The Trenches Are Dug

The reason the trenches are being dug in so deep on the "Right" and the "Left" is because no one is learning anything new. Well, they are certainly learning more about what they already believe, but their focus is so narrow that they are not actually expanding their minds at all.
It's about the Left learning more and more about how to prove that they are right; and the same with the Right. See, learning something new always begins with acknowledging that you-as you are now-could be wrong!
And this is where we are messed up. Everyone today begins with the presupposition that they are right! This mentality automatically puts them on either the offensive or the defensive...instead of in a dialogue.
We have Conservatives who continue watching Fox News for their information and Bill O'Reilly and Limbaugh for commentary. Liberals turn to CNN for their news and get their comment from Al Franken and certain Hollywood pundits. And of course, the trenches get deeper and deeper and deeper. Egos are fed. Sources paid. Arguments rage on. Friendship ended. Statistics slanted (on both sides). Lies are told (well, half-lies). And so on.
And all in the name of being "less slanted" than the others. And who suffers? Well, everyone, I guess. Though they don't all realize it. But people are getting dumber, less informed, and narrower as a result. It's actually an irony that in an age when people know more, are well read, intellectual, and up-to-date, we are actually quite dumb and shallow. We are like a pool that is 300 feet wide, but 2 inches deep.
You have some liberal on the street who got all his statistics from Al Franken, his tenacity from the NY Times, and his rhetoric from George Clooney. Let's say he bumps into some conservative on the street. This conservative got all his stats from Rush Limbaugh, his tenacity from Bill O'Reilly, and his rhetoric from the Christian Coalition. What transpires is a farce to say the least, and a tragedy to be nearly accurate. As they argue, neither one is hearing the other, only waiting for their chance for rebuttal. The Liberal spouts a statistic about something social that is actually about 90% accurate but is somewhat out of context, to which the Conservative angrily shouts back a statistic in response that is only about 40% true, and then the Liberal with some condescension and arrogance in his voice says something defaming about George W. (that in reality has nothing to do with anything in this context), to which the Conservative says something about the Liberals having no values using statistics that he got off of O'Reilly Factor, to which the Liberal responds with some statistics (the exact opposite of his Conservative friend), that he got from Al Franken. Then the battle gets heated when the liberal mentions Global Warming. The liberal and the conservative go at it hard on this heated and most contemporary of issues. Of course (and this is quite amusing and confusing to me) both of these fellows have gen-U-ine statistics from bon-A-fide scientists to back up each of their respective claims. The liberal can give stats to show that the earth is heating up and it's the results of our damage. He's got real numbers here. From real scientists, in real fancy schools, using real fancy language and technology. And then the Conservative goes "oh yeah? I got numbers of my own." And indeed he does. He too has real scientists saying real things, using real numbers. Hmm, amazing! And they go back and forth and back and forth! Statistics, and then counter-statistics. Points, then counter-points. Logic, and then counter-logic. Testimonials, then counter-testimonials! And with each shot, the trench is dug deeper. The liberals get stronger in their position that they-and only they-know how to run things. And the conservatives the same. Just for fun, as you listen to this conversation, see how many times you hear the following buzz words:
Agenda
Culture Wars
George W. Bush
WMD's
Activist Judges
Traditional Values
Illegal War
Gay Agenda
Environmentalist Agenda
Liberal Agenda
Conservative Agenda
Religious Agenda
Secular Agenda
Hollywood's Liberal Agenda
Agenda
Agenda
Agenda
Fear
National Security
Civil Rights.

Man, that was fun. But I had to stop because I could just keep on listin! It's like an orgy of mis-information out there! Of buzz words. Of sound-bytes. Of Headlines. And yes, agendas.
Of course, the truth is out there for us to find. But it has been divided up in the camps. You can find 30% of the truth there on Fox News, and 30% on CNN, 15% on the Daily Show (which I love!), 5% here, 5% there, 10% way over there, and finally 5% somewhere else. Of course, those stats are not scientific, in case you were wondering. And I'm sure someone reading this is already finding their underwear in a knot ("Oh, I don't know, I think Fox News is more like 90% true!") to which I say: Thank you for illustrating my point to yourself.
The reason you can only find a certain degree of truth in each of these places is because none of them will report something that they disagree with.
See, most people have already settled on what they believe is political and social truth. Their opinions have been chiseled in stone in their brains (and in some cases their hearts). And they don't see their opinions as opinions, they see them as bonafide scientific fact. Therefore, anything that is contrary to those "facts" is untrue and biased. Even if the new evidence is 100% true. It's like someone taking a position that rocks are soft objects, and sticking to it. They really believe that rocks are soft. Now there could be some news report on some station that has scientists and everyday people on it, holding the rock, banging it on things, throwing it through windows and such. Then they come to the conclusion that rocks are indeed hard. The person could then turn off the station infuriated. They'd say "That god-awful hard rock agenda! I hate that station, they only report that slanted hard rock foolishness!" Immediately they turn on their favorite station, that reports the Soft-Rock theory of life. I know that was a ridiculous illustration, but I made my point. We refuse to grow when we don't allow ourselves to realize that we were wrong about something. I mean, by definition, you can't grow or learn until you realize that what you have previously thought was wrong.

But in todays society, we have so many choices of information outlets, that we can choose only to plug in to the ones we ALREADY AGREE WITH! So you have people who only watch a certain news station because they agree with it's views, and only listen to certain radio stations because they agree with it, only visit certain websites because they agree, only read newpapers and magazines that line up with their idealogies. And so you go back to what I said originally. People who are shallow, narrow, dumb (but learned...I hope you get the irony), and are full of themselves because all they do is fill their life with POV's that agree their own and put down others!
I'm convinced that political and social truth is a combination of the Right and Left (which I am convinced is the political and social way of Jesus). I try to fill my life with points of view that are across the spectrum (this might draw concerned looks from friends and co-workers at times), that are very different and similar to my own, that rub me the wrong way and the right way, that offend me and assuage me, that challenge and comfort me, that make me feel closed-minded and open-minded. I love it. I get called a Left-Wing Liberal by my conservative friends and family. I get called a Conservative by my more Liberal friends. See, that makes me feel good...like I'm on the right track. But most of all...whenever I hear a person speak on TV or on the Radio or in Life...I'm prepared to be wrong. I am always ready to switch positions on something if I am confronted with what seems to be new light. In my life so far, I have switched from conservative to liberal on many issues. And vise-versa. I usually end up on the middle road for most issues. And it's not that I am an ideological prostitute (like John Kerry seemed to be), and I'm certainly not an idealogical machinegun (like W.). It's just that I want to REALLY know what is right. And because there are so many layers of shite to peal away before you find what the truth of the matter is, sometimes truth starts looking different the less it's clouded by points of view and spin. Suddenly it looks less easy and headline-ish and it usually ends up looking more complex, beautiful and difficult...like Jesus or "Fargo".
Anyway, I feel like writing a book right now, but I know YOU don't want me to do it on this blog. Maybe one day I'll be able to get a book contract and I can be a spin-doctor. I can write a book and push my agenda of not knowing what in God's name is going on!