Posted by
Dana Andjus on Sunday, September 09, 2007 7:25:21 PM
"Meet in the Middle" is the name of a song by Diamond Reo. Only we true country music fans probably know who they are. Trust me--they're great. The premise of the song is that this couple's relationship has lasted through many years because they have found common ground in the middle. Great song. I was listening to it the other day after a couple days of reading threads on Townhall and being disgusted by what I saw. The Townhall blog has turned infantile and nasty. The childish name calling( Dhimmicrats, libtards, Hitlary) is not an effort to learn and discuss. I used to go to HuffPo and Kos to see another point of view but found it childish and vile and stopped going. I went back to HuffPo the other day and didn't find it any worse than TownHall (except they do allow more dirty language which diminishes them). I posted some stuff and received some pointed but polite disagreement. I had a reasonable conversation. I enjoyed it. I can't say that about recent trips to TownHall. I realize that some of the posters are tongue-in-cheek and being devil's advocates.Some seem to be downright nasty liberals. But it is our response that is disappointing. All I ask is that they receive no satisfaction by getting into base discussions on the blog. Adults can ignore them. Responsible opposition should be welcomed and encouraged and treated with respect.
Anyway, it brought me to a larger point when I thought about the politicians in Washington. They seem to get their power from dividing us. They take extreme positions to solidify their power with their base who provide them with their money. And yet most of us are in the middle. And most people in the middle don't send a lot of money to campaigns. I know I don't. The best recent example was the immigration debate. Americans were united in wanting enforcement at our borders and with employers. We weren't interested in a comprehensive plan at the current time. We want security and fewer undocumented workers holding wages down for American workers. I use the euphemism 'undocumented workers' but the truth is that too many of them are 'fraudulently documented'. Consequently and blessedly the uproar was so great that even these politicians relented. A first since the Hillary Care days. George Bush was the biggest disappointment here. He should know better and should apologize. But they'll come back to try to pass what their radical base wants. Money talks.
They can't agree with the opposition party no matter what. Can the democrats look at the economy and not know that the 'economic stimulus package' worked? How could they not see the recovery from the bursting of the dot com bubble, the excesses of the late 90's in the boardroom and 9/11. Yet their only comment is about tax cuts for the rich--not about the growth in revenues to the states and federal coffers since the taxes were cut. It extends to almost all subjects. Can republicans not see that Rumsfeld was a failure and we did not change tactics and strategy quickly enough after Saddam fell? Rumsfeld was fine for the invasion, but not for the post war developments. George finally fired him but not soon enough. The base won't let these pols compromise in any significant way and therefore nothing gets done. The real problems we face just linger and get worse. Something needs to change. Probably a real leader like Reagan or JFK needs to step forward. Until then, we will struggle.
So, for the next several months I am going to devote myself to discussing these issues and what middle ground might look like. Some of the subjects will be Immigration, War on Terror, Public Education, Affirmative Action, Gun Control, Abortion, Religion/Politics, Energy/Global Warming, the Economy, and whatever else comes to mind. I would like this to involve discussion. What are your ideas on topics and middle ground in the real world on those topics. What areas are non negotiable? Help me learn.