Saturday, September 20, 2008

No Politics Here!

Why there will be no political endorsements or political talk on this blog, outside of a general "vote"!

It is possible to have thoughtful and respectful political posts. And it is also possible to retain some control over comments so that they remain equally respectful. I have participated in such conversations on other people's blogs.

But, here's the thing. This is where I blog about stories found in books, movies, TV, even cartoons. I don't blog about other things; and believe it or not, I keep my personal information to a minimum. To a certain extent, I see this as an online party where we can meet and talk about story. And to have a group of people get together, sharing that common love, and then have something else introduced -- and something else that can be really divisive -- well.

That's not what I want out of my blog. It can be difficult enough in real life to bring differences of opinion over politics into relationships and to retain those relationships; how much harder in an online world.

Add to it that I do not believe we can make political assumptions about people based on the books they read and write, or the jobs they hold.

Finally, I intensely dislike political endorsements. Women were imprisoned in seeking the right to vote for women. As a woman, I feel very strongly that it is my responsibility to vote; to vote the way I want to vote; and to cast that vote after careful review, research, reading. No one candidate nor party will ever match me exactly, so it is up to me to balance factors. Me, not someone else. I will not be told who to vote for by anyone -- parent, boyfriend, sibling, friend, employer, colleagues, celebrity, newspaper, blogger, author. I vote for me.

3 comments:

Tricia said...

Thank you for this wonderful post. Some of the blogs in my reader don't look like the same old blogs anymore. I read book blogs and others because in some ways, I want to get away from the constant barrage in the media. I'm happy to escape here and lose myself in a world of books.

Jen Robinson said...

Good for you, Liz. I don't ever wish to talk politics on my blog, either. I don't think that's why people are reading it (other people can choose to talk about it on their blogs, of course, but that's not what my blog is for). And I'm with you on voting based on your own, informed opinions, too. Thanks for a good post!

Kelly said...

Hey Liz:

I agree with you too. I TRY to keep politics off my blog and have only made a brief mention here and there.

Obviously everyone in the U.S. is worked up this political season, but we do have to remember why and about what we're blogging.

The only political post I've liked in the book blogs to date is Mother Reader's post on language. That is at related to the topic at hand.

So, yes: I agree, book blogs should be about books.