"Say What???"

The Three Worst Words

I know what you're all thinking, but I promise you, your wrong. I am not referring to the common everyday vulgar language that has been ingrained in our society. No, I am not referring to racial or cultural slurs either. These three words are truly the most powerful, and awful words known to the United States vocabulary. In other nations these words have toppled monarchs, emperors, and tyrants; these words have truly made there presence known throughout history, and it seems now that American politics is doomed to follow the same path.

What are these terrible words you ask? What words could possibly be so powerful to do all those things? Probably the words one would least expect, they grow more common in our political vernacular everyday. so that now they are coming closer to being second nature. No longer is the United States the country of the Democrats or the Republicans, instead, we have three absolutes: the conservative, the liberal, and the moderate.

Before you laugh or chalk this up to random ranting, do me a favor and try this. When an obviously biased news anchor belittles his opponent, much like Fox's Bill O'Reilly does, what has become one of the first words to fly out of his or her mouth? O'Reilly would call them a liberal, a socialist, or so the synonym is made. When Roland Martin ,of CNN, refers to a Tea Partier or Republican who disagrees with President Obama, he first calls them a "conservative" followed by a comment most commonly insinuating they have hidden racial motivations or limited intelligence. These two words have truly become demonized by today's media and political elite, who use them as barbed weapons, distorting their true meaning and purpose.

Lost Between the Two

The worst position of all has become the unlucky "moderate." To be labeled this is political suicide because a moderate Republican is just as bad as a liberal and a moderate Democrat is much too conservative. The fringe movements of the far right and the far left have succeeded in their attempt to isolate the middle, provoking the infighting and instability that exists in our stalemated and broken government today. It is not the fault of any one party, but of both parties. In this the blame is equal. For if there is no moderate to unite the two extremes, how is a government supposed to function? How can an agreement be made when neither side will back down and there is no middleman to bridge the gap? The result is gridlock, which is what the American public has watched envelope their current Congress.

The rise of independents shows the unease and, in some cases, pure distaste and hatred towards the two, really three parties, and they deign to create new parties, parties who actually stand for something. The want the parties that existed before the conservatives and the liberals. These new movements have become the Tea Party and the Coffee Party, which in reality are just attempts to reconstruct the parties of old.

A Real Life Example

Let's look at the effect of bitter partisanship and the effect of the Big Three (conservative, liberal, and moderate) on our closest ally, the United Kingdom. During the first thirty years in the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, there was a constant flow of power from the Labour Party and the Conservative Party. However, once Margaret Thatcher soundly defeated the Labour Party in 1979 things changed. Issues became partisan, what was best for the country, for the people; what was right and wrong went out the window. It became instead only important to vote for what was Conservative or what was Labour.

The United States prides itself on the polite manners of the politicians who make up both of the houses in our Congress. So much so that the when a person shouts "You Lie" at the president, it results in a formal punishment and admonition. The British Parliament is not the same, with some of the most bitter infighting and poisoned words being flung full force at their opponents while supposedly deciding what is best for the nation. These politicians have become the unknowing victims of these evil words, and as we can see by the currently dissolved parliament, extreme partisanship doesn't work. For in the UK, there are no moderates, no party contends to hold a "moderate" stance, so compromises are hardly, if ever, reached. The Conservative holds the right, the Labour the left, and the Socialist-Democrat say a curse upon both your houses. There is no bipartisanship. That's not government, just petty bickering.

What's the Point?

The point is that the public must demand that the parties return to their positions of old. We as a nation must elect Democrats and Republicans, not liberals or conservatives. And we must not fear the middle, because America is, and always has been, the nation of compromise. The Constitution itself represents one of the most contentious compromises of all times; standing as a symbol of exactly what civil debate mingled with true respect can produce. The U.S. Constitution is the longest lasting political doctrine in the world because our Founding Fathers respected each other enough to make that compromise. Let's respect our Founding Fathers, lets respect the middle.

If the NAACP can "bury" the 'N' word on national television, then we as a nation can also end the use of the Big Three. I pledge to never refer to a politician as solely a conservative or a liberal. To me they are Republicans or Democrats, and I'd like to keep it that way. Policies and laws are conservative or liberal, people are not. Let's clear up this confusion.

Later,
Cody

(Photo: Courtesy of FOX News Corporation)