Stop and think: An undervalued approach in a world that short-circuits thoughtful political judgment
When President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter, who was convicted of three felony charges, the pardon was startling because Biden repeatedly pledged before the election that he would respect the federal jury's conviction. That became a story. Several news outlets adopted the Fox News headline that a prominent liberal commentator was rendered 'speechless,' 'gobsmacked' by the pardon. The next day, conservative commentator Megyn Kelly featured the clip on her Sirius XM program as a 'very fun example' of liberal hypocrisy. The negative reaction to Jong-Fast's caution reveals a troubling trend in American democracy. People are captivated by the 'hot take,' the 'call out,' the 'clap back,' the immediate verdict. That makes for shallow analysis that largely repeats familiar ideas. As I argue in my new book 'Civic Solitude: Why Democracy Needs Distance,' the trouble is that our social environments are primed to short-circuit our thinking. They engage our reflexes while suppressing our...
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