What is a Centrist Extremist?
Well, this is my first blog post. I don’t just mean for this blog, I mean ever. I was not a blogger. Now I am.
What would I like to do with this blog? Partly, I would like to organize my own thoughts. Partially, out of vanity I suppose, I’d like to present those ideas so others can agree or disagree. If I manage to get even 1 person to read my blog on a somewhat regular basis I will probably (in the privacy of my bedroom) do a bit of a dance.
I intend to cover a topic that seems to get far too little coverage- Politics.
Specifically, I want to provide opinion-oriented politics from the bias of a Centrist. More specifically, a Centrist Extremist. What is a Centrist Extremist? That’s a good question. First of all, when Googled it, I get about 300 hits. I don’t know what any of them say. I came up with the word to describe my political outlook because I found left/right, red/blue, and Democrat/Republican too simplistic. I was talking politics with some guy I’d just met and he called me a left wing extremist because I don’t like the idea of the government spying on my phone calls. I said “No, wanting small government makes me a Conservative.” He asked, incredulously if I was thusly claiming to be a righter-winger. I said, “Dear God no! I am a Centrist. A Centrist Extremist.” I thought it sounded clever, I’ve used it ever since.
So, what is a Centrist Extremist? I would hope I’m not the only one out there. I am certainly no tree-hugger, and I love eating all sorts of animal. But I’m also no bible thumper trying to turn a Republic into Theocracy-Lite©. I’m in the middle, but very much so. How is that an Extremist view? Because I’m not just confused or wishy-washy, I know what I think, I defend what I think, and what I think, is generally somewhere in the middle. When I agree with someone from either spectrum, I agree vehemently. I agree with Republicans when they defend the second amendment. I go further than most conservatives in thinking that a US citizen should be allowed ANY weapon, and that includes tanks. That’s a bit extreme, I know that. I am very left when it comes to health care, but my reasoning is pro-business as I think universal health care is good for business and our military. I’d love to cut all corporate and dividend taxes, but I also want a very progressive tax code.
Well then, I suppose describing the title of this blog is as good a topic for my first post as any other.
A Centrist is most certainly not an undecided voter sitting on the fence, though we can be confused with them because we never have a respectable candidate that doesn’t intend to pander to the crazy wings of their party.
I’ve been told that this country was founded on Diversity. People have parades and parties and wear silly costumes all in the name of Diversity. There are entire months and rows of Hallmark cards dedicated to embracing Diversity. It’s all Hogwash. What does this have to do with the Centrist Extremist?
A Centrist Extremist believes in the very first motto of this great nation, E Pluribus Unum. Out of many, one. There is no obstacle, great or small, that our joint unity can’t overcome.
The bombs we dropped on Japan were designed by German immigrants. Our secrets were protected by Native American code talkers, the only code to never broken. FDR was a descendant of the Netherlands. When our forces broke Normandy, it was with the descendants of immigrants from every continent on Earth. When they bled, though soldiers of every color, only one color stained those beaches. When we were at war, it wasn’t the Presidents war, or one Party’s war, it was Our war, and we were unified behind it. American Unity, not Diversity, has been the driving force of our economic and military power for centuries, and should thusly serve as the driving political force as well.
Centrist Extremists agrees with Benjamin Franklin when he said “We must hang together, gentlemen…else, we shall most assuredly hang separately.” When we disagree with each other, it should be with the knowledge we simply disagree about the best path to take towards the betterment of our nation, not the destination itself. Compromise is a positive step towards respecting democracy, it is not a flip flop.
We can never be unified without mutual respect, patriotism, and compromise. Finding that center, finding that place where we can get the largest swath of people, far larger than any wing of any party, is the goal of the Centrist Extremist.
A Centrist Extremists stands fiercely behind the rights granted by the Constitution, because if the Government can take ANY right not explicitly given them by law, they can take any right for any reason at any time.
Through a love of country, the fears of a bureaucracy run amok, and the hopes of a benevolent government, a Centrist Extremist tries to set a path that allows the most people to benefit from the least government.
The Centrist Extremist stands in the middle of the Nation trying to keep the Democrats and the Republicans from tearing us apart.
Actually, I suspect it will take a very great many posts to really describe who a Centrist Extremist is, so in the coming days and weeks, I will do my best to more fully define the idea.
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