At the end of a segment about Bill Maher, CBS’s 60 Minutes played the end of one of Mr. Maher’s shows. I don’t get his show because it is on HBO. The replay was “You say you are cynical about politics, don’t flatter yourself. Cynical comes from when you know too much. You, on the other hand, haven’t bothered to learn anything.” How true. That is the basis for “siloing.”

            People today tend to allow themselves to have only one viewpoint because they get all their knowledge from one source or one group of sources centered on that point. That behavior allows people to be gullible to the one-sided speeches and broadcasts designed to enforce an opinion however ill-conceived and false. Carried to extreme is how the Oath Keepers and other militias are founded and grow. They believe in their ideals and reject any ideas or knowledge disagreeing with their philosophy.

            Social media and many of the TV channels are just hucksters pushing ideas they may or may not agree with but it is what their scripts and contracts require. That is what being in a silo means – one train of thought with no possibility of a siding to get somewhere else.

            As Bill Maher said, most people only see one side of an issue and jump to a misguided conclusion. The Hamas/Israel war is one. People are rightly concerned about the people of Gaza being starved and their homes and businesses being destroyed by bombs we gave Israel. What they don’t say and the media don’t often tell is about all the protesting against its administration and Benjamin Netanyahu. He only stays in office because of the war and the far right ultra-conservatives who put him in office instead of jail. As long as the war goes on he is safe.

Sumo wrestling is a courteous sport between two men. They can slap with open hands push each other, try to throw their opponent out of the ring, or touch the surface with any part of the body except the sole of the foot. Before and after they observe the proper etiquette. The winner usually offers the loser a hand up and after returning to their location in the ring, they bow to each other in respect. Tournaments are for fifteen days where every fighter will fight each of the other fighters. All of the fighters are split into two dressing rooms each day so they are not in the same room with that day’s opponent. The next day they may be sitting next to their former opponent or the next day’s opponent without any conflict.

This is basically how the Senators and Representatives used to act before the crazy right wingers lost all propriety in their contact with the Democrats and Moderates in their own party. This behavior started about twenty years ago when the radicals were elected with a burn-it-down philosophy and reducing the five day work week to four so they could campaign at home. Before they dined together, played together, and vacationed with families together. Like the wrestlers, they would argue tooth and nail on the floor for their point and then compromise for a common law. Not everybody got what they wanted but legislation was done for the good of the majority of Americans and not the radical few of either party.

Now, politics is a blood sport catering to the radical wings of both parties without regard to the majority of Americans. Being nice to a member of the other party is political death. Governor Chris Christie might have been the GOP nominee in 2016 if not for hugging Obama.