This should happen more often / Politcal rant alert

I got a note from the MoveOn PAC today, asking what I thought of the Democratic Party. I approve of this. I'd like to be able to tell more people of political influence what I think about the Democratic Party, and for that matter, the Republican Party, third parties, the two-party system, and the state of the federal government in general. Unfortunately, this was mostly a "Rate how you think the Party is doing on this issue from 1 to 10" sort of experience, with very little room for actual communication. Thus, they didn't get to hear what I wanted to say. But you will. (Sorry about that. It's got to go somewhere and it might as well be here. But I will cut in case you don't care.)

 ( And what will I say? )

This should happen more often / Politcal rant alert

I got a note from the MoveOn PAC today, asking what I thought of the Democratic Party. I approve of this. I'd like to be able to tell more people of political influence what I think about the Democratic Party, and for that matter, the Republican Party, third parties, the two-party system, and the state of the federal government in general. Unfortunately, this was mostly a "Rate how you think the Party is doing on this issue from 1 to 10" sort of experience, with very little room for actual communication. Thus, they didn't get to hear what I wanted to say. But you will. (Sorry about that. It's got to go somewhere and it might as well be here. But I will cut in case you don't care.)

 ( And what will I say? )

And another thing.

Often it comes to pass at work or in other social situations that somebody asks me if I saw [insert name of show] last night. I tell them, "No, I don't watch television."

Sometimes this leads people to look shifty and say things like "I don't watch much either, just [these shows]." Sometimes it leads people to turn up their noses and say things like, "Well, aren't you special?". Other negative reactions have been reported, but are less common.

Maybe I'm not being clear enough. I don't watch television. I say this so that people will know that if they ask me about shows, I'm probably not going to be able to provide any response at all, because I will have invariably not seen the thing. I don't watch television. I don't care for enough shows to bother. This is not because I'm inherently a better person than tv-viewers. I'm not advancing the point that people shouldn't watch television. I just don't enjoy it, myself. I also don't enjoy jogging, but nobody seems to get too offended or guilty about that, even joggers.

Why is it so often an attack if I say "I don't watch television" and hardly ever an attack if I say "I don't jog"? To me these are roughly equivalent statements.

And another thing.

Often it comes to pass at work or in other social situations that somebody asks me if I saw [insert name of show] last night. I tell them, "No, I don't watch television."

Sometimes this leads people to look shifty and say things like "I don't watch much either, just [these shows]." Sometimes it leads people to turn up their noses and say things like, "Well, aren't you special?". Other negative reactions have been reported, but are less common.

Maybe I'm not being clear enough. I don't watch television. I say this so that people will know that if they ask me about shows, I'm probably not going to be able to provide any response at all, because I will have invariably not seen the thing. I don't watch television. I don't care for enough shows to bother. This is not because I'm inherently a better person than tv-viewers. I'm not advancing the point that people shouldn't watch television. I just don't enjoy it, myself. I also don't enjoy jogging, but nobody seems to get too offended or guilty about that, even joggers.

Why is it so often an attack if I say "I don't watch television" and hardly ever an attack if I say "I don't jog"? To me these are roughly equivalent statements.