Michael Moore vs Rush Limbaugh

What ever happen to the middle! Here is a question for you: Who do you think would be the most interesting dinner companion, Michael or Rush?

A person's answer would seem to define him in today's world! You are either a "Michael" or a "Rush". I remember when alot of people "Liked Ike." Both the Democrats and the Republicans pursued him for their candidate. While he was a hero to the masses and a sho-in for election, he was still the middle of America. He was A Republican who could make a speech warning us of the dangers of war and the military-industrial partnerships who benefited from it and were the powers which needed to be monitored and controlled by America's moderate middle.

While I have always been a registered Democrat, until the last few years, it mattered more to me who I thought the best candidate to be, not so much whether I voted for a Democrat or a Republican. I tended to vote for Republican presidents, and Democratic representitives. There were moderates in each party which seemed to be able to actually reach consensus on most things--and solve problems, and pass great legislation which improved our country and our society.

Has politics and our society really changed so much from two decades or so ago that Michael and Rush could not sit down at the same table without a food-fight? That's the way it appears! I think that the great proliferation of talk radio and Cable TV has created a constant pounding of news, politics, and nastiness never before seen on a daily basis. And it is there in front of the public N O W!

Sessions of Congress are all televised. I remember seeing a Congressional hearing after the Republicans took over party chairmanships after they became the majority in the house. The new Republican chairman was basically just rude and boorish in his treatment of Democratic members. Why do I still remember that! It certainly made a very deep impression on me. Perhaps in the days prior to "full" disclosure of "everything" people in these powerful positions had some degree of privacy to think about how they would present themselves publically. Now, they are always in the public, and all the warts show. And the drums are always being pounded. And I am of the opinion that I will never vote for another Republican no matter what! So I am now a part of it!

The public is always being pounded. By both the far left and the far right! It seems the far right is better at it and as a result has the bigger drum which tends to win the noise contest. And I have come to the conclusion that there are to many people out there whose opinion can be formed by whoever has the biggest drum and pounds it the longest and the loudest and makes it sound good no matter whether the message is reality or not.

So the far right politically is in your face--a force to reckoned with--and opposed by those on the left who view it as a danger to society.
So "you are either with us or agin' us."

When George Bush came to office, almost everthing that Clinton had for policy initiatives were considered "dead" in the water. Most notably peace processes in the middle east, which were basically ignored until the middle east once again blew up with the same old see-saw that had been going on for 50 years--a "terrorist" act by the Palistinieans, usually a suicide bomber, and a counterattack by the Israeli Army. After three years of the Bush administration, the Israeli situation is the same see-saw going up and down as it has for 50 years.

Remember that a just a couple of Presidents ago, foriegn policy initiatives which were good for the country and the world carried through multiple administrations until they bore fruit. But, it seems, not any more--when you are either "for us or agin'us".

Black and white is a very limited color selection!

Wouldn't it be great to put Michael and Rush together alone on a deserted island with the objective of solving all the great problems of the world--and not letting them off until they have reached a consensus on each of them as to a course of action. That would be the ulitimate reality show. We could call it "Ultimate Survivor".

One of my favorite quotes is from HDT in Waldon--"Niceness is the only investment that never fails". That is the investment we all need to make in one another to meet in the middle again.