Friday, October 20, 2006

Senselessness and sensibility

Let's talk about the Democrats for a minute. Another election season is upon us, and they want our votes, but they have a fundamental problem- they act insane. I am probably what you might describe as right of center, but I live in what used to be one of the Democratic stronghold of the south, Texas.
At least, up until Ann Richards. I am not saying that she was the female equivalent of Jimmy Carter, but she was not far off. Personally, I liked her as an energetic, true Texas character, one that we were better off knowing. However, as we might say down here, that doesn't feed the bulldog. She was like other democrats in that she thought she knew what was best for the people, but she, like other democrats, only talked to her core constituents, and not so much the rest of us. This is a problem that exists in both parties, in that if you only hear from the most vocal in the crowd, you will inevitably veer from what the true majority would want.
The state of Texas was, up until Ann Richards, a true democratic bastion- we had not had a republican in office since the 1880s- and would have stayed that way if the democratic party had not been hijacked by the ultra left wing of the party. The secularists, extreme environmentalists, and the people who believe that America is everything bad, were just too much to swallow. Why, down here, we beat those people within an inch of their life, because we do not think this is a message that should get out into the public- like a virus or a rabid dog, it needs to be put down. The message the democrats wish to send is not conducive to real life, and down here we kinda resent being told that others know what is best for us.
This is also true of the national scene, and this behavior and minutest on the part of the dems also breeds the same mindset on the other side- so extremism prevails, and the welfare of the people are lost in the hubbub of shouts by both sides. What a pity, as it seems that what we, as a people need right now, is coherent dialogue from both parties, and compromise is not a dirty word- indeed, the country was run by compromise for two hundred years, and sadly, it is probably more due to the ignorance of history in our schools that we have the intolerence of opinion that we now have.
Still, the Democratic party seems to really have a bug up its ass, perhaps that is still an over-reaction to Bill Clinton's trials, and the Republican takeover of Congress in 1994. The Republicans were over the top, although I still cannot forgive Clinton for lying- it was just too trivial, and he, like any one of us in a court setting, had SWORN to tell the truth- it , like pulling an infected tooth, have been over with quickly. Instead, he had to have this dirty matter dragged slowly under our noses. That was a truly bad decision, and in light of that one, all the rest of his decisions came into question. Whether that was fair or not was not a factor in the reality of the situation.
So you could say that Clinton's decisions played a factor in this clusterfuck we now have that passes for politics. What a shame- we are attempting to teach the rest of the emerging world of the benefits of Democracy, and this is how we do it? Compromise is key, and while it might seem admirable to stand on ones principles, the art of politics IS the art of compromise.
You just have to begin by assuming that the other side wants a country WE CAN ALL BE PROUD OF, not just the fringe elements.

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