How to be a centrist

Zealots are selective skeptics. They search for facts--or pseudofacts--that support their beliefs, while ignoring or discounting whatever doesn't.

Centrists are equal opportunity skeptics, always willing to toss their dearest conclusions if new facts warrant it. This puts us at a disadvantage. Zealots are always certain. We usually aren't. But we can't play their game. We have to play ours.

Some tennis players are known for being able to control the rhythm, the pace of a match. We can do that. It starts with language and premises. Never let them frame the debate with loaded words. Insist on neutral terms. And look for opportunities to hoist them with their own petards--espeially when you find them applying a different standard for credibility of their assertions vs. yours.

And don't let them paint you as their opposite. Conservatives want to fight liberals, and vice versa. Neither really knows what to make of us. So that messes with their game right off the bat.

There's something called the judicial temperament. That's a lot like what it means to be a good centrist. Cool, clear, subtle, sly, but fundamentally honest. Like Olympic curler Cassie Johnson. If you don't know what I'm talking about here, watch one curling match at the next winter Olympics. Curling is more like a really active chess game, rather than a sport like soccer or basketball.

Or maybe I just wanted to post a pic of Johnson here. Your choice.