October 2011

10/19/2011: 

 

 

JUST A THOUGHT: Americans on the left like to beat their breasts and wail about the "extreme wackos" of the Tea Party movement.

Americans on the right, meanwhile, are beating their breasts and wailing about the "extreme wackos" of Occupy Wall Street.

And, to be sure, there certainly are some "extreme wackos" in both groups.

But that's hardly the point. How did we get to this sorry impasse (which now extends to American politics in general)?

Maybe, just maybe, it might have something to do with the fact that neither side will concede that the "extreme wackos" of the other side might possibly have one or two valid points. The right insists that capitalists will always do the right thing if left to their own devices (BULLSHIT). And the left pretends that the Tea Party, which is holding out for something like the constitutional government that existed before flaccid self-serving politicians and vested interests virtually destroyed the country, is mostly a collection of racist hatemongers that want to return us to the days of Jim Crow and sweatshops (BULLSHIT).

Maybe the best thing to do for someone who takes their patriotism seriously is to look long and hard at how these fiery grassroots movements got there in the first place... and ask just exactly what is the broken thing that they're trying to fix.

Then we might be able to have a dialogue, and actually accomplish something great.

Posted by Alois on  

Comments

[Athena]

I, as a TEA Partier, agree wholeheartedly with you. However, agreement for some, is like the kiss of death, in that there's no 'angst' in it!

[Pete (Alois)]

Athena--

Thanks for your comment, and for helping to get this blog rolling again.

My mother used to have a saying: "You'd rather be right than be president!" Wanting to be president notwithstanding, I think you can see her larger point. Basically what we've got these days is two large parties of "adults" going NYAH NYAH NYAH at each other.

Which is precisely why nothing is getting done, and why we're all fiddling while Rome burns.

[moderatedem]

Definitely right about this - while there's definite disagreement on how to solve the issues (limit government vs. limit business, particularly big business), what both sides have in common is feeling cut out of the governing process and frustration with both sides (though I see it coming almost exclusively from one side which does nothing to compromise) for doing little to get us out of the morass we find ourselves.

[Pete (Alois)]

Moderatedem--assuming that you're referring to the Repubs as the party that refuses to compromise--I think you'll have to agree that the Dems have gotten even more high n' mighty than usual since the coronation er I mean inauguration of their "hope n' change" President, who has changed virtually nothing and given almost no one reason to hope. The Dems are still worried about gun control and making sure that teachers aren't held accountable. Meanwhile the Tea Party doesn't seem to notice that the US has fallen into second-world status due to our skyrocketing levels of functional illiteracy and the stranglehold the insurance companies and HMOs have on our ever-dwindling public health.

This is not a good time to be an American.