It's The Big Picture, Stupid

Words of wisdom from Reason editor Nick Gillsepie (with embelleshments from your truly) :

If you're into partisan politics, it's easy to lose sight of the big picture - the truly seismic shifts in culture and technology that, in the long run, underwrite human progress (or lack thereof).

Just tune in your local News/Talk radio station and marvel at the pointlessness of it all...

It's deceptively easy to mistake the petty skirmishes of the moment for nothing less than...end-of-the-world scenarios...

Believe it or not, there are more important issues in this world for most of us than whether Tweedle-dee or Tweedle-very Dumb gets elected next year. Ya wouldn't know it from watching Hannity and Colmes...

Especially in these hyper-partisan times, politics is filled with penny-stock distractions that keep us zeroed in on what is, in the end, trivia.

Who's gonna really care a year, or even a week from now, what happens to Tom DeLay? Who cares, even now, who the hell Scooter Libby is? Who among us, with one foot planted in the real world, really gives a wet slap whether the guy at your local Wal-Mart wishes you a "Merry Christmas," or a "Happy Holidays?!?"

But maybe I'm saying too much; if all you radio talk hosts out there really start getting a clue, it will be that much harder on those of us who already have one.

So...pay no attention, Rush (not that you would). Disregard everything you hear from guys like Nick and me, Sean and Bill. Just keep pandering to the old geeks in their underwear...

And leave the other 90% of the listeners for guys like me, heh heh heh...