Democrats, Republicans and Moderates… Oh MY!

At what point will the political parties wake up and get it? Most Americans are Moderate, one click left or right of center. At times flowing back and forth depending on the issue. The republican party was long ago taken over by the religious right and the extremely conservative and the democrats were long ago taken over by the liberal left and it’s socialist thinking. Both parties are extreme in their ideology and completely out of touch with most of Americans. Neither party is upholding the Constitution but instead push for control by installing their agenda.

I am told moderates are people who won’t get off the fence and stand for nothing. This makes me so very angry. There are those who don’t care and don’t stand for anything.. those are the ones who are not involved in politics at all. Moderates are those who are listening to both sides and trying to find some compromise or find a way of explaining things to those who are simply doing what they’re told without any thoughts or questions of their own. You know the type… the ones who simply regurgitate what they hear others saying. Both sides of the political spectrum has those types.

I hear quite often that we cannot compromise.. it’s UN American. I can’t help but think back to 1878 and the Great Compromise made by our fore fathers when building this nation. This nation s built of listening to both sides and coming to some sort of compromise. We’ve become so determined in pushing our personal agendas we have forgotten to listen to other ideas and perspectives. I know we as a nation are mad as hell but that is no excuse to begin attacking each other and stop listening to each other. And I know there are certain issues you can’t compromise on. That said… yes I know there are issues you must stand your ground on. .. like following the Constitution.

Why am I ranting on in this topic? Today at CPAC ( Conservative Political Action Conference) a young man by the name of Ryan Sorba made some hateful statements regarding the fact that GOproud.org A gay conservatives organization had been invited to attend CPAC. (Yes Gay people can be conservative.) I was pleased to see the bigot boo’d off stage. Maybe, just maybe, there is a chance for this Nation to survive the extreme political agendas that have done so much damage.
(Video here)

I think our first step in getting more Americans on board in un-doing the damage the extremes have done is defining Conservative.(or we need to take over the Moderate label). To me, conservative means less government. Conservative means less government in ALL our lives. Not just for a certain few. It means Freedom .. true freedom, which is what we are suppose to have in this country according to the Constitution, is allowing others to do things you do not approve of. Liberal Left or Religious Right, asking government to favor your ideology, is not upholding freedom of the individual, it's demanding control.

At this time the term Conservative holds visions of the neo conservatives who want to impose religious rules on this Nation, very similar to the Taliban. I’m all for religious freedom by the way. FREEDOM being the key word.
We have a lot of issues to deal with in this nation. Before anything is going to change we have to do a few things though.

• Stop allowing the extremes on both sides be the voices.
• Listen to those who are moderate and be willing to make compromises.
• Stop following the talking heads blindly and start questioning and educating ourselves.
• And above all else we must realize we cannot take freedom from others and expect to keep ours.

Fixing This Nation

One of the arguments I often hear in political discussion is why don't you come up with answers instead of just complaining. Ok here is how I think we can fix this nation.

We understand that freedom is allowing others to live lives we do not approve of.. but we cannot expect anyone else to pay for the choices we make in how we live our lives. Fact is The Religious right scares me as much as the liberal left. We need to get back to Iconic Freedom as defined by the Constitution. That means if you have 6 kids you pay for them or give them up for adoption. If you want to do drugs you pay for your own rehab. And don’t expect someone to hire you because your life style is dangerous and may cost others their freedom of safety and well being. If you buy a house you pay the mortgage. If you want an abortion you pay for it because I have a moral issue with it, but won’t impose my moral yardstick on you. WE need to wean this nation off entitlement programs that serve to do nothing more than make people weak, helpless and irresponsible. We need to stop blaming others for our own bad choices and standing around waiting for someone to come save us from ourselves.

We put our foot down on government spending and tell them enough of taking the money WE EARN and spending it on nonsense. Such as: Congressional parties and travel of their families. Saving outdated arts that can’t maintain their own value. Researching the sexual habits of the common housefly. CONSTITUTIONALLY the government is responsible for DEFENSE spending and nothing more. And yes that means schools become privately funded (and competitive) or state funded. But I won’t get started on State Rights and Responsibilities.

Basically it comes down to ….. if you want to fix this nation stop waiting to be taken care of and get off your backside and take care of yourself. We can take a lesson from the Amish. A few years ago tornadoes went through Southern Indiana. The roads were closed because trees were down across them but here came a band of Amish men and women with food and tools in hand. They didn’t need electricity or cars to do what had to be done. Trees were cut up and moved off the road way. Made into fire wood. As they came across a barn or home that needed work they stopped and went to work. And not only the Amish worked. As one home was repaired those people joined the others and moved on to the next house. By the end of the week or so not only were all the Amish farms repaired but all of their neighbors who were not Amish. No one waited for FEMA or the Government… they just did what had to be done.

We as a Nation have to stop looking for the answers and waiting to be told what to think and do and just do it. Start with yourself.. take responsibility for your choices. Expect others to take responsibility for theirs. Funny thing … people will live up to the standards we set if they want to be a part of our lives be it on a personal or societal level. If enough of us set a higher standard others will meet them and this nation will begin to heal and be fixed.