MoveOn Ad Not Worthy of Attention

Maybe it’s because I’m removed from the blogosphere these days, but I’m just completely without emotion on MoveOn.org’s “General Betray Us” ad. I don’t care about it and I don’t care about the move to condemn it.

My reaction is, so what? A group well known for stirring up ant piles uses a ridiculously hyperbolic play on words to make a point and that’s somehow worthy of Senate action? Or a Presidential comment? It’s hardly worth a mention.

This, I think, is all about the blogofication of political dialogue (or maybe political monologue since people really aren’t talking WITH each other). Political blogs need daily fodder for comment and, in many cases, outrage. When no substantial news exists, non-issues become inflated and everyone is happy because they have something about which to get indignant.

I know the pattern well. When I’m in full-on blogger mode, I can write blowhard commentary with the best of them. But when I’m removed from this world, stories like the MoveOn ad seem incredibly pointless. The President looks silly commenting on it. Congress looks ridiculous passing a resolution on it. The news media looks childish reporting on it. And I probably look hypocritical for getting sucked into the mess.

But I’m just left wondering – where in the world will we summon up the outrage and courage of conviction necessary to address the real issues when we burn so much emotional fuel on such nonsense? Seems to me we waste a lot of energy on hollow topics.