Via Robert over at Canned Dragons this piece from Jeremy Abel titled Why I will not be compelled to speak publicly about [insert atrocity here]
Serendipity at its best as I think this piece dovetails nicely with the topic of self-censoring on one’s own blog, particularly points 2 and 3:
2: I may not have enough information. I am neither a pragmatist nor a centrist. I am, and have been for a number of years now, a leftist and an idealist. At the same time, I have lived long enough to know that complex situations cannot be simplified by force of will. I do not say this as a mealy-mouthed centrist who wants to support the status quo through acquiescence. I say this as someone who has run enthusiastically into political fights and later found out the situation was not as clear as it seemed to me at the time. Which leads me to…
3: I do not want to add to the current asinine, brain-dead polarization. I have been politically aware since the Clinton administration and the impulse to immediately and unwaveringly and irreversibly choose sides has never been this strong. A new issue arises and within 30 minutes the teams have been chosen on Twitter and we’re all supposed to go along with this idiocy. No thanks. I will exercise my judgement as best I can—and that includes judging whether I need to have a position on an issue and whether I need to speak about it publicly.
This is a good read and about as pragmatic as it can get.