Insert a Trite Metaphor for a Corral #106

Posted on July 17, 2011 in Roundup

“It is not an arrogant government that chooses priorities, it’s an irresponsible government that fails to choose.” -Tony Blair

War on the Middle The Tea Party and the regressive progressives share a common goal: to eliminate the middle. A few months ago, the Tea Party announced that it would set its sights on all those moderate Republicans who did not conform to their values. If you have wondered about the Republican lockstep, this is why. What is left of the moderates is terrified. There are none in it who wish to lose their cushy Congressional jobs.

“Moderates have no core values” says one Tea Party leader. They are subject to the winds is the implication. Beyond that is a deeper, darker implication: they have no morals so we are right to destroy them. The Tea Party cares little about the Left — whose loudest and possibly least representative voices share its aim to eliminate the Middle. The regressive progressives are angry because the president “has not led” — has not pushed through their program. Like the Tea Party, they believe the Middle is against them — secret agents of the other force in American politics.

What the Tea Party knows and the regressive progressives deny is that the moderates hold many left wing values such as the right of a woman over what happens to her own body and health care for all. Their work to bring all parties to agreement is what irritates the progressives. This, in itself, is a core value of moderates: develop unity where you can.

The Middle is about patience and listening. It is about observing where the bottlenecks are in our common life and developing a consensus. It is about testing and proving what works, what is politically possible. It turns its back on the racism and sexism of the extreme Right. It does not allow itself to be seduced into haste by the anger of the extreme Left. It has a clear vision of an America where we all get along. This is the value that both rightist and leftist extremists subvert. They want turmoil so they can seize control. In their eyes, the Middle must be destroyed. And this makes them both a threat to America. ((Let me say this: America has a shortage of sincere conservatives and sincere progressives. Actually the problem is more like this: we exist but we are ignored by the juggernauts out to overturn our nation.))

In times of crisis, extremists on all sides denounce moderates. Witness the treatment of Lincoln during the Civil War. But in retrospect, they turn out to be precisely what the nation needs. It is when they lose control of the struggle to hotheads that the nation is most in peril.

• G.O.P.’s No-Tax Stance Is Outside Political Mainstream — Someone noticed! Also see Paul Krugman describing how the GOP “got to crazy”. Guess what: if you didn’t see it coming, you are part of the problem. Also see why what the Republicans is doing is treason
• Barack Obama and the myth of progressive majorities — A look at the numbers shows a different history from the one some so-called progressives are spinning
• Mitch McConnell: We Must Rewrite The Constitution Because ‘Elections’ Haven’t ‘Worked’ — When he doesn’t get his way, he threatens this
• Five Reasons Why the Obama GM Restructuring Worked — Whine all you like, the fact is we saved the company and saved the jobs
• Has Roger Ailes hacked Americans’ phones for Fox News? — He’d be bored to tears with mine, but you never know what gets the bastard off!
• Fake social media accounts are just beginning to show destructive power — The real evil of our age
• CIA’s Fake Vaccination Drive Angers Public Health World — OK, it got Bin Laden. But do free vaccinations deserve this tarnish?
• Tech designed for the space shuttle program that we all can enjoy
• 50 Reasons I reject evolution — Can you make it 51? Creationists say they need just one more before they will be convinced of the absurdity of their position.
• Swarms of Locusts Use Social Networking to Communicate — Grasshoppers tweet? Or are we learning something about the voracious rampage that was the Casey Anthony trial? And look here: I agree with the Pope!

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