Quickies: The Impact Of Character

There is no substitute for character, and there is no rule about where you’ll find it. -- Louis Nizer

Today will be put mainly to fiction (and killing Solarii), so allow me to heartily recommend this excellent article at FrontPage Magazine. Have a small taste:

How far left was I? So far left my beloved uncle was a card-carrying member of the Communist Party in a Communist country. When I returned to his Slovak village to buy him a mass card, the priest refused to sell me one. So far left that a self-identified terrorist proposed marriage to me. So far left I was a two-time Peace Corps volunteer and I have a degree from UC Berkeley. So far left that my Teamster mother used to tell anyone who would listen that she voted for Gus Hall, Communist Party chairman, for president. I wore a button saying “Eat the Rich.” To me it wasn’t a metaphor.

I voted Republican in the last presidential election.

Please read the whole thing. Then reflect for a moment on your own circles, especially – if you’re unfortunate enough to have one – your circle of politically like-minded associates. Do you regard them as individuals of strong character? If so, did that have any influence on your own choice of political positions? If not, what makes their politics attractive enough to make them worth your time and energy?

Just a morsel of food for thought. I’ll try to put something else up later today.