{"id":519,"date":"2010-03-19T10:50:23","date_gmt":"2010-03-19T15:50:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/auchtoon.2gtech.com\/blog\/?p=519"},"modified":"2010-03-19T10:50:23","modified_gmt":"2010-03-19T15:50:23","slug":"on-reason-and-jerkiness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/auchtoon.com\/?p=519","title":{"rendered":"On Reason and Jerkiness…"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Originally published in the Grand Rapids Business Journal<\/em>, March 8, 2010<\/p>\n

I was listening to a news story on the radio — it was some sort of protest or march about something that inflames folks these days. So I\u2019m guessing it was either health care or American Idol. At one point the reporter led in with a \u201cand then things started to get a little edgy\u201d and then two men arguing. One screamed, \u201cDo you have Medicare?! Do you have Medicare?!\u201d And another screamed, \u201cEverything the government does is bankrupt! Everything!\u201d Now, because writing is linear, it appears that the two men may have taken turns and perhaps even listened to each other, carefully considering the other\u2019s opinion before offering a well-constructed counterpoint. Right. It was actually one big tangled mess of crashing sound waves.<\/p>\n

I was feeling very judgmental and empathizing with the reporter who was trying to add some context to the story. But then this week\u2019s comic popped into my head with the three players:<\/p>\n