I don't support Obama or Hillary at all, but I still like and respect Kerry and RFK Jr.

I still like and respect Barney Frank. I still like and respect Ted Kennedy. I of course disagree vehemently with their endorsements in this race, but I believe it's important to keep some perspective. Keeping in mind it's best to take free advice for what it's worth, here's mine:

When a public figure who has long acted in ways you value and respect, it's almost always best to resist the temptation to allow a recent disagreeable act to reflexively undo all those folds of favor. If your system of appraising politicians only focuses on whether their latest action is agreeable and makes no consideration for the whole of their history, it is inevitable that your list of heroes and villains will be wildly elastic, useless and insensible.

Of course, there are some actions that require a considerable re-evaluation of a public figure (standing behind Bush at the Rose Garden in '02, for example), but it's best to ensure that a healthy gray area exists between damnable villainy and superlative heroism in your mind. For example, if I failed to do this Kucinich would be a villain one day for his flag amendment vote, a hero the next for his strong work regarding the war, and a villain again for floating the abominable Ron Paul as a VP possibility. Keeping things in perspective allows me to retain a fairly constant estimation of Kucinich, wherein his actions are both carefully considered in isolation -and- measured against the whole of his history. So while he may go down and up a few notches here and there, he remains liked and respected by me.

Seem fair?

So I question whether I have the right to demand such perfection out of others!

Marvelously evenhanded and cool-headed post.

I'd like to think the categorical condemnations are more about posturing than honesty, but of course I don't know that for sure.

when I think you sound rational. What the heck is going on here?

I just like to childishly kick up dust now and again when I disagree.

:hi:

a senile old bastard, right?

:P