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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTwo Grand Slams in one day, Charlie Pierce? : "I Hate Centrism"
I hate goddamn centrists.There are three kinds of people who claim to be centrists in this country today. There are embarrassed Republicans. There are lazy people. And there are liars. There is no fourth alternative. We have seen vividly the intellectual exhaustion of self-proclaimed centrists in the laughable attempts to blame both sides for the reign of the morons. We have seen vividly the intellectual dishonesty of self-proclaimed centrists demonstrated by the No Labels and Fix The Debt scams, both of which involve little more than selling out the social safety-net. We even seen the intellectual vacuity of self-proclaimed centrists in the results of this poll, in which we see some vague mumbling about the deficit that will eat us in our beds, but a strong desire to raise taxes on the very wealthiest among us, which I guarantee you none of the people who proclaim their centrism the loudest believes is a centrist position.
Kathleen Parker reacted to our poll with a column of stunningly mendacious "centrist" flim-flam. Parker is regularly cited as a "reasonable" conservative -- as mythical a beast as an intellectually honest "centrist," truth be told -- because she once wrote some columns in which she determined that Sarah Palin might not be up to the job of being vice-president. This, of course, was a stunning insight only to the comatose and to household pets. Anyway, Parker is quite comfortable in the New American Center.
Let us be clear. If the Iraq war hadn't gone so criminally bad, Kathleen Parker would still be punching hippies for being unpatriotic. If George W. Bush hadn't been a complete and utter fk-up as a president, the Kathleen Parkers of the world would still be proudly self-identifying as conservatives. If the reign of the morons hadn't come to such a garish end, the Kathleen Parker's of the world wouldn't be praising all those wonderful non-ideologues who watch Duck Dynasty and are "too sane for politics." All of a sudden, her side started to lose, and to screw everything up, and looked possible to be going the way of the Whigs, except that it was doing so out of severe public dementia. Suddenly, people like her declare themselves to be centrists. They discover that they might be "too sane for politics." Let the dickhead Christie from New Jersey get nominated, and suddenly, these same people will explain that union-busting and reckless bullying are techniques of the center. The New American Center is the same as the old American center -- the last refuge of scoundrels who still need a gig.
Read more: Response To New American Center - I Hate Centrism - Esquire
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http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/response-to-new-american-center-101613
joeybee12
(56,177 posts)pangaia
(24,324 posts)Sorry couldn't resist.
(I pick a different team every year...)
But whomever wins I love watching both those teams play.. the pitching is something to behold.
And if Boston wins. Congrats. Then GO SOX !!!!! :>
joeybee12
(56,177 posts)valerief
(53,235 posts)joeybee12
(56,177 posts)mike_c
(36,281 posts)Seriously.
rurallib
(62,465 posts)Douglas Carpenter
(20,226 posts)RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)The only way we save this country is by taking a hard left turn. The centrists and the moderates are in the way. We will have to run over them.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)Brilliant post. The political spectrum used to be divided into liberals and conservatives. Funny now that the Repukes have gone crazy, there are three groups, the liberals, the centrists and the crazy-clowns. The centrists have changed their name from conservative to distance themselves from the crazy-clown-conservatives. And "centrist" sounds so reasonable.
Of course the centrists have invaded the Democratic Party and DU. Just ask a so-called centrist to explain on what issues they disagree with the left. All you will get is silence, if you are lucky, or ridicule if you're not.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)Thanks, RC, for this great graphic.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)Scuba
(53,475 posts)n2doc
(47,953 posts)AnotherMcIntosh
(11,064 posts)With colors that are green or gold.
On the left side of the road, there many not be much in the way of green paper or gold.
The road is a long one. At the end, the ones who have picked up the most money win.
AnotherMcIntosh
(11,064 posts)1. Would you rather have had McCain? Or Romney?
2. Obama is not only smarter than McCain but he took advantage of the brain power of smart Republicans by appointing them to top-level positions in his Administration.
3. He's open to new ideas and is flexable in that regard. Whereas before his 2008 election he was opposed to NAFTA as being an agreement that was detrimental to American workers, he now understands the benefit of let's-ship-even-more-jobs-to-foreign-countries "free-trade" agreement by taking steps to sign the TPP (the NAFTA on steroids).
... And anyone can include their own additions from experience with President Obama during the last five years.
Still the questions remain. Would you rather have had McCain? Or Romney? Those are the only choices. Either a Centrist or bona fide Republicans.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)When the ship is sinking, it's no time to argue over which tune the band should play.
whistler162
(11,155 posts)for something other than a hat stand!
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)What...the...hell. Clue on line 7 - REPUBLICANS ARE THE ONES WHO GOT US INTO THIS MESS. THEY WERE VOTED OUT IN 2008, BUT THE PRESIDENT BROUGHT THEM BACK TO LIFE.
He has absolutely nothing that he stands for. There isn't a single thing he promised during campaign 2008 that he hasn't or won't give up, either to avoid confronting the Repukes, or to serve the 1%.
My God, things in this country and in this party are way, way worse than I imagined.
DireStrike
(6,452 posts)1) Never say mean things about Republicans.
2) You probably shouldn't let them destroy the country outright. Everything else is ok.
AnotherMcIntosh
(11,064 posts)Nancy impeachment-is-off-the-table-no-matter-what-they-did Pelosi also helped.
As did Harry I-won't-require-real-fillibusters Reid.
Orrex
(63,233 posts)Still, props for reiterating reality.
DireStrike
(6,452 posts)It's good material, just needs to be worked on a bit.
bvar22
(39,909 posts)[font size=3] CENTRISM....because it is so damned EASY!
You don't have to STAND for ANYTHING,
and get to insult those who DO![/font]
"In politics the middle way is none at all."
-President John Adams
[font color=firebrick size=3][center]"The only thing in the Middle of the Road
are Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos."--Jim Hightower
[center][/center][/font]
Phlem
(6,323 posts)Me thinks centrism is a hard game to play these days because of how polarized both parties are.
Thanks Charles.
-p
Utopian Leftist
(534 posts)It actually says somewhere in there, "would that you were hot or cold, but because you are lukewarm I will spit you out of my mouth!"
God has spoken. Centrists are snotbags God coughs up after a bout of bronchitis...
lastlib
(23,322 posts). . .
obxhead
(8,434 posts)Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)He also could have applied that to anyone calling themselves "independent"
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)for the terrorists or against them. But he was misleading because what he really meant was, one is either for the terrorists or is willing to kill or maim millions of Iraqis to prove you hate terrorists.
Georgie Porgie Puddin n Pie,
Kissed the girls and made them cry.
And if that wasnt enough,
he invaded Iraq and killed hundreds of thousands of children.
And the sociopath lives happily ever after.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)to fix it.
Maven
(10,533 posts)rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)and the right is against same. WTF do centrists want?
I find that sometimes you catch centrists siding with the right. Like on domestic spying and the Patriot Act and indefinite detention and the economy and ........
Centrists are just too embarrassed to call themselves conservatives.
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)they are without souls - as you say, unable to decide whether they want Americans to have, as rights, health care, clean air and water, decent wage, safe working conditions, safe roads and skies, and so on. they are on their own level as loathsome as the righties.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)their attitude towards some Social Justice issues, such as Gay Rights and Women's Rights eg. They don't care one way or the other and use that to infiltrate the Dem Party by appearing to be on the 'left' on those issues. On all other issues, such as Social Programs that help minorities and vulnerable people they are far to the Right. On Foreign Policies they are far to the right also.
We have the Far Right Republican Party and now, because of these Centrists who slipped into the Big Tent over the past number of years and have gained a lot of power in our Party, we have one and a half Parties who are far Right on some very important issues.
And that was the plan. Centrists were used to get the Dem Party on board with the agenda of Wall St and the MIC and it worked, sadly.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)We have some hope and that is via the strong progressive organizations outside and inside the Party. Where the DNC will fund DINO's the progressive organizations bring us progressives like Sen Warren and Rep Grayson.
I find it somehow ironic that the 1% money will most likely back Ms. Clinton in the Democratic Party.
Solly Mack
(90,792 posts)dreamnightwind
(4,775 posts)I've long believed that corporations have thoroughly co-opted the political center. They stoke the far right to keep a force pulling in that direction, and position themselves and their reps as the reasonable alternative, which most always seems to pursue corporate-friendly policies. And their media outlets make sure their positions are considered to be the sane middle ground.
We need to retake the middle. A populist center would do wonders for this country. I'll be over here on stage left, not the center, but there is no reason the corporations should own the center, their policies don't benefit the interests of the average American.
whistler162
(11,155 posts)some magazines are desperate for writers even writers that have flunked history repeatedly.
Centerists/moderates keep the world going not the left or right. But, heck who wants that.
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)They tremble at the thought of standing up to Fox "News" and Hate Radio. that describes the president and a big chunk of the DC Dems.
seveneyes
(4,631 posts)When you have reached your goals, you become centrist.