Saturday, October 5, 2013

We have the wrong people in charge!

I sometimes feel like I'm in political "no-mans land".  My conservative friends think I'm a liberal, and my liberal friends think I'm a conservative.  Sheesh, y'all gimme a break, OK?

Here's how it really is:  I'm a conservative, somewhere a bit to the right of dead-center.  I usually vote for Republicans, but sometimes for a Democrat who might share my disdain of Big Bankers and want to impose some reforms on them.  But increasingly, I simply pass up voting for either candidate in a particular race because I find "my guy" to be disgusting.  (Ted Cruz immediately comes to mind.)



Last night after our customary Friday evening dinner out K and I stopped at the bookstore.  There I saw this book by Chris Matthews that got me to thinking.  (I didn't buy it because, frankly, I've always found Chris Matthews to be pretty obnoxious.)  Still, the topic made me smile.  THIS is what we need today.  

Here were President Ronald Reagan, the consummate conservative, and Tip O'Neil, the crusty old liberal Speaker of the House, pictured on the cover in a cordial, collegial embrace.  Two pragmatists.  I've heard stories of how they would get together, cuss and discuss for hours or days, do some horse trading, and eventually arrive at a position that both could live with.  Neither got all they wanted, but neither crushed the other, either.  They both lived to fight another day.  And we were all better off for it.   America worked.

I have friends, both on-line and in the real world, who are just a bit to the left of dead center.  I have absolutely no doubt we could get together, discuss the country's mess, perhaps share an adult beverage or two, and arrive at a reasonable position we could all abide by.  But we never hear about people like us in the news.

It's always the ideologues from the extreme fringes of our two parties (tell me again why we can't have three parties?) who seem to be in control.  I swear they'd argue with a stop sign!  Before one side can even get the words out of their mouth, the other side is condemning it as likely to cause our country's immediate and complete collapse. 

I'm ready for a REVOLUTION!  No, I don't mean where we pick up guns and pitchforks and go killing anyone who even looks like they might disagree with us.  I only want to pick up guns and pitchforks and go after the extreme ideologues.  (Relax....I'm just kidding.  Maybe.  :)

Those who disagree with me in a civilized, open-minded way....pull up a chair.  Let's talk some football, who brews the best beer, and maybe a little health care.  We'll figure it out.

Give and take.  Compromise.  That's how our Founding Fathers did it.  You know, those old guys we always put up on a pedestal as if they were saints?  

S


11 comments:

  1. S...Probably like you I have been accused of being both a bleeding heart liberal asshole and a Neanderthal pig headed right wing conservative Nazi. I prefer to be called a conservative with a heart.

    You are dead on, and this current mess is the result. No one wants to talk in a closed room and compromise. The Repubs tried an old Dem trick of forcing the administration to cave or be accused of halting the gvmt, and the Dems decided to just point the blame right back at the Repubs, and no one wants to step back and try again. So much is all about elections and appeasing the extremists.

    TERM LIMITS!! And yes I love debating stuff, but not so much anymore as there is too much knee jerk talking point opinions and not enough actual thinking.

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  2. I don't see my comment from the previous entry, but it wasn't as argumentative as it may have sounded. I'm right here with you in the same boat. I do believe the media fuels this stuff and spins it, in the same we become inured to today's tsunami or tornado or mass murder just until the next one comes along. Its a huge machine that has to be fed. So it gets fed.... with no time for thought or reason.

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  3. Sadly, I believe it will be tough to get rational, thinking, compromising politicians elected unless we have campaign finance reform. Until then, politicians seems to be just "bought" by big corporations. Why else would CitiGroup donate money to both parties?

    I could see pulling up a chair, trade some horses with you, discuss who brews the best beer, maybe a little health care...yes, we'd figure it out. Just as long as we stay away from football. I don't even know how many innings in a game... ;-)

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    1. Innings? Football? Like to make a little wager? ;)

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  4. I agree - civil discourse seems to be a foreign concept to our current crop of elected leaders. And I think we should talk about rugby instead - football doesn't interest me & baseball doesn't interest you & if we talk about rugby at least you could be telling me something I don't know :)

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    1. OK, rugby it is. (Today my Northampton Saints tied defending Aviva Cup Champions Leicester Tigers 19-19. We'll get 'em next time. ;)

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  5. I'm a big fan of Chris Matthews even though he does spit too much when he talks. But he has the experience and political chops to know what he's talking about, and I'm sure the compromises outlined in the new book he's shamelessly hawking are just what the country needs right now.

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  6. Sounds like he's right on target. Perfect timing, too. :)

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  7. "My conservative friends think I'm a liberal, and my liberal friends think I'm a conservative."

    I know the feeling. Of course, I'm a Libertarian, so I'm always dissatisfied :-)

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