Feeeeeelings ..... Nothing More than Feeeeeeeeeeelings ........

[Stinky The Clown]

Okay, I did it. Now you have that annoying song stuck in your head, just bouncing off your skull walls and pissing you off. Sorry.

But ya see, here's the thing. Folks like us, and the folks like us at the oppostite end of the spectrum, make decisions based not on feelings, but on facts. The people in the huge squishy middle don't. Their decisions are made on .... well .... feelings.

Or are they? Or do we?

Let's assume we're all looking at the very same set of facts. I don't care if it is the current Mess-in-Potamia, the mess in Lebanon, the mess in Ohio, or the mess in the House around the RichFuck'sEstateSalvageBill. The fact is, there is a set set of facts around each one of these issues.

And yet, even in the face of a set set of facts, opinions vary widely.

Based on what?

Feelings, that's what.

As we address *any* issue, the simple presentation of facts - even irrefutable facts and overwhelming evidence - isn't enough. To sell an idea you need to appeal to feelings.

For a current example of this, I cite an OP started by my friend, WelshTerrier2, located here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2747696

The essential point to the thread (even though it was posted as a poll about how many miles a year you drive) was the serious environmental jeapordy we currently face and what we think ought to be done to face it head on. Some of us answered the thread directly and then added some thoughts about possible solutions. others of us, however, just reacted to what was posited as a strategy, applied to their own personl situation, rejecfted it, and failed to address the underlying issue at all. Don't take that observation as criticism. Take it instead as but one more object lesson.

The Republicans are masters at appealing to feelings. The 'gut'. Everything they do is intended to approach matters that way to build support for their views. And as bad as they're doing in the polls, it is still working. It polarizes. It pisses us off. But keep in mind. The depth of our feeling is inversely proportional to the support they get from the right side of that squishy middle.

We need to learn how to do that. We really do ..........

Feeeeeelings ...... nothing more than feeeeelings .............