Proud to be MODERATE
When did Moderate become a spurious slur?
How has the democratic process become a choice of lesser evils?
I’m proud to be an American!
I’m not so proud of our political process.
We have allowed our nation to become polarized. Red states and blue states, conservative and liberal, zealot and fanatic seem to be terms that are used so loosely. If you live in a red state or a blue state, it is unlikely that everyone in that state agrees with your personal political convictions. Yet the pundits revel in lumping the population into trite sound bites to capture air time.
I personally, have some views that would be considered conservative in some circles and I have views that would be considered liberal in others. I like to think this makes me a moderate, someone willing to look at the facts and base my decisions on intelligent thought rather than being swayed by emotional and mostly negative stereotypes.
Our nation has spent lives, blood and money to help other nations become democratic. The zeal with which we address the “downtrodden” and our attempts to provide them with the ability to choose is diminished by our own negativity in our internal politics.
Might I be so bold as to suggest that each one of us stand and be counted, not as Republican or Democrat, not as conservative or liberal but as Americans, proud of our country and our shared values. The backwoods red neck and the flaming liberal have more in common than they have with the terrorist or third world parent that feels proud to have their child as a suicide bomber.
Our nation is not perfect but it still is a bastion of perfection compared to the bulk of the world around us. We need to insist that our politicians and media pundits start to behave civilly and (gasp) moderately. We need to insist that our elected representatives start to act like they actually represent us instead of lining their pockets with insider trading dollars and lifetime medical care. We need to have candidates we can vote for not just candidates we have to vote against.
Politics in our great nation have always been contentious, fractious and even physical but we have survived. Do not let the zealots more concerned with getting elected than in the nation’s well being turn us into bigoted, pious, knee jerking, feeble minded, Orwellian slugs.
Look at issues and problems, look at solutions and problem solvers and reject the politics of negativity.
Be proud to be moderate, someone who actually thinks before they speak and acts responsibly on their decisions.
Reject radicalism; be proud to be a Moderate American.
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