I have been feeling increasingly uncomfortable about the schisms developing in this country between the left and the right. It seemed to have reached a fever pitch years ago, during the height of the Bush administration. But in the last two months following the inauguration of Barack Obama, this schism has appeared to have widened.
I am really not sure why this is. I have long considered myself a strange dichotomy of the two sides. I have long opposed a sliding scale for income taxes, which is a traditionally conservative viewpoint. I also support individual liberties almost fanatically, which is one of the tenets of Libertarianism, and you can’t get much further to the right than a Libertarian. However, socially I am very liberal. I believe in legalization of marijuana, I believe in gay marriage, I believe in a good public education system, and I believe that we should all have affordable quality healthcare.
So as you can see, sometimes it can be difficult for me to choose a side (well at least when the two sides weren’t at each others throats!).
But now that apparently lines are being drawn I am being forced to choose, and as the conservatives get more and more rabid in their rhetoric (most of which I find inflammatory and harmful) I have found myself speaking out against the conservatives. Especially the so-called “neo-conservatives”.
All that being said, let me lay out my viewpoint of what it means to be an American, and what this country is about.
1. America is NOT a christian country, and never was meant to be. The very men who wrote the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were very outspoken about organized religion, and this fact is very well documented. Anyone who tries to tell you different is attempting to rewrite history in their favor.
2. America is and has always been designed to be a democratic republic. Not a superpower, not a globe-spanning empire, not the world’s moral center, not the world’s largest police force. While I believe we have a role to play on the international stage, over the past 60 years following WW II this role has become increasingly militaristic and decreasingly economic & diplomatic. This is scary to me.
3. The deregulation and general dismantling of the checks and balances put in place by FDR’s New Deal on the financial system is driven not only by greed, but a lust for power. The complication of the current financial system is far beyond the average person to understand, and yet the average person is the one who pays the most when it fails. In my opinion, this benefits the super rich, who wish the status quo to remain the same.
4. I am not a Democrat, nor am I a Republican. However, the behavior recently of the most powerful Republicans in this country has done nothing but drive me further away from that party. I am hard-pressed to imagine myself ever voting for a Republican again, and this is sad. Why? Because the last thing I want as an independent voter is a one party system. There is much to be said for the loyal opposition, but when all the opposition offers is rhetoric and tired ideas, they’re not much of an opposition. (As an aside, they are very hard on Obama, who’s only been president for 2 months. Yet when liberals attacked Bush they were labeled as un-American. Curious.)
5. Comparing Obama to a fascist or socialist is laughable. After Bush’s administration (and a Republican-led legislature) suspended Habeus Corpus (for the first time ever), authorized wiretaps of American citizens, passed a $17 billion prescription drug plan, passed “No Child Left Behind” (many children still are left behind, large public school spending can be seen as socialism) , allowed the vice President to act as if the checks & balances put in place by the US Constitution didn’t apply to him (going so far as to hide his house, the US Naval Observatory from Google Earth), I could go on…. After they did all that, to turn around and call Obama a fascist or socialist is hypocrisy at best.
Look, I’m not trying to start anything here. I can actually understand a lot of conservative viewpoints. What I can’t understand is the blatant hypocrisy and the almost religious fervor of conservatives in supporting their movement. I am a logical person. If something can be proven, then I will trust that to be fact. I don’t trust “faith” or “belief”, I trust logic, and the scientific method. All I’m asking for is for grown men & women to act that way. That means being wrong from time to time. That means being able to admit mistakes. That means being able to empathize. That means being an American.
molly
Harriet Cotter
dotlizard
The Aviator
Eric
The Sexy Angie
Julian
Well said. I still find it odd that those that spent the last 8 years looting the economy of the United States are now doing everything in their power to see that we don’t place any limitations on the institutions that we are currently bailing out due to the lack of oversight. One other thing that truly amazes me, the Late President, sorry Vice President and hunting partner to attorneys, Dick Cheney is now showcasing himself on wingnut (yes, that’s what I mean) talk shows and spouting something that would have been called treason under the “shrub” administration. The founding fathers warned, repeatedly, about the unfettered power of government and what happens when the government has absolute power. I do blame the vocal minority and the sheeple for allowing this to happen. I only hope that this once great country can recover from the past. Reganomics, Iran Contra, then, total mismanagement by the little bush, affectionately referred to by me as the shrub.
Those are some very good points. All I am trying to do is keep everyone honest. History happened. The Founding Fathers were very wise men who knew what they were doing. We cannot allow people to attempt to twist/spin/rewrite history to suit their own ends.
While I agree with your post, I have to quibble about one point – habeas corpus has been suspended more than once in our nation’s history. Per http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habeas_corpus_in_the_United_States, habeas corpus was suspended during both the War of Northern Aggression and WWII. In addition, after the OK City bombing, a statute of limitations was placed upon habeas corpus by the Republican Congress under President Clinton. That said, the suspension under President Bush (younger) was far more reaching, reminiscent of what happened under Stalin and Mao.
I, too, have had problems voting for Republicans or Democrats, despite holding similar positions as yours. In large part, my vote has been determined by who will do less damage to my personal interests. In the large, that’s been who’ll respect my faith (Wicca) more.
Oh thanks! Nice point about habeus corpus, I didn’t know that!
I agree with you about religion though. The past few major elections have been almost like a “holier than thou” contest. Too much emphasis is placed on how much of a christian a candidate is, when for people such as you and I we could really care less.
Here’s a question: with the election of Barack Obama, one barrier was broken (that of a black man being elected president). How long will we have to wait for other barriers to fall? First female president, first Hispanic president, first Asian president, and the biggie: first non-christian president. I think it will be a very long time for that last to come true.
Very well written post. I agree with what you have written. I can’t wait for our country to be Great again. I believe we have elected the right man. I also vote on who I think can do the most good for our country. I really don’t envy Obama the task he has before him.
Off topic but whenever I see “war of northern aggression” I instantly categorize that person as a demented jackass.
I agree with you on that “war of northern aggression” point to a certain degree. While I do not necessarily agree with the South’s ideologies in that time period, I can see how the way the Republicans went about “Reconstruction” without the moderating influence of Lincoln to keep them in check could anger many Southerners. Also, there are many who argue that the president’s decision to go to war against the seceding states was unconstitutional. (I’m not one of them, but I’m trying to empathize)
this country is too far gone to ever have a hope at recovery. We just need to get rid of this government (magic wand?) and try again. may be this time we can take the founders ideas to their logical ends and just not bother starting a new government, since thats what seems to be the root of all of our problems.
The Republican party is caught in a death spiral initiated (or perhaps exposed) by the desperation tactics of McCain/Palin in Nov. Republican leadership is now faced with the necessity of shoring up the base and the harm that same base is doing to it’s image. Individual representatives of conservative enclaves have to keep pouring fuel on the fire of incitement or they will lose their next election cycle. The future demographics are against them and they can only hope to drive more of their fanatic loyalists to the polls over issues that resonate with the fringe elements. All hope is gone for them on any national scale and they are reduced to maintaining small pools of influence and using the dynamics of our political structure to remain relevant in any way.
Political trends are transitory at best, but I don’t think that this shift is strictly political in nature. I believe that the nation is facing an evolution that doesn’t allow room for fundamentalist religion or hard line economic conservatism. The Republican party tied itself to the dwindling membership of both of those factions with the temporary infatuation with Reaganomics. Now there is no way to extricate itself from the hard line right fringe without starting from scratch as libertarians, who have had dismal acceptance from voters in the last 3 election cycles.
at oldngrumpy: Well said. I agree, the Republicans are in big trouble. The attempts of the Bush Admin to turn this into some sort of theocracy have backfired horribly for the party, & they are left holding the bag.
I hope we drive people like you so far away from us you find another planet to live on..
I hope we do get divided from you, your ideals of pot and gay marriage just shows we need a revolution …I don’t care so much that you probably smoke it..it is just that you geniuses have figured out how to vote with the help of Acorn now idiots have a ride and a Super hero to enable them.
idiots like the left leaning morons like you will never get that socialism has never ever worked and your SuperObama will never make it any better ..you will just have less freedom and if you will less liberties …
all State preambles where written with God in mind there are so many pieces of evidence against your atheist understanding of our founding it is not even funny..yet as the scripture says they will be “willingly ignorant” that is “stupid on purpose”
Thanks for the comments…. However I must say that I think you missed the point of the post you’re currently commenting on. It wasn’t about me taking a side, it was about the fact that I see our country right now being more divided than it has at any point in my lifetime.
That being said, you can call me “willfully ignorant” all you want, but I think I’ll stick with forming my opinions about the world based upon actual observable facts, as opposed to ancient texts which have been interpreted differently by many generations of people with their own agendas. Makes one wonder who the “willfully ignorant” actually is in this conversation.
By the way you do have a “non Christian” now as President, in fact I would doubt that Bush was really one either..
You have all been duped if someone disagrees with you your left wing teachers have taught you that you are ethnocentric …when indeed
this election has proven to be actually a racist decision, it was all about race and not about accomplishments or anything he can actually do ..and all that in a critical time in our present situation on defense…as we see North Korea sticking its finger in the chest of America and Islam taking more steps against us all we have to protect us seemingly is another apologetic leftist idiot in charge.
Mr Bud:
You had some rousing arguments but failed to “Bring it All Home” in the final stretch. We Be All Wildings in this Liberal World of un fettered Ideas and un bounded enthusiasm for seeking the truth and blabbing it All to any one who will listen.
Dude Not Conservative here, No central teacher or being to be followed. In conclusion if you required a teacher for your wild ideas, please seek another, WE of liberal persuasion will look at the facts and who the skunk is and how we want to deal with it.
We only band together to fight of KKK bands of terrorists and the like. Be Cool Dude n try your own brain out for a thinking tool, Bet you have a perfectly good one
Later Dude
Nah
I see the division two was just Bitchin, Have analyzed it from just about every angle. These fundamental Believers in religion and a perfect conservative Gov, have a quite impenetrable blind side. As do just about all liberals just cannot understand blind belief following any thing without question it’s validity.
Liberal thinkers lack the ability to follow a thing to self destruction or even mild distaste. Conservatives can follow Anything they believe in as long as their own personal chosen Leader says it’s Conservative, or Republican, or Religious thing to do and ALL similar thinkers Must do it two.
The blind sides need not be at war with each other, But the past 8 years has proven that their illegal power structure is indeed embedded and very powerful. Therefore they feel they have the right to force their opinions and beliefs, because they are holding the Club, That is some real enabling of their cause.
Unfortunately Liberals are like Cats herding them is difficult and pointless most of the time. Conservatives have a Really big club reaching across many of the previous boundaries that kept them in check before. They are exercising this new war chest of tools to see if they can really package us Catlike Liberals into the same restricted mental and physical space they are comfortable in.
Is like a War Dude, Thanks for fighting it your way.
Later Dude