Notice?

Well, apparently I've garnered the notice of one or two small meta-blogs for that last Romney-related rant. I don't expect a massive influx of readers, but I'm still a little concerned; I'm not entirely proud of how completely I blew my top in writing that piece. I don't at all disagree with anything I said, but I was a little... heated.

When you take a position, you become, to some degree, that position. In the eyes of anyone to whom you represent something, you literally represent it, standing in for whatever it is, abstract or material. In that sense, I let down the causes of liberty and reason whenever I make a bad impression in their names. This isn't some sort of grave conceit over being published on the internet; it's a personal concern, no matter at all whether I'm talking with a friend or addressing a potentially large audience.

There's a fine line that must be walked between becoming too disengaged and losing your passion, and appearing too partial and too amateurish. We've seen American politicians, more and more throughout recent history, attempt to avoid this particular dilemma by skilled deceit, particularly self-deceit, but it never really quite works; no one trusts a politician entirely. Even if you think they're on your side, you know that they're using you and your vote for their own political ends. Others, private citizens, may fall a little too far in favor of authenticity, as I did, and come off as unbalanced or hand-wavingly over-excited. Howard Dean showed a little of this through the tiniest crack in his facade, and the American media tore him to shreds.

The particular point to this isn't at all to issue a retraction; I'm not retracting a damned thing. I suppose that it's really just to ask, in case anyone is listening, for a little slack. I stand behind the substance of my words, but, yes, I was, and remain, pissed off.