Premise Fatigue

Political argument is increasingly leaving me in a frustrated state of mind these days. Reasoned positions debated with passion have become a thing of the past.

A Leftist friend recently accused me of being a ‘Bush cultist’ because I don’t favor an immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq. A conservative buddy of mine is trying to convince me that the War on Terror is nothing more than a ruse being used by politicians of all stripes to reclaim the relevance in constituent’s lives they’ve lost over the last few years. And I overheard a discussion in the office today between three ladies talking about the new Spike Lee Katrina documentary that held as its unquestionable premise that the Bush administration doesn’t give a damn about black people.

How is it possible to engage in rational dialogue with those that cling to such silly beliefs? Isn’t it at all possible that the politicians we don’t agree with are just wrong? Must they be demon-ized and assumed to be the hydra-heads of large conspiracies against the general public?

Ayn Rand hit the nail on the head when she repeated tirelessly to anyone who would listen to her ornery ass- ‘Check Your Premises!’

It is impossible for a good argument to rest upon a faulty premise.

The president is not a cult leader. The War on Terror is not an illusion crafted to distract an otherwise unhappy public. And the current administration is not geared toward stripping the dignity from ethnic minorities. These are not arguments worthy of retort.

That is not to say that there are not an awful lot of good arguments against this president and his administration. It’s just that none of those good arguments are based in conspiracy theory.

I’d like to think that I could make the decision to debate only sane people but they are getting so difficult to find as of late.