Over-Stimulus

Do you ever feel uninformed when conversation turns to politics, particularly the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009? I do. Mainly because I like to be armed with facts so as not to default to sounding off using sound byte derivatives as the basis of my position.

I felt the same way during the controversy surrounding Madonna's "Confessions Tour" in 2006, when she appeared on stage on a big mirrored cross with a crown of thorns on her head. It's easy to judge, from a photo only, someone attempting to gain attention but, in actuality, the staging did a fantastic job communicating the message of the music and the statement she was attempting to make about domestic violence, self-hatred, etc. But I know this because I saw it live. And I feel like if you're going to be a naysayer, you should at least be objective enough to meet your opponent on the field to fully understand what it is you oppose.

And thusly I have downloaded the actual act so I can read and understand it better. It's 407 pages long. Why do I do this to myself?