One of my blogging friends has started a "guest blogger" feature, a kind of Merv Griffin approach to blogging in which guests get to come on and say what they feel needs to be said. It's kind of a neat idea - when I invoke Merv's name I'm not being dismissive - and I've been thinking about what needs to be said.
But honestly, and ironically, I think we all need to say less! I'm a believer in silence and careful expression, and I think as a society one of our unfortunate modern tendencies is to run on without regard for how valuable or constructive we're being. In fact, much of our human blathering - witness Don Imus - is destructive.
What I'm really thinking of here is talk radio. I've never understood the popularity of talk radio. Even talk radio that conforms to my political opinions just gives me a headache. Or those overproduced TV shows where pundits wind up arguing with each other - this kind of exhange fosters incivility, not to mention ADD.
I'm going to sound like a shill for my industry, but I prefer clear, concise delivery of news and, occasionally, opinion on one topic at a time - like you'd get in a newspaper article. (Or on a well-written blog.)
I wish human beings had better filters. I sometimes say things I shouldn't, of course, and I include myself in that wish. I think, in general, what needs to be said is "listen!"
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