Moderate Modulation

Remember high school band? We had to learn a bunch of music terms and their definitions. Let's see if I can make Mr. Anderson proud:

Acoustics: the science of sound
Staccato: light and separated
Marcato: heavy and separated
embouchure: position of the mouth on the mouthpiece
syncopation: rhythm with the accent on the weak beat
modulation: to change key

Speaking of modulation, this blog is changing keys. I'm done with the library 2.0 bit and am now able to use this blog to speak my mind no matter what the 2.overlords think about it. In other words, if you have this blog in your RSS feed because of a 2.0 assignment, now might be a good time to unsubscribe. I call this fair warning.

Okay, if you have the stomach, read on.

Because of 2.0, I had subscribed to a search feed. The search in question: (groupthink or "group think"). One of the articles which came up was quite enlightening. It's Andrew McIntyre's review of the book What's Left? by Nick Cohen. McIntyre is from a think tank called the Institute of Public Affairs, which claims to be independent. By their thinking, I'm a moderate. I don't think any conservative would claim me as one of their own. So we can rule that out. However, this book review states the following characteristics about liberals:

• uncompromising hatred of America
• self-loathing
• attracted to Lenin, Stalin, Pol Pot, Mao Tse-tung
• sympathize with Kim Jung Il, Saddam Hussein
• chronically dishonest

Chronically dishonest? That's an ironic criticism. And there's nothing like being lectured on American patriotism by an Australian political think tank. But that's beside the point. I love America. I'm not self-loathing. I'm not attracted to that one group and I don't sympathize with the other. Honest. Therefore, I am not liberal (by McIntyre's criteria). If I am not liberal and I am not conservative, what does that make me? Moderate, by my estimation. This is good because everyone these days seems to claim to be moderate, but no one has had the evidence to back it up. Until now. So, allow me to proclaim myself to be the very first bona fide moderate. [applause]

I still haven't figured out how group-think found its way into the article's sub-title. McIntyre never explains it, defines it, or mentions it. I'm glad it's there, though. For, because of it, I was able to find myself without having to backpack across Europe, as so many do. That's always nice.

So, if you ever need a moderate's opinion and/or viewpoint just ask. I'll be glad to share with you ... in limited portions.

And have a good day.


Works cited:

McIntyre, A. WHAT'S Left? How Liberals Lost Their Way by Nick Cohen [book review]. Institute of Public Affairs Review. 2007 Jul; 59(2):53.