimism that uncritical thinkers possess.  The question is not, nor has it ever been, whether the glass is half full or empty.  The question has always been "Who in the blue hell has been drinking my beer?"  Some people think that this means I have a sad life, or that I'm perpetually angry.  Those who know me understand that this is the far from the truth.

The fact is that I find humor and heart in #BadPolitics, #BadSports, #BadBusiness and especially #BadMedia.  While I want everyone of these entities to just get better I also understand that it's easier to sit down and write about the bad while ignoring the good.  I hope that I will never stop giving my ideological opposites credit when they strike upon something that is right, nor will I ever stop criticizing when my ideological fellow-travelers do something wrong. As always, if you don't like this blog I encourage you to go find another in which you do. Or, even better, go start your own local politics blog and get your well-reasoned, logically flawless point of view out in the open.  The more attention paid to State/Local issues the better.

6. Drink more (with y'all). In my early years of blogging there were blog meet-ups on a fairly regular basis. These were fun, bipartisan affairs that usually ended with all of Houston's problems solved on the back of a cocktail napkin that inevitably had beer or wine spilled on it and was thrown away.  That said, it was great meeting the people and putting names with faces.

Unfortunately, none of it stuck. As blogging became more party-centric and more "official" certain bloggers decided that the free exchange of ideas was less important than talking and meeting with the other side over oat-sodas. While I think the true bi-partisan blog meet-ups are a thing of the past (too many members of the InterLeft are bitter, partisan hacks who refuse to meet with the bitter, partisan hacks on the right) I do think there's still a chance to return to the social atmosphere that made blogging more fun.

In 2015 I resolve to establish and host blog meet-ups on a regular basis. While it's true that, in the beginning, these meetings might be nothing more than me sitting at a bar, watching sports and drinking a beer, I'd like to think that, eventually, one or two people will show up and the beginnings of a local blogging discussion group can begin to form. I'll make my first announcement some time in early January, at an as yet to be determined bar on the West side of Houston. I've got some early candidates in mind.

And Finally......

7. Free the comments! I admit, in 2013-2014 I've taken a negative view on comments. If you read the comments section almost anywhere you can see why. 

In 2015 I resolve to restore my comments to a more open status to try and foster communication across the blogosphere rather than to maintain this closed system.  Ironically, as I shut things down my readership numbers have gone up so I'm not sure how long this is going to last. I sure want to give it an honest 2-3 month effort however and see where we stand.  Maybe there's hope for comment sections, maybe not. I don't think that this little blog will be the ultimate arbiter of that argument but I would like to do my part.



I truly hope that everyone is not too hung over this morning and that you all have a wonderful and prosperous New Year and that the good far outweighs the bad for the remainder of 2015.

Happy New Year: A hopeful peek into Houston's 2015.

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Death to the year in review (and other stories)

As we rapidly approach the end of an utterly forgettable 2014 with our eyes firmly set on what (we hope) will be a much better 2015, there's plenty of yearning and heartbreak over the year that was. Unfortunately, it seems that those who write, either for a living (the media) or as a hobby (bloggers) can't help but force us to take a trip down memory lane, for better or worse, in a ham-fisted attempt to remind us what they think was important and how we're not placing enough weight on those items.

I'm referring, of course, to the increasingly prevalent 'Year in Review' features that every newspaper, TV Station, web-site and blogger feels the need to release. Usually, they're liberally sprinkled with content from their own organs which, in reality, means that these histograms are nothing more than some chest-beating masquerading a walk down memory lane. "Remember the time we wrote about...." and what-not.

Maybe it's nothing more than my proclivity to look-forward rather than backwards but I think we've reached the point where this tradition needs to come to an end.

Yes, it is important to understand history in it's context so that we can learn from our mistakes (and those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it) but many of these year-in-review pieces discuss news items of such recent history that any context they may develop over time is stripped away in the immediacy of partisan wailing and gnashing of teeth.

While it's very easy, journalistically, to take a look back to one of Obama's many rounds of golf in 2014 it's very difficult to place any true perspective on it. It's also silly to say that the ACA is sure to be Obama's legacy when we're not even sure if it's going to survive the decade.

The same holds true for The Texas Tribunes (apparently) comprehensive and (supposedly) authoritative tome on the Perry "Legacy". In reality, this is a silly exercise in journalistic ego-building trying to set a road-map for historians who will probably ignore the thing anyway.  The fact is, it's impossible to define what is (and is not) a politician's legacy while he (or she) is still occupying the office.

Part of the problem, I think, is the inability of society to take the long view. Currently, we live in an instant gratification world spawned by the Internet and (still relatively) easy credit. It's partly the fault of the general public that we require of our media (and newsish sites) to provide us historical context now.

The truth is that whatever legacy is ultimately affixed to Perry in the historical canon will evolve and emerge over the period of many years as the full effects of his policies and leadership will be realized.

So let's call for an end to the 'year that was' stories and start focusing instead on the year that might be. We can have no effect on the events that already happened but we can influence those that will. I think the latter is a much more productive use of our time than is the former.

Houston Area Leadership Vacuum: When the last real leader passes on, the middling regional news daily struggles to encapsulate his legacy.

On Sunday, Decmber 21, 2014 Houston's former Mayor Bob Lanier reportedly passed quietly while napping after a lunch with family. It was a quiet exit for a good man and the last real leader that Houston's had in elected city government since he was term limited out of the job.

What Mayor Lanier did for the City of Houston, revitalizing her at the tail end of the oil bust by focusing on public works and public safety at the expense of trinkets, has not been duplicated by the string of empty shells that have followed. While he was immensely popular with many he did have his detractors, many of which will never forgive him for a perceived litany of sins. An example of this can be found in ChronBlog's rather weak attempts to document his time in power. Now fully immersed in the 'light rail for some' movement they can't help but quote figures like noxious member of the unproductive class David Crossley while editorially taking shots at Lanier (and allowing Bill White some odd historical revisionism) about his opposition to rail.

It's too bad that the New Mrs. White and the rest of the Chron are reduced to this because the lessons Mayor Lanier taught the city as its mayor need to be relearned.  Current Mayor Parker went so far as to praise Lanier for his commitment to public works despite the fact that she possesses no similar commitment herself. 

And while do-nothings like Crossley take shots at Lanier for his anti-Monorail and Light Rail in Houston stances, the current fiscal mess that Metro is experiencing suggests that he was correct. Certainly he deserves better than petty shots taken by a man who's done nothing to improve the quality of life in Houston outside pontificating and holding workshops about the inner-beauty of bees (or something)?

In fact, I think Lanier deserves a lot better.

Was he perfect?  No, no one is. There are real policy areas where disagreements could be had with almost everyone.  The important thing to note is this: Whether or not you agreed with Mr. Lanier on the issues, he was undoubtedly a leader.

Houston could use more like him, and less like the current crop of civic loudmouths that are currently trying to steer the ship.

God Bless the Lanier family and comfort them during this time.