My Own Side

My apologies for the paucity of posts this last week. I travelled to Eugene, Oregon to photograph the 50th Anniversary Interstate Championship Games, and the pics are finally ‘in the can’ so I can (briefly) relax and blog. The top 20 Washington patterned horse racing riders compete against the top 20 Oregon riders every year to see which state takes home the title.

There’s something about the people at the horse shows that I have always liked. I’ve met so many decent, friendly people there, and Interstate was no exception. Perhaps its that they have more horse-sense than I am used to dealing with in liberal Seattle. It was incredibly refreshing to have the colors presented at the beginning of the show, everyone standing, the Lee Greenwood song “I’m Proud to Be an American” playing, and nobody sneering at the flag.

These guys work hard.

But they also play hard and have fun.

God bless the USA.

Kudos to my sharp eyed daughter who spotted (twice) none other than Disney’s beloved car #53 driving on Highway 101 through Lincoln City, Oregon. It had the racing stripes, circled number 53 and everything. Sorry, no pictures, dad was driving and it was going the other way (go rent the movie if you want to see it).

One of the core pathologies of someone on todays political left is their irrational tendency to take a position that is opposite to their own best interest. Robert Frost said “A liberal is a man too broadminded to take his own side in a quarrel.”

Looking back over the years, as I meandered through the political landscape I remember repeatedly seeing evidence of this. However, it wasn’t until I heard Frost’s quote that it all crystallized. As the truth of it sank in, I suddenly realized why it had been so difficult to make sense of liberal positions.

Because they don’t make any sense.

It makes no sense that someone would openly despise and disparage the country that they live in, while enjoying the many benefits that such a great country affords them. It makes no sense that liberals would practically worship the murderers and rapists that prey on us all, holding candlelight vigils trying to see that they escape justice. It makes no sense that liberals rail against free market capitalism which has elevated the standard of living for hundreds of millions, while pining away after failed Marxist economic systems that have caused nothing but poverty and misery for anyone unfortunate enough to have been subjected to them.

It makes no sense, but from a practical standpoint, it doesn’t matter. Identifying a rational basis for a liberal’s position is not a prerequisite to being able to predict it. While seldom rational, at least their positions are consistent with Frost’s observation.

Because I derive no small sense of satisfaction from being right more often than not, I find myself at odds with liberal positions on a regular basis. This blog is dedicated to rational thinkers who are unashamed to take their own side in a fight.

[Update 04/30/2007] I corrected the Robert Frost quote. I had inadvertently used a modernized variant that seems to be popular.