Sounds kinda like Love and Marriage, doesn’t it? Hasn’t it always been this way? Umm, I don’t think so. Perhaps I’m not old enough, but I don’t remember politics being so outwardly hostile when I was growing up. Sure, people didn’t like Carter but other conservatives didn’t question his sexuality in the press. I don’t recall the utter contempt liberals seem to have for the conservatives — and vice versa. There was always a certain amount of respect granted to the folks on the other side of the aisle. At least outwardly anyway.
Yet today, every Tom, Dick and Harry with a cell phone or a keyboard can spew whatever kind of virulent disgust they can dream up. And the folks in politics have followed right along. I’m all for a free exchange of ideas and discussion of differing viewpoints. It’s one of the — if not the — greatest things about this country. There are plenty of places in this world where a differing opinion might get you killed. But, in America anyway, we are supposed to speak up with differing opinions. I have no problem with that whatsoever — otherwise this writing this blog would be rather hypocritical.
What I do take exception with is the completely discorteous nature of it. The personal attacks. I could care less how much money John Edwards spent on a haircut or whether Ann Coulter thinks he’s a homosexual. I want to know how he plans on paying for his initiatives. Let the man speak and then critic the ideas, but not the man. But, you see that’s not nearly as easy as attacking the individual. For example, it is taking me a great deal of will power to not type all of the opinions I have of Ann Coulter.
But why the change over the years? Disillusionment. For so many years the government has been unresponsive to the populous as a whole. Republican, Democrat, et al. we have done a poor job of building consensus. The result is that people are digging in their heels on their opinions more and more. Now any question of their ideas is interpretted as a personal attack and they lash out in kind.
There just aren’t many centrist’s left anymore. The people capable of seeking and acheiving compromise so we can move forward. We’ve moved from liberal and conservative ideals to revolutionary and reactionary ideals. Look at the elections lately. The country is almost perfectly divided for those who voted. The rest of the populous doesn’t even bother showing up. It’s a shame we have such low voter turnout in the country that has been a beacon for democracy for centuries.
Blame the religious right, the moral minority, or the liberal media I guess. The fact of the matter is that all of the government is failing us and we need a moderate person with the ability to pull people together instead of driving them further apart. But, since one candidate will come from the Republicans and another from the Democrats it’s going to be hard to come by. Henry Clay where art thou?
