Facebook is a wondrous place for me to assess America, or at least those Americans who are--like me--raging exhibitionists and show-offs.
I've been reading a lot of posts these days from people who are only marginally political or who I wouldn't consider political at all. There is great wisdom in some of them, if only because they are able to peel back the B.S. that I seem to focus on and instead, focus on some other aspect of the question I haven't considered.
One stream of complaint has arisen though, that absolutely drives me nuts--and that is the "We Deserve Better Than This" line. Why? Because it is utter insanity.
What we have in Washington today is exactly what we deserve. The division we see there is a reflection of the division we have in the country. Many of us don't get to see it, because we live in our cozy enclaves of ideological homogeneity. Step outside of your own little group and you'll find that half the country doesn't agree with you. Whatever the issue is. Oh, you might get 80% of the country to agree that something is a problem worth solving, but they will still be divided about what that solution should be.
We are the reason that Washington is like it is. We--the American People. We voted for ideologues, on both sides. We haven't valued the ability to compromise sufficiently--to some, it is entirely a dirty word. We haven't demanded that our legislators make deals; we have demanded that they stand fast--and then we threaten them with primary opponents who would be even less successful in obtaining policy victories.
This is a great, big ship. It does not turn on a dime. Small rudder rudder movements keep things steady but result in great deviations from course--given time. We want everything now, right now. It simply doesn't work that way.
Now--getting back to that divided country. What is my prescription? Leadership. Presidential Leadership--something we simply aren't getting. What he calls "hostage taking" is the political process. He needs to get involved. He needs to understand that he doesn't get all he wants and neither does the other side. He needs to lead--not from behind, but from the front. Lots of people want to place all the blame for where we are on a faction in the Republican House, but that insufficiently diagnoses the illness. Presidential leadership has been completely absent and is equally to blame for where we are.
But most of the blame is on us.
I'm sorry, but there are certain things worth fighting for. We shut down the government before and heard the same liberal theme that Conservatives wouldn't compromise. It takes two to compromise and when one isn't giving one inch after having taken 1 yard, my interest in compromise decreases exponentially. To compromise with people who have the same objectives for the nation but different approaches to get there, that is one thing and there is room for compromise. But when one party seeks to undo the underpinnings of the nation and create something entirely different, proven time and again to fail, by God I want more ideologues staking out their ground and willing to fight hard for it. If someone walks into my house to rob me, I'll be Goddamned if I'm going to seek to compromise with him. And when my Government that I deserve tries to do the same, I very much want my representatives to stand up and say "Enough!" We have the Government we deserve because we have compromised TOO damned much. Enough is enough. What the hell does it take to get Americans to put their foot down? We are WAY past compromising our way back to the greatest nation on earth. Compromise, civility, etc are the words liberals use to tell Conservatives to just accept their ways. When you get out of line with their way of thinking, you are a radical, racist, sexist, Neanderthal, etc. I couldn't care less about the names, but do NOT expect me to be civil when you try to recast this country into that envisioned by the Democratic Socialist Party. Sorry good friend. That is where it stops cold for me.
ReplyDeleteThe country is too big, too diverse and as a result too divided; and it's gone too far to stop.
ReplyDeleteI am a conservative white male. I am at odds with a liberal establishment that hates me, doesn't care about my wants or needs and demands I change to their way of thinking. Our differences are philosophical, cultural and yes sometimes racial, and it is the policy of the establishment to ridicule, isolate, ostracize and eventually drive me into extinction. I feel unrepresented in an occupied land and there is no doubt in my mind they would kill me and my kind if they could.
They use their control of the media, academia, institutions and government to interfere and sometimes deny me my God given Constitutional rights. They have no respect for the law but use their vast propaganda machine to position me as privileged and lawless, therefore justifying their campaign of control and persecution.
There is no compromise with these people. They are just the latest incarnation of the Soviet Communists and National Socialists, only smarter having learned from history. Their goal is destruction of my way of life and I won't willingly cooperate in my own demise. They can go to hell.
The country is too big, too diverse and as a result too divided; and it's gone too far to stop.
ReplyDeleteI am a liberal black male. I am at odds with a conservative establishment that hates me, doesn't care about my wants or needs and demands I change to their way of thinking. Our differences are philosophical, cultural and yes sometimes racial, and it is the policy of the establishment to ridicule, isolate, ostracize and eventually drive me into extinction. I feel unrepresented in an occupied land and there is no doubt in my mind they would kill me and my kind if they could.
They use their control of Wall Street, multinational corporations and access to government to interfere and sometimes deny me my God given Constitutional rights. They have no respect for the law but use their growing propaganda machine to position me as lazy and lawless, therefore justifying their campaign of marginalization, increasing inequality and persecution.
There is no compromise with these people. They are just the latest incarnation of the fascists, only smarter having learned from history. Their goal is destruction of my way of life and I won't willingly cooperate in my own demise. They can go to hell.
Wow Lefty, you write so well. But it is encouraging to see a black male liberal see things much the same as I. And actually you've got more of a beef with the fascists currently in control of our government.
ReplyDeleteJust look at Barack Obama. People of color are WORSE OFF than when he took office, and the Congressional Black Caucus has even said it (behind closed doors) but unfortunately they don't have the guts to challenge our President out in the open.
Just have a look at Detroit, a city run by liberals since the sixties; a dying city with a 47% literacy rate, an incredibly high poverty rate and home of the 3 bedroom bungalow, adjacent to downtown for only five thousand dollars.
In fact the only group that does well under the Democrats are the rich and very rich. Those low interest rates are mother's milk to the Wall Street types. A melding of big business, big labor and big government: Obama's policies are the very definition of classic fascism.
So thank you for the post. It was very enlightening and I am thrilled a guy like you is finally getting it.
Lefty, looking at the demographic trends, it doesn't look like whitey is doing an effective job driving you into extinction. Heck, even the events in which a white Hispanic shoots an innocent black teen are insignificant when compared to the number of whites killed by blacks or even blacks killed by blacks. Good try though, but it looks like you are as innumerate as your Chicago Messiah.
ReplyDeleteTubby, Hammer--I suspect you both got punked. I think that whoever wrote the "Lefty" post is not necessarily a black male, but simply wanted to demonstrate using familiar language, what the gist of the post was in the first place. At least I hope that is what it was, because it was pretty damn good.
ReplyDeleteOh, I didn't necessarily imagine it had to be a black male writing that. I didn't figure a black male would tag himself as "Lefty", as most are focused on the race thang and not one's location on the political spectrum.
ReplyDeleteBut speaking about black males, and blackmail by a black male (and since you haven't put up a BFFFAF post), how 'bout the Park Service now reinforcing the Barrycades down at the WWII Memorial?
Now, having been at the memorial the other day, I couldn't help but notice that the overwhelming majority of the vets were white men, so once again, to paraphrase Kanye, "Barack Obama hates white people".
CW...no shit?
ReplyDelete