NormsMilfordBlog

The Best of Jack’s Winning Words – Originally sent Jan 18, 2016

“When you are right you cannot be too radical. When you are wrong you cannot be too conservative.” (MLK Jr)  Was King a conservative or a radical? Radical, in the sense that the civil rights changes he helped bring about were extreme. Conservative, in the way that change was accomplished…through peaceful marches. Too many permanently label themselves, conservative or radical, when certain situations call for a label that can be changed. In today’s world of conflict, we need to stop serving our labels and focus on serving our mission. 😉  Jack

The polarized condition that the country was in back in 2016 when Jack penned those words has only gotten worse. I saw the results of a recent poll in which respondents disapproved of the leadership of both parties. The case for the formation of a third party has never been stronger. The two major parties have coalesced at the extremes of the conservative-radial divide with no interest on either side in finding compromises. Fueled by hate on both sides the pendulum has been pushed to swing further out with each political change in power.

As a by-product of this anger and hate-driven environment politics has become so nasty that people who aren’t radical one way or the other have decided to avoid getting involved. The so-called moderates have been driven out of both parties by disgust or fear or both. The past year has seen the exit of some of the last few moderates in Congress who became frustrated by the inability to get anything done that wasn’t a part of the radical agenda of either side of the aisle. Instead of “reaching across the aisle” to find compromise.

Todays politicians choose to stay in their trenches and lob hand grenades at each other in the media. The two sides seem to be totally focused on undoing whatever the other side has done without any real plan (or policy)  to replace whatever it is with a new solution.

This polarized political environment provides the perfect setting for the creation of a new political party in the middle, a party without the baggage of hate and division of the current parties. Such a party could quickly rise if it had the right leader – a leader who could clearly and forcefully articulate a moderate path forward.

There are answers to the issues facing America but our current politicians have stopped looking for them as they fight with each other. A moderate leader would be able to acknowledge the issues/problems that are at the core of the current political divide but also offer a new solution, rather than just throwing out the old in anger.

Unfortunately, this will probably not happen. In the current political environment there is too much big money behind the extremes on both sides. Even strong moderates will stay out of the mudslinging fray for the good of their families. Things have already gone well beyond just muckracking, with death treats becoming the norm and even politically motivated (or encouraged) killings in the news.

Is a new party of moderation needed? Yes. Is it likely to happen? Unfortunately, no. What can we do? Well, there is another election coming up and another opportunity to swing the pendulum back the other way. Maybe you think that it won’t be any better at that political extreme than where we are right now. You are right, but there may be a brief moment when the pendulum swings back through the middle that the few remaining moderate politicians can get some good things done. Hope springs eternally.