Out of It

I spend a fair amount of time reading. About half of it is things that I come across on the web; the other half, things that I've wanted to read -- books that I bought or got from the libe, magazines, the Sunday paper. Frequently, when I read, I have a moment where I think why am I reading this? That's the point where something isn't going well in the material. One of the characters is saying something, and I think he wouldn't say that! Or an article is about something that's going on in the world, and I think why does anyone care about that?

As for the web, there are tons of sites that aren't worth the bandwidth to show their logo. I'm not opposed to sophomoric humor, but there's way, way too much of it. Most web sites are at least worth a glance. I learn something, I pick up a piece of trivia. I don't think I ever -- hardly ever -- find anything substantive on the web (not that it isn't there, just that I don't tend to find it). And that's good, because I don't want to be thinking about battery life when I'm trying to fire up what passes for my intellect. A bright light and a comfortable chair, that's all I ask. For me, the web is light reading. Anything else, give me printed copy.

Some sites, though..... I think 'People like this stuff? Value it?' And I think Yeah, Bill, you're just out of it. Such, I am sure, is the case with an article I - partially - read just a few minutes ago, where the author said that the shouting out by that miserable Congressman at Obama's speech was nothing, a mere bagatelle, while the head-shaking and murmured disagreement by Justice Alito at the SOTU the other day was a travesty that threatens to bring down the halls of jurisprudence. I can't say more about the article because that was the point where I stopped reading. I was so dismayed by the conclusions voiced, I couldn't continue. His statements were so directly contrary to what I thought, to what I could imagine an intelligent person thinking -- even someone whose political philosophy was diametrically opposed to my own -- that I'd have sooner watched a chimp hurl feces. Because though I don't care for Alito, he did nothing wrong, in my book, except that it was caught by what, in another context, is called the Gotcha! Gang. He didn't shout. He didn't flail his arms. He grimaced, and murmured something. That's horrible? Not at all. Not even a bit. So I left that site and went elsewhere, quickly.

But I was left with one lingering thought:

People believe this guy? Seek out his opinion? Value it?

I really am out of it.