Saturday, November 8, 2008

Enjoying Political Diversity, for a Change

All of this thinking and writing, thinking and writing, and the resulting dialog with many new friends who are generous with their comments, has wonderfully clarified the American electorate for me. That and this election, of course.

I find that most people who espouse political beliefs that are somewhat different than mine are actually very close to me on most issues. I suppose that I am just a liberal, in spite of my sub rosa radical tendencies, and liberal and conservative are really just the two sides of smack dab in the middle. This is real people that I'm talking about, workaday guys and girls like me and mine. And R.C., and my wonderful cousin V.L., I am having a great time finding the middle ground where we all can agree.

I still think that the Republican Party is a biblical curse on America's sainted landscape, having descended into the mania of New Deal unwinding reactionary greed mongering. Republicans have become the party of BIG GOVERNMENT INTERFERING IN PEOPLE'S LIVES, a warrantless phone tapping search and seizure nightmare, jailing people with no recourse, invading other countries because the 8-Ball told them something might happen next year, telling us what we can and cannot do in private, standing between us and our doctors with a long list of do's and don'ts, and all the while building more and more levels of government and spending more and more money that we don't have, and spending it for their own benefit at that. But most people who consider themselves conservatives are actually very reasonable. They have friends and relatives who may be homosexual but they don't seem to mind very much. They would only be happy if stem cell research could help them or theirs out of a tight spot. If some woman in the neighborhood got pregnant and decided in a timely and reasonable fashion to have an abortion, they wouldn't think that it was any of their business. They tolerate racial and religious diversity very well. They are actually good people, just like me, god bless them, and God bless them too.

This election has shown us where the middle is in America, and it has reminded us that most of us live there, together. What a wonderful showing of strength in the face of a satanic effort to divide us. I congratulate the wonderful American people.

And hard-core Republicans? Sixty four percent of whom think that Sarah Palin should run for president in 2012? Adios, MF's. It's cold out there in the political wilderness.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

If Palin runs for President in 2012, at least she has name recognition going for her... but that may not work in her favor

fred c said...

That is a fine example of understatement, my friend.

Anonymous said...

I can't wait for her to fail. Obama's presidency will be like a great year and Palin's fail will be like a great vacation during a great year.

Rory Cripps said...

Fred: While listening to the news, this morning, I heard something rather interesting and heart-warming regarding President-Elect Obama's and his wife's visit to the White House today. Apparently one of the Obama family rules is that the Obama children are never to miss a day of school. Consequently the Obama children didn't accompany their parents to the White House. I thought that was kind of a neat "family-values" thing.

I'm well-versed in what makes Republicans and the Republican party "tick". And from that perspective, I can only say that the Republican party requires a major overhaul if it hopes to survive as a viable alternative to the Democrat party--or even a third party for that matter. As you know, I'm a big fan of bi-partisanship and I'm quite comfortable with the two parties fighting it out over a bill in the house and senate prior to the bill reaching the president's desk. I'm interested to see what happens in the house and senate after President-Elect Obama is sworn in.

Unless the "Fairness Doctrine" re-emerges, talk-radio is going to have a field-day with the Obama presidency. Hosts such as Limbaugh and Hannity (whether they admit it or not) are licking their chops and seeing dollar-signs in anticipation of Obama's presidency. Talk-radio had a field-day with Bill and Hillary Clinton.Indeed, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that many talk-radio hosts owe their success to Bill and Hillary. However, it appears (at leat to me)that President-Elect Obama has a bit more class than good ol' Bill. It will be interesting to see how the Obama presidency plays out over the talk-radio airwaves.

fred c said...

Rory, I loved Bill Clinton, still do, but I'll be the first to say that he has a deeply flawed personality. Obama has the personality of an astronaut: Houston, we have a problem, and nobody's blood pressure went up, they just started going through check lists and doing the math. Obama made it through a really weird childhood intact, even better than intact, having learned all of the lessons and found a really even keel. I'm sure that inside he has some rough edges, but he understands them and just laughs them off, that's my take. The man has focus. God help him, but I rather think that god could use a little help from guys like Obama.

Anonymous said...

I'm all for the "fairness" doctrine, just as long as it applies across the board; not just to the radio (the liberals can't seem to get any ratings on the radio, so why not attack the successful shows), to newspapers, television and universities. Can you imagine?

Rory Cripps said...

Fred: From the perspective of a "proud republican", I say to my Republican friends this: get over it (the election) and get real! Obama will soon be America's president--and that means that he will soon be YOUR president, too! If you are, truly, Republicans (not RINOS)and worthy of being called "Republicans", then prove it by coming down from your "high- tops", pulling your heads out of your asses, humbling yourselves, and demonstrating respect for the Constitution of the United States and the will of the American people. The American people have spoken in no uncertain terms-- and what they've said is that they don't want any remnants of George W. Bush (i.e., Republicans) in political contol of the country . . . can you blame the American people for wanting "change"? Good Lord! I've been a registered Republican for almost thirty years, but I will tell you this: most of the drunks, that frequent the local bar, are better-spoken and more articulate than is George W. Bush!

fred c said...

Recommended reading: on the New York Review of Books website there's a free download of an article about the Dick Cheney "Co-Presidency." It's scary and very illuminating.

Anonymous said...

You want scary? Wait until after Jan 20th. The stories that will come out then about the crimes and doings of the Bush-Cheney gang will turn your hair white (assuming the reader has any hair to begin with).

-Ed