Inconsistency: The Hobgoblin of the Non-Principled

Our country is in deep trouble. The Republicans are the religious party, which is why they cannot combat this danger that is Islam. The Democrats are pushing for socialized medicine, which I, in my middle-aged body dread.

But the arguments are not coming from principle. One side cannot claim superiority over the other. Instead, all attacks are aimed at the other side's inconsistency. Hillary was in favor of the war and now she's against it. Guiliani supported abortion rights, and now he's against it.

Internal consistency (especially over years) is a non-issue. People mispeak, change their minds. Who cares?

But at a time when we are at war, when leaders of countries who hate us are making deals and meeting frequently, when our rights are being stripped away, five at a time, all they can say is "Why don't you say what you said last week?"

Principles ensure internal consistency. The principles remain the same; the concretes may change. But more importantly, they are the necessary precondition of having opinions that can be supported or challenged.

If you are for property rights, why don't you support the right of a woman to live her life? If you are for helping the poor, give them your money, not mine.

The religious right claims that God is the source of rights, and therefore cannot govern without controlling us in a way that they believe God sees fit. Their attachment to a silly superstition not only belies their lack of intellectuality, it shows that they can take some things as faith, which is the exact opposite of reason.

Then we have the liberal left, who believe you only have rights with the permission of "society", and therefore cannot govern without controlling us in a way that they believe Society sees fit. They have given up any pretense at reason. They believe you can't truly know anything.

We're stuck, not between a rock and hard place, but between the mystics and the grunts.