On days like today I get hopeful that our country can be repaired. Someone else gets it. As an avid listener to the Glenn Beck program I’ve noticed that for the last several months (or maybe longer) he has been advocating the position that Americans are being divided by politicians and pundits for power and money.
I couldn’t agree more. Something happened in 2000 when the stakes were high and the vote was so, so very close. Al Gore won the popular vote; Bush won the electoral vote by literally a few thousand votes, and America has not been the same since. Our differences have become more pronounced and new battle lines were drawn along the political landscape which benefit a very few people in this country.
Don’t get me wrong, I know that differences have always existed and they didn’t start in 2000. In fact, the founding of America as we know it was an arduous task that involved vehement disagreement. Why should we be so privileged as to escape the same difficult process that has been necessary in every country, corporation, family, church, or any other organization in the world? Furthermore, there are many things on which I don’t agree with Glenn Beck but I don’t hate him. I don’t want him to leave the country or to lose his job. On the contrary, the reason talk radio has been so successful is that people like me have not been doing a good job of calling out the people that are “on our side.” Even many of the people who claim to hate Rush Limbaugh are in debt to him for their employment. If Limbaugh went off the air, lots of pundits would be unemployed; not just him.
If the right can do it, we can too. Reach across. Our political differences will, to some extent, always be there and should give hope to everyone that we’ll always be a diverse people, respectful that others will disagree but united in our commitment to preserve a place where disagreement is itself respected.
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2 comments:
Since you mentioned Rush, I thought I would take the chance to comment on my experience with him lately.
I've spent the last couple of days listening to Rush's show on the radio. Let me say that I'm generally very conservative, Christian, anti-gay rights, pro-life, anti-gun control, pro-American, right-leaning, and mostly always vote republican.
Let me also say that after listening to Rush for the last couple of days, I'm firmly convinced that he's a legitimate idiot much more concerned with showmanship than anything logical or reasonably sound. But, I'm sure there are much better critics of Rush floating around out there than what I could produce. Rush makes a valid point about 1 out of every 10 or so arguments he raises. That record is only slightly better than the Queen of Stupid, Hillary. (I call her the "Queen" because it fits nicely with her position of entitlement and sense of right to rule through inheritance - kind of like Bush, Jr.)
For me, Rush does for the conservative right's reputation what back-woods Pentecostals do for Christianity and what suicide bombers do for Islam. No logic – just all mouth and fanaticism.
James, let me say that I'm generally very liberal, Christian, pro-gay rights, pro-choice, pro-gun control, pro-American, left-leaning, and most always vote democrat.
Let me also say Kudos!
I think this is what the blogger (Eric, I think) is saying too; that you and I could probably agree on a lot if the politicans and political pundits weren't in our way. We may disagree on some things, but I don't want all of your guns, or to kill the unborn. We could still respect each other & talk if they weren't trying to fuel the flames so much.
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