Could We Do with Resurrection of the Art of Persuasion?

Even if you find yourself disagreeing with some of the things Matt Miller says in this piece, please read the whole thing. He asserts that the art of persuasion is being drowned out by the barking flamboyance of mindless sloganeering. He also says that openness to persuasive argument needs to be resurrected.

There is so much wisdom and common sense in what Miller writes that it's almost shocking.

So often today, the shrill purveyors of post-modern politics and of so-called punditry appeal to our preconceived notions rather than our reason. The result is gridlock, widespread disenchantment with politics and politicians, and a general hopelessness about our country's ability to accomplish much of anything. Every time I hear politicians proclaiming themselves to be optimistic, I shake my head in disbelief because their assertions are almost always embedded in mounds of savage attack rhetoric filled with heat and little light. The same is true of their philosophical allies in the mainstream media and in the blogging world.

There is a win-at-any-cost approach to politics by most representatives from both major parties. Their basic modus operandi is akin to Sherman's method in Georgia during the Civil War. Like Sherman, they're good at burning down and destroying, but terrible at building.

That's why the ideologues on both ends of the spectrum could only blast the recent judicial filibuster compromise. Wisdom is seldom popular with people who've got ideological burrs in their saddles. These folks would rather lose in a blaze of futility than actually help the country move forward!

But I'm guessing that the American people, irrespective of their party affiliation or political philosophy would find it refreshing if these infantile pols and the pundits who act as enablers for their bad behavior could grow up enough to undertake more compromises in the future. Government might actually function under such circumstances.

It'd be nice for the grown-ups like John McCain, Joe Lieberman, Mike DeWine, Lindsay Graham, and others to take charge again!

However you feel about what I've written or what Miller says in his columm, I hope that you'll read his piece.