Our President’s “Evolution” on Same-Sex Marriage, Porcher Restlessness in the Midst of Prosperity, etc.

Our president has reasonably caculated he can’t afford to look less “evolved” than what now appears to be a majority of Americans on the so-called “last civil rights issue.” Nobody can afford to look less evolved than VP Biden. But most troubling was Romney’s lame defense of his less evolved position as a “preference.” If opinions on what marriage is are just preferences, than the denial of the equality of the same-sex preference would appear to be a violation of individual rights. Another great libertarian victory, it would seem.

Steve (a consistently excellent threader) attempts to go deep on what ails the Porchers, reminding us, of course, that many of the Porcher criticisms of our world of preferences are well made:

I think that mixed up in the valid and often quite insightful critiques of society that this group provides, particularly when you look at the attitudes toward Wal-Mart, the south as it actually is and the American individualism with all its built-in issues, is a not insignificant dose of self-loathing. The restless looking for “something else”, complete with all of its critiques of things as they are, is not merely an intellectual exercise or even a spiritual longing (although elements of those exist in the that restlessness). I think that restlessness has an element of contempt towards others that I have seen expressed in comments back and forth over various subjects. I wouldn’t necessarily put that on Rod Dreher, I have almost always seen his writing to have a generous spirit. Unfortunately I haven’t always seen that in other forums from other writers or (especially) commenters.