Some Commentary for Today

Excerpted from an op-ed in today's Globe:

In recent years, I have encountered criticism for being wishy-washy, with some bloggers parodying my columns as perpetual on-the-one-hand/on-the-other-hand vacillation. I can take the heat, but we've come to a sad pass when an attempt to see several sides of an immensely complicated issue is seen as unprincipled or weak-minded. In today's political climate, both commentators and audiences are all too likely to tune out not only arguments but facts that challenge their perceptions.
Perhaps this polarization is itself a legacy of Sept. 11. Perhaps, after the horror and destruction of that day, we are still looking for black-and-white moral clarity, only different people see black and white on different sides. For some, ``evildoers" include not only foreign enemies but liberals and leftists at home; for others, absolute evil resides in the White House itself. Ironically, today's more diverse -- and more fractured -- media contribute to the polarized discourse, allowing people to stay in comfortable ideological niches.
Some of the tensions and dichotomies we confront today may be tragic paradoxes with no good answers. Yet in many cases, solutions that transcend the either/or and address both sides of the issue are possible -- as long as one is willing to look at both sides.

Read the rest here.