Hearing Without Understanding. Changing How We View the News.

If it can be said that anything good has come out of this abhorrent administration, I suppose it could be this: it has changed how I view the news and the events of the day. TV news is no longer my primary source of information. I am reading, studying more. My reading list has grown, and I have developed an authoritative, reliable, mostly non-partisan list of resources.

For example, I really did not know what the “nuclear option” was. I didn’t understand what the process in the Senate was for the confirmation of Supreme Court Justices, how many votes were really needed, what was cloture, and how would the “nuclear option” affect the Senate, long term. So, I started my research, and I blogged about it rather extensively. I figured that if I didn’t understand it as a lawyer, lots of other people didn’t either. Now I understand it.

I’ve also started buying reference books to help broaden my understanding of politics in America. The photo is of my collection so far.  Nationalism, Fascism, The Presidency, the Supreme Court, Religion in American Politics, The Enlightenment, etc. Not pictured is the novel, The Fourth Turning, the book which forms Steve Bannon’s political philosophy. It takes time and more than a little patience.

A main focus has been trying to understand what is behind a large sector of the public’s blind acceptance of republican policies. I’ll keep you posted on that one.

For now, I’m spending a few days in Washington, D.C. We can all rest easy for the next few days as most of Congress is home for Easter break, while thousands of citizens pour into the city.

Today is Arlington Cemetery. Tomorrow the National Mall.

In case you were wondering . . .