Entertaining Extremism

Have you ever noticed that most of the political pundits fall into either the left or right categories? Of course you have, and there are many of us who proudly count ourselves as one of them.

So I’ve often asked myself the question - why are extremists more appealing than the moderates? You don’t see many middle-of-the-road commentators bringing in the numbers anywhere close to what the fanatics pull in.

My immediate impression is perhaps it is because we crave entertainment so much that also we want it in our news, and the moderates just can’t cut it.

Perhaps it makes our insecure egos feel a little better when we can flung-poo sardonic witticisms at our opponent’s expense. Or, for some, our frustrations may sometimes get the better of us and we speak (or write) before we learn to think.

After all, isn’t it great fun to mock those who seem a little different than us? And isn’t it amusing when we can label that fascist moron (or that left-wingnut for that matter)?

Moderates are just too boring, too bland and too gutless to make a stand for what they believe. Am I right? Just ask shock jock Howard Stern if extremism sells, and the blogosphere it seems is no exception to the rule.

So here is the litmus test. The Bloke considers himself to be a moderate, and if I should happen to say something like:

Which version sounds better to you?

Ok, I get the point. It’s time that I chose sides.