Donklephant’s Detractors
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in BloggingThis is a great post from contributor Michael Totten about some knee-jerk reactions to our centrist approach. And oddly enough, they’re nearly all from the left of the political spectrum. Ouch.
I’ll have a larger post on this later on during the week (and some thoughts on my time in the Dean campaign), but for now I’d like to hear from you about what you like and what you don’t. Let’s make this better together.
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July 18th, 2005 at 11:18 pm
I hope you continue this project, which has had a promising start. I’m not a “centrist”, but I’m glad to see blogs paving a way beyond the tired old Republican vs. Democrat give-and-take.
I thought the reaction at Alicublog was pretty funny. Moonies, killing non-Bush-worshippers … years and years of that kind of stuff will never get old, right?
July 19th, 2005 at 3:50 am
You might want to engage readers in a conversation about what constitutes a “centrist approach.” Is it the manner of discourse or is it a political designation. An earlier poster wrote that the center is a meeting place of ideas, while Totten’s post includes a graphic which suggests that the center is part of the political spectrum.
I applaud the idea of providing a space for sincere people to hash out ideas. The nature of political blogging and the people it attracts works against this, but I wish you luck.
As far as the center being a political position, I have no idea what that would be. Is a centrist someone who decides their position on an issue independently of the two parties? Or is it someone who will vote for a candidate without regard to party? Or are there policy positions shared by centrists?
I think “centrist” is shorthand for someone who is willing to buck the party line, but that doesn’t mean their policy positions lie in between the left and the right. It’s funny when the media refers to McCain as a moderate conservative. He’s not, but he gets that label because he’s not lock-step with Republican leadership.
A conversation about what centrism is might help your readers better understand what your goals are with this blog – just a suggestion. Apologies if this has been addressed already, but I looked over previous entries and didn’t see it.
July 19th, 2005 at 7:10 am
I am reminded of the presidential campaigns of Pat Paulson. “People want to know if I am left wing or right wing. Well, I’m middle of the bird.”
It is critical to the survival of this nation that people become more concerned about the welfare of the country than they are about winning an election or a fight over a nomination or a bill in congress. This change must come from the citizens of this country.
Violence is a fad in the entire world. It is fashionable in government just as it is among rappers and jihadists. Voilence takes on the cloak of the group. The members of our government do violence to facts, violence to honesty, voilence to the trust of the electorate without regard to the violence they do to the nation as a whole. Our only hope is a grass roots movement which decryes such behavior. I do hope this blog is such a voice.
Therefore, I think one become a centrist when one begins to put his political party affiliation second to the needs of the country. The US is being kick by donkeys and squashed by elephants. Maybe we turkeys had best call a halt to it.
Gail Denton
July 19th, 2005 at 10:13 am
I’d like to see more policies about an issue, Social Security for instance, and pros & cons about it as compared to the current system.
Or school vouchers.
Or abortion on demand.
July 19th, 2005 at 2:12 pm
I would suggest that these kind of knee-jerk reactions are EXACTLY the reason that blogs like this are needed…if not walking in goose-step with either party is a crime, you’d better hang me from the highest tree.
I actually have my very own brain, and sometimes I like to use it to think for myself : )
July 19th, 2005 at 3:41 pm
If you want to convince people that this website is “balanced” you could do better than a harsh attack on liberals. An unbiased observer might just conclude that a website that conservatives like and liberals detest is, in fact, right-leaning rather than “centrist”.
July 19th, 2005 at 4:03 pm
Fair enough Marc, but I don’t really think your point holds up. An unbiased observer? Who? Somebody who looks at two liberal blogs and sees that they intimate that we’re homosexuals and simply a tool of the right wing with just a very cursory glance?
Let’s give things a bit more time before they’re so played out.
And I’m sorry, but harsh attacks are in the eye of the beholder. I think the criticism so far has been oddly personal and that’s what has bothered me. Sure, we have bloggers from both sides, but I think you should take a look at Montag’s post today about being a liberal blogger on this site feels like.
Our aim is to start conversations where people can find common ground. This won’t happen every time. Heck, it may not happen a majority of the time, but we have to raise the level of discourse in the blogosphere or risk completely marginalizing ourselves as valued thinkers.