Changes.

The now-deleted London post wasn't deleted because of anything anyone said. It's gone because I realized later how excessive it was; it's gone because I didn't agree with half the things I'd written when I re-read it; but it's mostly gone because I'm done blogging about politics for now. The end. No more. I'm even changed the absurdly pretentious name of this page, to the working title above until I think of something more catchy. I considered, for a moment, pulling the plug on it entirely and starting over, but I've dropped too much time into the template and I'm kind of lazy.

I've come to realize over time that I've become guilty--very guilty--of something more sensible people make fun of: blogging about politics to sound smart and moral, to have my voice be heard and counted, even if half the time I don't have the slightest idea what I'm talking about. And blogging ignorantly about something in hopes of getting attention and approval is really (if we're to be honest) just a little bit pathetic. I look back at many these political rants and realize a first-year law student could blow any of them out of the water, even if he secretly agreed, because I don't have the knowledge to back up my assertions. And no, links are not knowledge, and they aren't evidence. Links are useful, of course, but can't really substitute for informed argument. They're a lazy person's way defer the burden of exposition onto someone who knows what they're talking about.

So there you have it. I woke up one morning to realize that I'm essentially a fraud and a sham as a political blogger, and that reading the NY Times and Wall Street Journal and a few opinion mags don't give me the qualifications to bark about public policy any more than the fat jerk blathering about the game at the office Monday morning is qualified to be an NFL coach. I'm qualified to vote, by both law and my own opinion, and so that booth is where my views are, primarily, getting left from now on. You may see them in your comments forums, but not here.

So I'll write film reviews and book reviews, philosphical reflections, spiritual musings, academia stuff, and notes on baseball, both because I'm on surer ground and because the consequences of being wrong (or even right) make a fella seem like less of a pompous, self-important ass. This epiphany isn't a disappointing one. Rather, I find it quite liberating. Look everyone! Guess what, I know more about politics than a lot of people, but a lot less than I pretend! Look at the prating jackass, exposing his ignorance for whoever chooses to see it! There, I feel much better.

So I'm gonna go read a Terry Pratchett novel, and enjoy it, and maybe write something about it when I'm done. I am already done with the change-the-world stuff in this space. It's probably more efficient for me to start by cleaning my apartment than to rail against distant events and figures. Shouting at the top of the world from the bottom is beginning to seem to me a presumptuous waste of time. There's a universe of life and mystery right around me that demands my attention more than the actions of people I'll never meet doing things that I can't influence. This blog isn't going away, but it is moving closer to home.