Discussion: Moderately Anti-Democratic: The Lie Of The Political 'Center'

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Discussion for article #223027

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The reason there is no center is any compromise the Democrats agree to, will be automatically deemed left of center.

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Valid points and long overdue! The discourse of our politics has gotten jaded by the cranks to the detriment of the People and the Nation. Ideology is a fools errand when only the extreme get coverage and credence. Get ‘god’ and guns and the thumpers out of our politics!!

Bring back reason and compromise!

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If you haven’t read this Paul Rosenberg piece, you should. People have been ideologically conservative and operationally liberal for decades, with remarkable and surprising consistency. Given true facts and a realistic budgeting scenario, even large majorities of Tea Party Republicans support smaller spending cuts and bigger tax increases than elected Democrats.

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Nailed it: legalized gerrymandering and Overton windowing voting rights have combined to turn the country into a permanent antidemocratic entity, which is what Washington DC reflects.

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gggggggggood luck

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I’m not fond of the fact that most people who know (and care) least about politics define themselves as “independents” or “centrists,” but I guess I’ve accepted that it happens.

What really bugs me is the smugness with which they do it. It’s every bad hipster clichĂ©, right when you least expect it. “Oh, you identify with one of the major political movements in this country? Yeah, I was into that scene for a while, I guess. These days I’m more about finding my own path. Oh, you want to hear my policies on things? Nah, I don’t really think you’d be into it, man. No offense, but it’s a little too independent for you.”

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Ah yes, punch a hippie moment. I see you’re still as smug today as you were back in the day.

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Ummm I am more concerned as to why the person in the picture on the tight rope is wearing elf shoes?

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Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed.
Everything else is public relations.

George Orwell

And what we have here isn’t even public relations, just a big yawn.

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Why’s that?

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Great comments. The only thing that I would add is that the pundit class has a great deal invested in the concept that our political system basically still works properly. Accepting the fact that one major party has become structurally irrational and obstructionist would blow their operating paradigm to shreds.

Hillary can perhaps hasten the process, but in any case generational change and the ‘demographic time bomb’ will make all their scribblings irrelevant in about 10 - 20 years.

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All those super sophisticates who argued that Gore and Bush were exactly the same
Just think–Roberts, Alito, Iraq, no efforts made on climate change


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There is no need for political parties when Representative Joe Garcia (D-FL) says communism can work in America. This is the same Joe Garcia to enjoyed a serving of earwax on live television.

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“Moderate” is just another word for “leans conservative but is politically lazy.” I never trust moderates.

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The Democratic leadership voted for the Iraq war and EVERY Democrat in the Senate, including Ted Kennedy, voted to affirm Antonin Scalia to the Supreme Court. And Gore did very little to further climate change action during his vice presidency. In fact, he was a changed man when he left the White House (surprise, surprise!). We lefties have good reason to say that Dems today are substantially similar (though not exactly the same) as Republicans.

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“Why’s that”? you ask. Let’s just say well written but lots of conjecture and assumptions. Didn’t learn anything new or anything of importance. Just another ho hum article about the ins and outs, the framing of questions, the positioning in order to produce the results the pollsters are being paid to come to. Like I said, a big yawn IMO.

This is all the result of 24/7 media chatter needing to fill the giant void in order to sell ad space - online or on the tele.

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I think “water carrier” is the appropriate term. It is easy to see why Brooks is often dubbed “The Great Minimizer.” Minimizers often seem to morph into maximizers when the moment is critical (that may explain the elf shoes.)

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So you don’t agree that the moderate middle is more a figment of the imagination than an actual political outlook with strong policy positions?

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The lunacy of this “centrism” is Brook’s idea that elite commissions could push these unpopular policies and he calls it “populism”. To quote Inigo Montoya “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

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