The Parties

As I watch the news updates since the healthcare bill was signed by President Obama and see the Republicans refusing to work beyond 2 PM it does make me wonder if we are headed toward real political strife in America. The things that we take for granted; free elections, peaceful transfer of power, civil discourse, should we really expect these to happen consistently in the future.

I read alot of American history and there have been many times in this country where the discourse between the opposing parties has been as bad or worse than it is today. Taking solace in this however is dificult in a modern country where there is so much that needs to be helped in our country.

What is most disconcerting to me however is that it seems like the Republican leadership is taking its followers down the road to extremism. This is not to say the Democrats have not done this as well. When George Bush was in power few Democrats had any good thing to say about him and most felt that he was someone to rally against. Jokes about his intelligence, vocabulary and speech patterns were commonplace.

The comments about the President however might be considered more dangerous. Looking at signs at Tea Party Demonstrations recently I have seen comparisons to Hitler, pictures of guns and rifles, vote No OR ELSE. A survey of Republicans and their attitudes after the Health Care bill show that 57 percent believe he is a Muslim, 45 percent believe that he was not born in the United States, 35 percent believe he is comparable to Hitler, and 24 percent believe he is the Antichrist.

What do these numbers mean. I am not sure it means we are in a tougher time. I do believe in today's modern media age folks that have a way to move public opinion need to do so in a responsible way. Rush Limbaugh calling the President a thug is not acceptable. Is there a difference between calling the President stupid and calling the President a thug.

Keith Olberman on the left and Glenn Beck on the right in many ways cancel each other out. Interestingly I consider myself an intelligent person and not one who can be moved by arguments without merit. Yet while I am a left leaning moderate I still when watching Glenn Beck can find merit to some of his discussion points. Beck talks often with a hint of nostalgia and for those looking for a simpler world they remember and faced with the insecurities of todays world this can have an appeal. Olberman from the left is as bombastic as Beck, his sense of moral outrage is no more appealing than is Beck's.

Coincidentally in all of this Bill O' Reilly who often is the paragon of evil in the left's opinion I have long held is somewhere in the middle. He is a conservative, I think that much is true, but I find his opinions to be respectful. When he has interviewed the President I think he gave him a fair shake. I watched him interview Glenn Beck recently and I came away feeling that even Bill thought Beck was too extreme. In fact O'Reilly has been commenting that the Republicans need to make thier comments more productive by not appearing too extreme and personal. It is not a measure that they are listening to.

When the opposition is demonized to the point where one cannot consider negotiatiing with them how does a group of opposition Senators do anything to better thier country. Living on the east or west coast it is easy to forget that much of this country in the south and in the middle is virently different than us. It may be nothing more than an accident of history that we are a united people and as the demographics of the country shift over the next fifty years the future is uncertain. Acting as they do now neither party is making the future safer. A sense of responsiblity in government is not present.