As a Centrist what gets under your skin the most? Or, as Peter Griffin might say, “As a Centrist, you know what grinds my gears?”
For me, being labeled one side or the other by far left/right people trying to bait me. Especially when I’ve been dealing with them long enough that I know they know better. I’m sorry, but that’s not an intellectually honest way to discuss. It’s shady, downright duplicitous. Dishonest. There’s nothing worse than a dishonest debater.
If you defend something liberal a conservative will come along and accuse you of being a liberal. If you then turn around and defend something conservative, yep, you guessed it, some liberal will trot in and accuse you of being a conservative.
They’re so deeply consumed with their own side they utterly fail to notice the nuances in your arguments and that you actually defend both sides from time to time. Or, maybe they do, but are concerned more with winning the argument and less concerned with the actual topic. I mean, call me crazy, but each side almost always has points where they’re correct. Inconceivable to some, apparently. Then again, I guess if they were able to recognize nuance they’d be Centrists and not whack-job partisans.
That’s what I do. If a particular point is valid, I will say so. And sometimes I might even have a run of one side over the other, but not to worry, if you pay attention I’ll be back. That doesn’t mean I’ve gone to that side. It just means I looked at the issue more objectively and judged the issue, I didn’t knee-jerk to some pre-approved conclusion.
So… what to do? Well, about the only thing you can do is rise above it. Correct where practical, but understand that some people aren’t going to hear a word you say, so simply disengage and walk away. Especially if it’s someone you don’t know anyway.