The Justice Vacuum

So Drudge is teasing a story about a “powerful Senator” involved in a sex scandal. Before there is anything concrete Twitter explodes with speculation, bawdy jokes, and pot shots at favorite political enemies. I’m right there in the thick of it too. It’s amazing how easy it is to get caught up in the schadenfreude.

I can’t speak for anyone else but, for me, I know why it’s so easy to get sucked in. A conservative following politics ends up having to eat a lot of disappointment. Every news cycle yields yet another massive helping of injustice and often the people who are supposed to be the leaders on our side don’t even bother to put up a fight. The last four years have taken that phenomenon to a whole new level. Mind numbing levels of debt, policies enacted to benefit cronies, individual liberty usurped at every turn, a constant torrent of lies from DC, a news media completely in the tank for one side, and accusations of extremism hurled at anyone who raises a hand to say stop. There is no justice in politics. And nature abhors a vacuum.

The recourse we have is actually very limited. Sure we can organize, work on campaigns, knock on doors, make calls, blog, vote, but none of that in the end is any guarantee that anything is really going to change. If you have a sunnier outlook on it, I’d challenge you to come try it in a state like Maryland for a while and see if you’re able to keep it. I’m the first one to get pissed off when people talk about quitting, but mostly because I’m also fighting the temptation to quit every day. If you quit it makes it harder for me not to. We need to do more–a lot more–but every external force is telling us to give up because, seriously, what does one more kick in the teeth really gain for us?

There’s no justice in politics and nature abhors a vacuum.

So into that set of conditions someone drops a hint that a political enemy let their guard down, did something stupid that might hurt them politically, or even personally. All the subconscious reasons for it may not be evident to you, but you just want to see that son of a bitch get taken down.

It’s not healthy. It won’t fix anything in the long term. It won’t fill the void.

But a vacuum is unforgiving.