alternative hippopotamus

progressive cyberdadaism from our nation’s capital

March 21, 2006

Calling All Bloggers

by AltHippo @ 5:23 pm. Filed under Uncategorized

It’s time to sharpen your metaphorical blogging pencils. And point them in the general direction of the WaPo’s latest blogchild, Red America.

This is a blog for the majority of Americans.

Since the election of 1992, the extreme political left has fought a losing battle. Their views on the economy, marriage, abortion, guns, the death penalty, health care, welfare, taxes, and a dozen other major domestic policy issues have been exposed as unpopular, unmarketable and unquestioned losers at the ballot box.

I think Jim Brady may finally have found a blogger so hacky that Katherine Graham will be obliged to return from the dead to point out Domenech’s many errors in substance, not to mention tone.

(I spotted 3 logical fallacies in his lede. Can you find them all? Here’s a handy guide to common fallacies in case you want to play.)

A blog for the majority of Americans? You don’t say. You don’t by any chance have anything to back that assertion up, do you? Polls I’ve seen, like this USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll, say that what the current administration will most be remembered for is the invasion of Iraq, and they believe it was a mistake. Domenech may, of course, reason that anyone who thinks the Iraq invasion was a mistake isn’t an actual American. Under this logic (and no other) could he say that a majority of Americans believe as he does.

Yes, Domenech goes on to criticize the Republicans in power as “fat and happy on pork contracts”, but therein lies a dilemma: if these were the guys who got elected, but they don’t represent “true conservative” values, then on what basis are you saying that the country is trending conservative? Do you mean that if you add together the “true conservatives” with the “fat and happy on pork” people then (according to your fuzzy math) you get a majority? Maybe what the country wants is more of the “fat and happy on pork” people? Maybe they don’t want you at all?

But then, I’m not one to argue that a majority opinion represents truth or justice, though it may represent the American way. Take for instance, this poll where a majority of Americans believed there was an Iraq/9.11 link. Remember that? Turns out, the majority was wrong. Here’s my point: it may be that a majority of people voted for Bush in 2004. If they did, then, like the forementioned poll, they were wrong.

That brings me to another question for les Americains Rouges: if you really believe that your superior values are what wins you elections, then how come you needed to:

Shouldn’t conservatives be able to just explain their values, and people would say: conservatives really do have superior values. I’m going to vote conservative. They fact that conservatives feel the need to umh… help the democratic process along suggests to me they may not be so sure their values are all that popular.

(cross-posted from DCDL)

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hip·po·pot·a·mus n. A notion, perhaps distinct from conventional wisdom, that needs to be verified by reality-based scrutiny.

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95. Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum (I think that I think, therefore I think that I am.)
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