I understand and appreciate the outrage that leads some people to say pox on both of their houses. I really do. But I dont subscribe to any view of absolute equivalency that holds both parties equally to blame. Yes, the Dems are quite capable of being venal, ambitious and greedy, that is true. However, at the moment it should be clear to anyone who is paying attention that the change in the temperature of our national politics, is -entirely- because of the rightward drift of the Republicans over the last 20 years, and its speeding up. The Liberals are just as Libby as they ever were; but the Tea Party of the last 5 years represents something new on the scene: Irrational Hyper-Populism. It has its pseudo-intellectual roots in Ayn Rands Objectivism (i.e. selfishness-as-ideology), but with a heady leavening of angry white man politics: Guns, God, Gays, and illegal aliens. THAT is what has changed the landscape-- this new player that is clearly forcing the Republican party further and further right. There is a real good chance that the sudden acceleration of gay rights cases, for example, is a reaction to the ugly angry scowl that most of the nation sees when they look at the Republican party right now. Cause-and-effect: scowl at me, and Ill look away. And so the changes they dont like-- ethnic changes, social changes, fewer Christians and more people of other religions, people suddenly accepting gay people as normal and so forth, all that NEW stuff that makes liberals feel like progress is real-- well they hate it, and they make themselves and the whole country feel their misery. And it is tragic, because NOBODY can stop change from happening. You either learn to live with change, or you make yourself seriously unhappy because YOU CANT STOP CHANGE. Change happens, always, everywhere. We all have a stark and unfair choice: Democrat or Republican. Neither is really a perfect fit for most people. Wouldnt a European-style multi-party system make sense? We could all pick our boutique politics and let the winners sort out a coalition. That would be cool. However, in the absence of that, we have this thing called a Two-Party System and it forces that choice on us. Many, many people will soon be forced to choose between their head, and their heart. So, what are you going to do? Does it seem like one side in particular is increasingly angry, menacing, threatening? Does it seem like one side in particular is increasingly in denial about science, about global warming, and generally ignoring facts they dont like? Even making up stuff to support their view? Does it seem like one side in particular has no new ideas, but is -certain- everything will be better if we just undermine and destroy our own government? Is that a good idea? Doesnt it make you wonder about people who blame EVERYTHING on the Big Bad Evil Government? There is a word for that: Ideology. Beware of people who have a political theory that solves everything. Yes, our politics are dysfunctional. But personally, there is NO WAY I am going to vote to empower the party that is responsible for our political dysfunction. I wasnt always this way, but at the moment, I have been pushed into being 100 % Democrat, because facts are facts and science trumps mythology and compassion is better than anger and acceptance is stronger than racism. Maybe (maybe!) in the future I will change again-- change is constant, after all-- but at the moment, I think anyone who votes for the GOP is a person who, in some place in their head, has some unresolved issues, because otherwise: Look.
Posted on: Thu, 03 Jul 2014 13:10:56 +0000
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