Perri Nelson's Website 

Best Political Blog?

I'm told that my blog has been nominated by Chris Abraham for the Blogger's Choice Awards under the category "Best Political Blog". Chris contacted me and asked for permission to nominate my blog, and so naturally I gave my permission. Then Chris contacted me again and said that the nomination had been made.

There's an awful lot of competition up there for that category. A quick look shows 84 pages of blogs, and a few of them are pretty heavy hitters. Go vote for one of them. I can't find mine in the list, and it doesn't come up under searches so I'm not really sure it's there.

That doesn't particularly disappoint me though. My own political blogging has been a bit light lately. This isn't because I have lost interest in politics though. More it's that I've lost faith (as if I ever had any) in a lot of politicians, and that I've gotten tired of "arguing" with liberals.

I've posted about the futility of arguing with liberals a few times. Hot-button issues don't really lend themselves to good discussions either.

A lot of blogs seem to be re-hashing the same arguments and following a sort of pack mentality with regard to topics. I just can't see continuing in that same line.

There's always plenty to be outraged about. The news gives us plenty of fodder, especially in what they omit. The never–ending election cycle gives us plenty of fodder as well. But to tell you the truth, I'm not interested in the personal lives and failings of politicians.

Very few of them are anything more than a carefully polished image anyway. The surface is pretty thin though. Scratch through it and you find very little that's representative of me.

For some time now I've been thinking about our government. The more I do the less satisfied I am with it. I think that a lot of Americans probably are dissatisfied with our government, but for completely different reasons. Unfortunately I can't give you any hard data to back that up.

If I had the resources to conduct my own nationwide polling I think I'd focus on that. I don't think that the polls that are conducted really answer my questions.

I want to know whether people are satisfied with our current form of government.

I want to know whether people understand our current form of government.

I want to know whether people really understand the form of government that our founding fathers created.

I want to know whether people believe that the government we have is the one that the founding fathers created, or whether they think, as I do, that it's become almost exactly the opposite of what they intended.

I want to know whether people really want a socialist government that masquerades as a democracy, or whether they want a representative republic.

I want to know whether people want freedom and liberty, or whether they just want license?

Of course, from the very nature of the things I want to know you can tell what I think. I don't care about the celebrity of the moment's latest antics. I don't really think that there's a significant difference between most of the political candidates out there.

I have strong opinions about immigration, legal and illegal. I have strong opinions about taxes, federal spending, the global war on terrorism, the war on drugs, the war on poverty, social programs and the like. A lot of people do, and I don't see much progress in changing opinions regarding these topics, just more and more polarization.

I think that these problems are all symptoms of a deeper illness in our society. I don't really think it's a generational thing either. Sure, a lot of modern liberalism looks like it came out of the 1960s, but I think it's a lot older than that.

I think the root causes of a lot of the controversy we have today come down to the reason we have governments in the first place. People are flawed, and for society to flourish there must be some controls.

And, of course, when there are controls, people will chafe under them. Because I think that most people prefer license to liberty and security to freedom.

So here's my prediction. The blog that wins "Best Political Blog" won't focus on the underlying root causes of the satisfaction or dissatisfaction people have with our government. The "Best Political Blog" will be one that focuses on the surface issues. It will be a popular blog, like Michelle Malkin's blog or Daily KOS. It will be a polarizing blog, and it will talk about hot-button issues.

The blog that wins "Best Political Blog" in the blogger's choice awards won't be mine. I think I'm OK with that.

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