I’m bummed Geoff got rid of the comments because that thread was full of great debate.

Looks like Geoff purged the comments or something.

In any case, I can’t go there and see what it was i said that was so awesome :(.

Of course, if it’s on Socialist Security reform, I can only imagine :).

RWR

thanks again for your comment Andy.

Rob

First of all, thanks for reading. It is really fun to get feedback.

I spend a lot of time reading the news and blogs. I also listen to NPR quite a bit. I took a critical thinking class (usually buried somewhere in the philosophy department) in college that really made a difference in how I see the media and the world. It helped me analyze media better for tone and framing. And it taught me to not take things at face value. That is so important in a world of PR consultants and spin-meisters. And its not that I have a cynical view of the world, actually I’m real passionate about the truth. So I’m always driven to get the truth in an argument.

Without a doubt though–what helps the most is reading good journalism. Just browsing the Washington Post, NYTimes, LATimes, or (gulp) CNN online for articles that interest you will help. One of the most outstanding political blogs out there is TalkingPointsMemo (it’s in my links list). You’ll see I gleam a number of my arguments from there. Josh Marshall is an outstanding writer. Also The Daily Howler is awesome and vicious. If FOX News kept the bluster but told the truth, it would probably sound like The Daily Howler. I have to admit it makes politics more fun, but I wouldn’t read it if it wasn’t truthful.

The emergence of FOX News Channel has brought about a new class of websites that unspin their broadcasts. Media Matters for America is the best of these.

If you are getting a Biomedical Engineering degree, you’re never going to hear “You’re out of your league kid” from me. I was a Conservation Bio major and it was tough. Chances are you’ve had to critique scientific papers, which is good practice (if extremely boring) in critical thinking. One of my favorite teachers in school used to regularly find glaring experimental errors in published papers and tell us about them.

Lastly, I would say, get Al Franken’s last book, “Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them.” It is a great read that does a good job of critical reporting on conservative spin. No matter your political beliefs, it is a well researched book that was heavily attacked by Bill O’Reilly and company as an “attack.” Which gets into the critical thinking thing I said before. FOX and O’Reilly called it an attack, but they didn’t argue with the facts as stated in the book.

I realize this is a huge respose to a simple question. Sorry about that. I’m no expert by any means on this topic, I can only tell you what I’ve done personally. I hope it helps.

Above all I would say just find out all you can about the things you are passionate about. I’m passionate about public policy as it relates to the middle class, so I spend most of my time there. The other thing that is important to do is to listen to those who disagree with you. It helps to know where they are coming from.

Rob

How does one become as well versed in politics as you? I’m not really big into politics or the stats that accompany them. You seem to have a love for them, or at least a love for debating them. I graduate this spring with a Biomedical Engineering major, but I’ld really like to get into some form of patent law or nanotechnology regulations law. If you have any advice or a simple… “you’re out of your league kid” type comment I’ld love to hear it.