From Newsgroup: alt.politics.usa

Americans just want normality.

Dolly Parton curated herself to code country, Christian, and optimism.
She did not talk about politics. That allowed everyone to see in Dolly
what they wanted to seeuto read their own priors into her without ever
having them contradicted. This made Dolly Parton perhaps the last
unifying figure in America.

ThatAs not going to happen anymore. Every fact pattern is now a
controversy; every controversy now has us at each othersA throats.

The internet thinks the Lindsay Clancy case, for example, is an emblem
of mental health, the patriarchy, selfish women, or the fall of Western civilization. But the truth is, a criminal case is not a symbol. ItAs a
very specific set of facts.

Instead of jumping to conclusions based on our priors, we all should be looking at those facts.

Reality is complicated. ThatAs true for social media; itAs true for AI;
itAs true for Lindsay Clancy and itAs true for electoral politics. But
itAs usually easier to pretend away the complexity of life in favor of
easy political narrative.

We shouldnAt.

We donAt have to agree on everythinguwe probably never will. But if we
like to return to normality as Americans, as opposed to just beating
each other with pool noodles, the facts ought to matter more than they
seem to at the moment.

Shabbat Shalom, gang.

Ben

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