Go fuck yourselves
My man George broke out his favorite bow tie.
I guess I'm not going to be able to go to sleep without saying one thing more. Apologies, this is in earnest.
Persuasion has very little to do with pizzazz. People jabber all day long on here and on cable news with all kinds of moxie, verve, and charisma, and by and large no one is persuaded by any of it.
At the same time, I believe persuasion is possible. People put aside their prejudices, listen and change their minds. This happens at the theater sometimes. But more often it happens at the courthouse, when consciences are aroused by the moral seriousness of what's at stake.
It's the pettiness applied to an incredibly high stakes process that ticks people off, I think, because it actively interferes with that process of persuasion. If major news networks won't take this grave matter seriously, no one else is going to be consulting their conscience.
