The standard crap from the political right:
1.) All regulation is bad
2.) Any data which might force us to change our current method of doing business or behavior is a liberal conspiracy
3.) There is a giant press conspiracy to paint conservatives in a negative light which warrants my near paranoid methodology of interpreting press stories.
4.) "Socialism"
5.) Arm everybody with as many guns as possible -- and make sure the guns are as large as possible
The standard crap from the political left:
1.) Money is evil and those whose incomes are above $75,000/$100,000 per year are clearly in league with Satan.
2.) Wall Street causes all bad things
3.) Positive economic numbers are rigged; negative economic numbers are sacrosanct. As a corollary, all bullish economists are tools while bearish economists are completely trustworthy. Finally, take one bad economic number in a series of good numbers and claim it is a sign that the end of the world is upon us.
4.) All corporations are evil
5.) All market based solutions are evil, rigged and to be avoided at all costs
While I may have missed some of the popular themes, the point is clear: U.S. political dialog is not about data or solving problems. Instead, it's about repeating talking points and cramming events into preconceived perceptions. NDD has pointed out this is "confirmation bias," meaning we only seek out opinions that confirm our preconceptions, regardless of the lack of data "supporting" our opinion.
People on the right can remain in a sealed echo chamber of talk radio, Fox news and right wing blogs. People on the left can remain on the political left's blogs. Both of these methods of information delivery have been taken over by extremists who could care less about data and facts, instead focusing on pushing the latest "meme."
In short, the political blogs have become pure garbage. Assume that any economic analysis from any of them is -- at best -- deeply suspicious, and, at worst, pure crap.
