Was reading today that leading Democrats have advised candidates this Fall to deny they support open borders and amnesty for undocumented residents, and separately that Republicans are about evenly divided on whether to push Donald Trump’s claim that he actually won in 2020 as part of their election strategy this year.
Other issues that we all know will be on the ballot this year – albeit indirectly – include inflation, the vaccine mandates (whether they’re still in place anywhere or not come November), the Afghanistan withdrawal last August, our response to the Russia-Ukraine crisis, and more.
I think we know what the official Democratic positions on all of the above issues will be, and we pretty much know what the Republican positions will be, as well.
But what if we agree with no partisan political positions, on either side? Or, more controversially, what if we see merit in some Democratic positions, and merit in some Republican positions? I say “more controversially” because it’s certain that anyone agreeing with a Republican position risks being called a white supremacist, racist, sexist, transphobe or xenophobe, and anyone supporting a Democratic initiative risks being called “woke,” or perhaps a Socialist or Communist. Certainly we know that West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin and Arizona Sen. Krysten Sinema, both Democrats, are being treated as traitors by their party colleagues, as are Republican members of Congress Adam Kinzinger and Lynne Cheney by their party.
You know, I don’t think this is a good year to be an independent and I don’t think anyone can hold “the middle” these days. It’s not just polarization we’re facing, but a bimodal distribution. The Left can be Far Left, mainstream Left, or not so Leftist, but it must be Left. Ditto for the other side: you can be Far Right, mainstream Right, or not so Right, but Right nonetheless. The Middle is just flat. That’s what a bimodal distribution is.
I’m simplifying, of course, but not by much. I’m sorry for America, and frustrated by my relative powerlessness to affect things. Yet it’s not so much that I worship “the middle.” I don’t. After all, what would be the middle position on the history of slavery in America? What would be the middle position on China’s suppression of Uighurs and other Turkic minorities? What would be the middle position on child sexual abuse?
All I mean is what I said at the top. What if I think the Democrats are correct on some issues, and the Republicans are correct on others? It’s not even compromise I’m espousing, more like take the best from each position and get something better than either party initially proposed.
I could go into specifics but no one cares what I think about this or that particular issue. Besides, that would detract from the main point I’m trying to make. The middle is an important position to hold, and it is in the middle that we can pick and choose the best from both poles, and reject the worst.
I have been a Republican all of my voting life, but I have never voted a straight ticket- choosing who I felt were the best candidates for the job. The last administration drove my solid Republican roots out of me and moved me much closer to the middle than I have ever been before. I hate what the current Republican Party leaders espouse. It makes no sense to me to chase after someone who was voted out and then refused to follow our Constitution for the transfer of power. It was a shame and a disgrace, and I will not follow, nor vote for, anyone following that man, TFG, who appears more and more to be a liar and a “fake” leader-of-sorts.
What has become of our country? I just don’t recognize it anymore. The untruths being put out there for people to believe are sometimes sickening and totally beyond our Democratic (not the party) values. If they continue to act the way they are, our democracy will fall in short order, and that’s just what the authoritarian-led countries are waiting for.
A while back I described my political views as “progressive conservative.” Offended a far right friend. After some thought I changed it to a “Madisonian.” Got no reaction.