04-13-2024, 04:14 AM
I found this analogy relevant, and I posted 'Long' in the subject line. But I am not apologizing for the length, as I will explain.
When I started to vote in the early 80s, I truly feel that most of the country was focused on the middle of a sandwich. What flavor jelly, creamy or crunchy? Issues like how best to support democracy, financial responsibility (remember Mr Perot?), where under the Clinton years we actually caught up on our annual deficit. But BOTH sides are just burning cash and giving ALL of us a new mortgage we will hand off to our kids.
We could discuss major policy issues with civility.
The extremes as represented by the toasted bread were largely marginalized as not determinative.
Nowadays, I feel like I'm one of the few left worried about the middle. And indeed, the data says that true independents are almost gone. But I refuse to believe that I am one of the last that prefers to discuss about grape vs strawberry.
For example, I think the 1A defends the rights for people to SAY the moon is made of cheese. But I also think it's wrong that King Z can make money off using software to amplify this message because the speaker has some sort of charisma. If ANYONE makes $$, then they should be financially responsible when their computer algorithms cause damage to society. Again, I am not infringing on 1A rights. But that's because 1A doesn't protect you from the consequences of what you say, just that the government cannot suppress what you want to say. This nuanced view is not aligned with either bread slice extremes, and so we do not even have the discussion.
2A: again, I am not trying to repeal this piece of the bill of rights. But we are Alice in the Looking Glass. Sorry, but 'a well regulated militia' is not someone's random garage. And the more guns we have, the more gun deaths. The interpretation of the existing text in the Bill of Rights has evolved without a new Constitutional Amendment. We can undo that, too. So stop telling me 'we cannot change this without a new Amendment' because that argument is DESIGNED to shut down discussion as it's practically impossible to do today. But also remember that the NRA has been found guilty in courts of nefarious behaviors AND accepted major $$ from our foreign adversaries. So MAYBE, MAYBE those that worship the 2A, you should consider the provenance of your data you cite.
RvW: Not even going to say anything except the fight is NOT about abortion but ALL about attempts to control women. The last 30+ years has been a massive shift of power from men to women.
Lest you think I am picking on the right, here are some others:
Children: sorry, but the planet is NOT going to be destroyed if you have 2-4 (or more) kids. Do it. The world needs a new generation raised in a loving family. Note: I am also deeply supportive of parental leave, support of childcare etc to enable full participation of women in their professions. We need ALL of you smart folk working together.
Gaza/Israel/Palestine/Religion: I cannot think of anyone I personally know that thinks we are in a good place. We are not. There is a terrible tragedy ongoing in the Middle East. It could get worse if Iran attacks Israel. No, Mr Biden is NOT supporting terrorists when he does not like what the Israeli military are doing killing civilians. He's just trying to draw some sort of line in the sand to prevent what will be called barbarism by the history books. College students on campuses, you literally cannot look at ANY nuance. You do NOT have 1A rights to yell at a Dean while a guest at their personal residence. What's a real shame is they were supposed to be studying law. A political problem that's been generations in the making will not be tamed by 280 character or 3 min vertical video shorts posted on social media.
Immigration: we functionally have an open Southern border. Do we need more people who want to be Americans? And are immigrants often better citizens? Yes to both overall based on history. But we should be doing this in orderly way. Ignoring this is not going to fix it. Refusing to allow a vote on a bipartisan bill is ALSO not going to fix it. The extremes are making an important problem worse. We cannot seem to even have a discussion.
This is one of my longest posts in years. What conclusion do I want to make? I am hoping we can PLEASE try to have MRF be a place where nuanced discussion can be held. Note that I am NOT saying we should exclude the bread slices. I think having all four components makes a full sandwich. But we seem to just be chewing on dry and crusty bread. Let's add the PB&J flavor back to our political meals.
But it might be that this post will just be my last attempt at resurrecting a full and nuanced discussion here at MRF.
in the meantime, please pass the chips! I like cheesy Sun Chips with my PB&J.
Thanks for listening, for those that clicked.
When I started to vote in the early 80s, I truly feel that most of the country was focused on the middle of a sandwich. What flavor jelly, creamy or crunchy? Issues like how best to support democracy, financial responsibility (remember Mr Perot?), where under the Clinton years we actually caught up on our annual deficit. But BOTH sides are just burning cash and giving ALL of us a new mortgage we will hand off to our kids.
We could discuss major policy issues with civility.
The extremes as represented by the toasted bread were largely marginalized as not determinative.
Nowadays, I feel like I'm one of the few left worried about the middle. And indeed, the data says that true independents are almost gone. But I refuse to believe that I am one of the last that prefers to discuss about grape vs strawberry.
For example, I think the 1A defends the rights for people to SAY the moon is made of cheese. But I also think it's wrong that King Z can make money off using software to amplify this message because the speaker has some sort of charisma. If ANYONE makes $$, then they should be financially responsible when their computer algorithms cause damage to society. Again, I am not infringing on 1A rights. But that's because 1A doesn't protect you from the consequences of what you say, just that the government cannot suppress what you want to say. This nuanced view is not aligned with either bread slice extremes, and so we do not even have the discussion.
2A: again, I am not trying to repeal this piece of the bill of rights. But we are Alice in the Looking Glass. Sorry, but 'a well regulated militia' is not someone's random garage. And the more guns we have, the more gun deaths. The interpretation of the existing text in the Bill of Rights has evolved without a new Constitutional Amendment. We can undo that, too. So stop telling me 'we cannot change this without a new Amendment' because that argument is DESIGNED to shut down discussion as it's practically impossible to do today. But also remember that the NRA has been found guilty in courts of nefarious behaviors AND accepted major $$ from our foreign adversaries. So MAYBE, MAYBE those that worship the 2A, you should consider the provenance of your data you cite.
RvW: Not even going to say anything except the fight is NOT about abortion but ALL about attempts to control women. The last 30+ years has been a massive shift of power from men to women.
Lest you think I am picking on the right, here are some others:
Children: sorry, but the planet is NOT going to be destroyed if you have 2-4 (or more) kids. Do it. The world needs a new generation raised in a loving family. Note: I am also deeply supportive of parental leave, support of childcare etc to enable full participation of women in their professions. We need ALL of you smart folk working together.
Gaza/Israel/Palestine/Religion: I cannot think of anyone I personally know that thinks we are in a good place. We are not. There is a terrible tragedy ongoing in the Middle East. It could get worse if Iran attacks Israel. No, Mr Biden is NOT supporting terrorists when he does not like what the Israeli military are doing killing civilians. He's just trying to draw some sort of line in the sand to prevent what will be called barbarism by the history books. College students on campuses, you literally cannot look at ANY nuance. You do NOT have 1A rights to yell at a Dean while a guest at their personal residence. What's a real shame is they were supposed to be studying law. A political problem that's been generations in the making will not be tamed by 280 character or 3 min vertical video shorts posted on social media.
Immigration: we functionally have an open Southern border. Do we need more people who want to be Americans? And are immigrants often better citizens? Yes to both overall based on history. But we should be doing this in orderly way. Ignoring this is not going to fix it. Refusing to allow a vote on a bipartisan bill is ALSO not going to fix it. The extremes are making an important problem worse. We cannot seem to even have a discussion.
This is one of my longest posts in years. What conclusion do I want to make? I am hoping we can PLEASE try to have MRF be a place where nuanced discussion can be held. Note that I am NOT saying we should exclude the bread slices. I think having all four components makes a full sandwich. But we seem to just be chewing on dry and crusty bread. Let's add the PB&J flavor back to our political meals.
But it might be that this post will just be my last attempt at resurrecting a full and nuanced discussion here at MRF.
in the meantime, please pass the chips! I like cheesy Sun Chips with my PB&J.
Thanks for listening, for those that clicked.
