In an article published in Tuesday’s edition of The New Republic (October 9), Amy Sullivan advised liberal debate-watchers to “chill out.”
These are her concluding comments:
“I’m suggesting we all take a deep breath. In the course of writing an article, I set down a lot of ideas and then delete some of them. Sometimes I pitch a blog post and then while trying to write it discover that my initial argument just doesn’t hold up.
“There is value in examining an idea or opinion to see if it holds up beyond the moment in which you become aware of it. The problem with putting all of your thoughts out on Twitter – or even in a panicky blog post reacting to the most recent poll – is that you understandably become more wedded to your ideas once you have broadcast them. Multiply that by hundreds or thousands of like-minded peers in your Twitter feed and you end up with the nervous breakdown by MSNBC stars who followed last week’s debate.
“So on Thursday, before you rush to be the first to declare a major momentum shift – a distinction no one will remember five minutes later – try counting to ten first.”
