On this, the 805th, posting of my blog, I announce that I am (basically) putting an end to my articles. With my new job that I have just accepted, I simply won't have the time to be as up to date with my politics as usual, nor have the time to write these postings. I might update here and there on big events, but very rarely.
So a few thoughts as I close. I leave with this thought, shadowed by the wide partisan divide in this country, that everyone should, in their calm, non-angry moments, accept. That is: "America needs both conservatives and liberals."
Odd, one might think, for me to say. Yes, I am a conservative, a Republican, and still one of those who approves of the Bush administration. I'd vote and work for him again if he were allowed to run for a third term.
But the truth of the matter is that America needs both the Left and the Right, the Right and Left, Republican and Democrat, Liberal and Conservative. And we need both of those sides for very different purposes.
I'll start with the Libs. Without liberals, without the kind of social interests they represent, this country would indeed be a lot more cold-hearted. As much as I find their positions on abortion to be as cold-hearted as it gets, otherwise, liberals are the ones who really look out for the needs of the weakest, the poorest, the most elderly, the ones who don't have the money or connections to help themselves. They are the ones who give their time and attention to the more endangered in our society. Who else will be our social workers? Who else will help drug addicts? Who else will represent poor minorities (not that all minorities are poor, you know I mean minorities who happen to be poor) when they are accused of a crime and can't hire Johnny Cochran or some flashly lawyer like the rich can? We need liberals to give us a social conscience, to make sure that racist and sexist feelings don't lead to people hurting others.
Now conservatives. Without conservatives, who will, basically, spur growth in the economy? Who will wave the flag, volunteer for the overwhelmingly conservative-filled military and man the walls and shoot the guns that protect the liberals' rights in this country to bash Republicans and conservatives alike? Who else wants not to share the economic pie of this country, but to make it grow ever larger? Liberals want the rich to pay their fair share in taxes to redistribute to the poor. Conservatives want to make the pie so big that everyone gets a share without taking from others. With their tax cuts, Republican policies have led to 4.6% unemployment with strong economic growth all while we live under the threat of terror, war, and scandal.
There are dark liberals, and dark conservatives. There are liberals who act as conduits between imprisoned terrorists and their organizations (just look at today's news) out of some twisted sense of neutrality. Dark liberals, and there are many, operate out of a principled hatred of America. They think of this nation as a homophobic, racist and sexist brute country that wants to destroy the world, rob nations of their wealth, and be like the imperial Romans. If they had their way, we'd live in socialist Europe, with 75% tax rates, redirected wealth from those who have worked hard and earned their money, and give it to those who haven't. We'd have abortion on demand right up to the seconds before a child is born; we would not be patriotic, and we'd be atheist or agnostic. Dark liberals are the ones who would abolish the Department of Defense, dismantle our nuclear weapons, and throw up in French flare the white flag to our enemies. They are the ones who preach tolerance while being the most intolerant of others' views.
Dark conservatives are the ones who deserve the liberal ire. They are the ones who actually are racist, sexist and homophobic. They are the ones who would run this country like a French aristocracy where the poor get poorer and the rich get richer, and they would say let them eat cake. They are the ones who believe that women belong in the kitchen, that minorities belong in low-paying jobs or in prison. Dark conservatives also are intolerant of others' views, they would punish those, like the Ayatollah's of Iran, who are not of their religion and ideology. They, as much as the dark liberals, do not deserve power in this country.
But then there are the good natured conservatives and liberals. The good conservatives are the ones who want tolerance of everyone including their own views; they are people who want a strong foreign policy to protect our country, and a rational tax policy that promotes growth yet prevents the creation of Paris Hiltons of the world, i.e. people who inherited wealth and have a sense that they have a right to a comfortable life while others are lower than them. Good conservatives want the government to track terrorists with whatever means possible, and of course not to be listening in on my grandmother's phone calls. They want the President to mean what he says and say what he means, and that his threats of serious consequences are meaningful and not empty threats. Sometimes, that means war for the greater good. Other times diplomacy. Good conservatives want a color-blind society, where, in the words of Martin Luther King Jr., people are judged by their character and not by their color. We need those kind of people.
Good liberals are the ones who want to make sure the government is policed. That there aren't any Nixon-esque dirty tricks, abuse of power, and immoral wars. Good liberals are the ones who, with the greater good in mind, want wealth redistributed to those who are the most vulerable, the ones who want to make sure there are no more lynchings of minorities, that the poor have a voice and that the needy are helped. They want to make sure that women can choose what happens to their bodies (and many conservatives agree with this up to the point of abortion. The Catholic church frowns on contraceptives which is wrong. So when it comes to rape a woman should be able to choose, at least I believe, but when she engages in sex consensually she's "made that choice that she might become pregnant"). We need those kind of people.
In this bitterly divided nation, politics has become a sport. The team are Republican against Democrat. Democrat against Republican. The team colors are red for the GOP and blue for the Dems. Elections are score-cards, and every win by a candidate is a point in an endless game. The media, internet and talking-heads fuel allegiance to what could otherwise be the Yankees against the Red Sox. People cheer when their side wins and say "we'll get 'em next year" when they lose. And to an extent that is good. It is good that people take an interest in their government. But is their interest for the national interests, or really for their own sense of satisfaction that their team won?
I've found it downright amazing that when George W. Bush does somethinig liberal, like fund medicare prescription drug medication, or increase spending on education, liberals will mangle their own ideology simply to be anti-Bush. They will come out for things that, if Bill Clinton proposed, they'd be all for. Republicans do it too, and liberals point out the "wag the dog" claims during the Kosovo conflict. I don't deny it, but I sense liberals in the last 6 years have been far more guilty because they have been the opposition-minority party. But look at the many quotes from before Bush came to office by Democrats about Saddam Hussein, for example, and what a danger he was with his WMDs, and that he had to be taken out of power, yet when Bush actually did it, they are aghast (I am sounding a bit partisan there, but I am illustrating a point. Yes, Republicans will do that, but they did work with Clinton, and lost credit for, welfare reform, for example).
We all need to take a breath, stop the lying and twisting of history, and come together and ask what needs to be done to protect this country's security, economy and morality. Stop keeping score of members of Congress like a scorecard, and try and fix what is wrong. Why can't we stop the flow of illegal immigrants into this country and at the same time, in a human way, avoid a Holocaust-like scene of deportation as some conservatives want. Why can't we register illegals, throw out the ones who have commited crimes (aside from crossing the border), and let the ones who are good, hard working people stay and at the same time stem the tidal flow of newcomers? Why can't we reform social security to make it last in perpetuity without frightening seniors, but also making a more simple plan rather than giving everyone in this country tons of confusing investment choices they won't know how to manage? Why can't we defend our country from threats after diplomacy has been worn out and once it has been why can't we be united that war was the only option?
I doubt anything will change, it will only get worse. But I pray it can improve. We need conservatives and liberals, just as we need Mom and Dad in a healthy family. We just need Mom and Dad to stop fighting all the time. Because right now, our American house is a little dysfunctional.
Live long and prosper.
