A quote that should be forever enshrined

I think one of the main problems with punditry and politics is the idea of team spirit - that people feel they are on one team or another, and that they have to do what serves that team. And that is the death of honest thinking.

-David Brooks
I guess Ive always felt this and am glad to see it expressed in a clear way that I am incapable of. Since Ive started blogging Ive found that I mostly attack right-wing opinions and opinion-makers. But I also try to point out why these opinions dont fit my interpretation of conservatism. The fact remains, Im more interested in attacking the nonsensical right. Why is that?

Most conservative bloggers do seem like team players, going after liberals while holding off on their comrades. Theres nothing wrong with attacking the left, God knows its a target rich environment. If I was a more competent blogger I would do the same. To begin my psychoanalyis, I guess I resent the way right and left wing pundits tell you day after day how their side is great and the other side is just horrible. Probably evil too. Ive always admired those who have the courage to criticize their own side.

Maybe the cause of my one-sided criticism is that most liberal arguments are already so far from my worldview that I just shrug my shoulders and move on. For example, I already know that leaving Iraq is a horrible idea. Ive just never been compelled to write all sorts of angry posts calling the Democrats traitors. They simply have a different take. The fact that liberalism is the nemesis of so much of what I think actually makes me think about it less. It angers me less, and inspires my thoughts less. Let me use the example of Tom Delay. Ive let my thoughts on Mr. Delay be known several times. He has used his office to offer extreme partisan hatred. Delay's rhetoric about "tax and spend liberals" met the most obvious hipocrisy. I can talk about several appropriations bills that had 4000+ earmarks. I care about limited government and fiscal restraint. Delay never did. I was amazed that guys like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity gave him a free pass. I respected those conservatives that were the square pegs in the round holes. and called Delay on his big spending ways. He will always be vindictive, nasty, self-absorbed and represent everything wrong with the Republican Party. The point is, Im more likely to go after those their tear down conservatism from the inside. Liberalism will never represent me. As a man of the right, my concern is the intellectual health of my side.

This doesnt mean liberals never get under my skin. A lot of liberals I talk to drive me nuts. This is merely an explanation of my style and a salute to intellectual honesty.