"I'm not afraid of other viewpoints, and I'm not afraid to think."...
This brings something to mind. Until recently, there were few alternative sources of information out there; there were the big three, and PBS, eventually CNN came on the scene. But if you smelled that a part of the story was being spun or held back, digging out the other details was pretty difficult; you learned to have a long memory, remembering the facts that were mentioned last month before they disappeared down the memory hole, you might check several different newspapers looking for that detail that one mentioned that the other didn't.
I used to haunt the out-of-town newspaper stands, I used to read far-left and far-right sources, not for their analysis which was usually lame, but for the details that might be left out of the mainstream account. In other words, at one time, to de-spin the news, you had to have the dedication of a sovietologist and you had to read carefully between the lines. Most of us in the conservative camp have done this our whole lives, reflexively, it comes naturally.
When 89% of journalists are your political opponents, and probably a similar percentage of professors, and TV producers, how does anyone find his way to conservative principles? Conservatives are the ones who, immersed in lib-speak and lib-thought have seen past it.
This is perhaps apropos of nothing, just something that occurred to me. Internet in general, and FR in particular, have been a blessing, making it possible to compare half a dozen versions of a story within minutes, with only a few clicks of the mouse, the digging I used to do, that used to be so difficult, now anyone and everyone does. A story comes out, and in minutes you've got the London, and the Moscow, and the Singapore version of the same story for comparison. Its great.
Conservatives (not Republicans) have learned the art of "critical thinking".
I get a kick out of liberals trying to explain why we vote how we do. They just don't get it.
"In other words, at one time, to de-spin the news, you had to have the dedication of a sovietologist and you had to read carefully between the lines. Most of us in the conservative camp have done this our whole lives, reflexively, it comes naturally. "
Spot on recollection. Until about 1996, I felt so all alone. You'd rarely meet another conservative thinker, so you had to do it all yourself in the wilderness. It really was out of 1984, mind control.