Politics tend to produce stupid opinions

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for March 18, 2026)

Everyone has opinions, usually on almost everything. Not all opinions are equally valid, though, and there are good reasons why this is true.

It doesn't bother me when people have opinions which differ from mine, as long as those opinions are based in reality and on facts. What bothers me is when people have different opinions based on superstition, lies, hallucinations, or some combination of all those.

People can look at the same facts and think some of those facts carry more weight than others, and this will cause them to form different opinions. I may disagree because I think other facts are the more important ones. Even when this is the case, I can at least understand why they've reached a different opinion. Opinions based on facts are valid, even when they differ.

People can also use different sets of facts, focusing on some and ignoring others. This doesn't mean they are automatically wrong, but some facts are less relevant than others. You can't debate the relative pros and cons of electric vehicles and petroleum-powered vehicles by pointing out how many of each are blue. Even if it's a fact, it's not relevant to the issue being discussed.

Once a debate becomes emotionally charged, this is the kind of fact people often try to use to prove their point and validate their opinions. I see it all the time when the rights of gun owners are being treated like second-class rights or privileges.

Often, people can't even agree on what the facts are. It seems like this would be easy to settle, but it isn't.

The worst opinions arise when people form their opinions based on things which simply aren't true and can be shown to be untrue. These don't even look like real opinions to me, but look like a display of confusion instead. The people with this sort of opinion are usually the ones most committed to their stance because facts won't sway them.

This is common in what passes for political opinions, especially on the internet. These are the people who are most likely to realize the argument isn't going their way, so they post an insult and block you before you can respond. They are more concerned with feeling right than being correct; with sticking to their opinion rather than with finding out what's true. This is why I am of the opinion that politics makes people stupid.

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PS-
Coincidentally, this was posted the day after I submitted the above column:

link

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"I can't refute what you say, so I'll complain about the words you use!"

The other day, someone objected to my phrasing when I said cops (one in particular) are "dishonest yellow-bellied tail-tuckers". 

He couldn't refute the facts; he just didn't like the creative way I called them "lying cowards" (and he kept harping on the particular words I used) in a response to the post about the cop who shot a teenager in the back and killed him, then lied that the victim was "holding a gun" (it was a phone).

So, he compared me to Yosemite Sam.

In a follow-up comment, he tried taking a potshot at my "yellow flag" and said I was the real coward because I never "served my country" [sic].

Sometimes, I am heartened by the low quality of those who hate the things I say, but who, instead of trying to use reason, resort to assumptions and ad hominem. It's kind of awesome, actually.

People who will fight on behalf of a government are the same sort of people who can be brainwashed into flying airliners into buildings. Yeah, it's bravery, but a twisted, worthless sort of harmful bravery.

There are things that some people get very excited about that I find completely reprehensible. That gulf will never be bridged. But you can make a counterargument, or you can flail around looking silly. He chose the looking-silly path.

And, if a cop thinks the reasonable response to seeing an armed individual (or someone he is scared might be armed) is to murder him, the cop has no business being out in public. Exercising your natural human rights isn't a capital offense. Unless you encounter a cop who is a lying coward, apparently.

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