The Radical Centrist™

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Archives for October 2018

Trump Lies

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Not much of a revelation, is it?  (I mean, not for anyone with open eyes and an open mind.)  President Donald Trump lies.  All the time.  About stuff that doesn’t even need a lie, stuff that doesn’t make a whit of difference.

So, why does he do this?

I believe a big part of it is that… he simply likes doing it.  I believe he thrives on chaos.  He loves stirring the pot, getting people all riled up over nothing.  And tied to this, this is why he often changes direction on a whim.  He enjoys watching people squirm and try to conform to his new direct… only to switch back a few days later.  You’d think that these ostensibly intelligent people would have figured this out by now, and wouldn’t want to be such obvious tools.  I can only suspect that their frantic desire for their own level of power leads them to compromise what values they claim to have.

Take this story, for example:  Pres. Trump wants to push middle-income tax cut through Congress.  He says he’s going to have a tax cut passed by Congress before the upcoming election.  Problem is, Congress is not in session, and will not be coming back until after the election.  This has been pointed out many times, yet he acts as if it’s never said to him and keeps prattling on.

I believe he is simply lying, to placate his base.  He knows his margins are thin.  But he also knows he has a solid base of Suckers that will believe pretty much anything he says, just because he said it, and he needs to keep them occupied and engaged.

Bottom line:  The man has no scruples.  He will do or say anything to get what he wants, even if it involves leaving throngs of gullible people in his wake.

Does it matter what we think?

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The last couple days this has become the political question in the forefront of my mind.  It hit me out of left field, so to speak.  Does it even matter what we think?

I’ve come to the conclusion that the answer is a resounding “NO!”

What’s your opinion on on abortion?  What’s your opinion on gender issues?  What’s your opinion on health care?  What’s your opinion on Donald Trump?  What’s your… you get the idea.

Whatever your opinion is on any issue, it just doesn’t matter.

If you’re on the extreme of either the left or the right you’re flat-out wrong half the time.  If you’re in the center, like me, you run the risk of either being wrong all the time or right all the time.  Both in fact and that there’s always someone there to tell you.

Have you ever changed another person’s opinion?  Ok, that’s a little unfair.  But, have you ever come to a compromise?  Have you ever come away from a discussion feeling that you both have a deeper appreciation for the issue?  Probably not in recent years, I’m sure.  Now be honest, do you secretly think less of otherwise fine people simply because they hold different political opinions than you on your pet issues?

You think you’re debating, but you’re really not.  You’re just speaking to empty air.  If you’re on the left the people on the right will ignore what you said as if you never said anything and keep babbling on as they’ve been doing, even if you’re technically correct.  And if you’re on the right the left will call you names and mock you and your Neanderthal thinking and talk behind your back in their little cliques as if you aren’t participating in the conversation, even if you’ve made a good point.

And that brings us to our next item:  Why is everybody so loathe to acknowledge a fair point?  This may be hard to fathom for some, but pretty much all the issues have pros AND cons, fair points on each side.  It is not a sign of weakness, nor are you conceding anything, in acknowledging a good point.  You’re just being a fair person having a discussion.  There are many issues where the other side had some good points, but the side I chose has more to outweigh them overall.  It’s not a big deal.

So, no, it doesn’t matter what you think.  Nobody’s listening anyway.

Can we talk?

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No, really, serious talk?  Can we talk, reasonably and rationally, about serious topics?

No, we can’t.

Abortion used to be the big topic that was always devoid of rationality.  You could pop in and out of abortion forums over several years and it was always the same few people screaming the same points at each other.  I know, because I did that on Usenet (remember Usenet?) roughly 15 to 20 years ago off and on over several years.  Nothing ever changed, not the people, not the arguments, and especially not the results.  The same people still held the same opinions.  No one ever really heard a single word that people on the opposing side ever said.  Abortion has always been the great wasteland of intelligent discourse.

But that was a long time ago, oh, say, 15 to 20 years ago.  Today, it seems everything has become so hyper-partisan that we can’t discuss anything anymore.  Immigration, taxes, race, gun control, and now gender issues and sexual assault.  Hell, even “taking a knee” has people virtually screaming at each other.  It’s never ending anymore.  It’s understandable when people say they’ve had enough of politics, even though the issues are vitally important.

I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I characterize the current atmosphere.  People are literally starting Facebook threads by telling people in no uncertain terms to unfriend them if they don’t agree.  I get that the issue(s) are important, both to you and in fact, but this isn’t helping.  All you’re doing is widening the divide.  You’re not shaming people who disagree with you, as I believe you think you are, you’re ensuring that we will not be making any progress anytime soon because conversation has been cut off.

Not that we’d be making any progress with everybody blindly and stubbornly digging in their heels, anyway.

We’d all do well to keep the following rules in mind, if we truly and honestly want to make progress on the serious issues of the day…

I’ll admit this can be tough.  We’ve all been conditioned to do this as a matter of course.  If you follow all of these ten commandments, then how do you debate?  Well, one thing is to argue the issues and not the other person.  If your position is righteous, it will stand on it’s own.  No need for debate parlor tricks.

And please, stop with the name calling.  That’s pretty much a concession of defeat.  You have nowhere else to go.