May 31, 2005
Another plug for centrism
Something I'm hoping is just a slow startup is the new group site over at Grand Centrist Station. We're averaging a whole 15 hits a day! Pretty sad considering there are five members and most hits are coming from only two of them. So, I'm going to go out on a limb and request that members put up buttons. Until I get into a graphically groovy mood you're going to have to settle for only one.
More stuff will come. More people will come. More traffic will come. It's just a matter of time.
If this is the first time you've heard of it allow me to explain.
Everybody's so hellbent on being on either one side or the other of politics that many are missing the bigger picture. They have stopped being on polar opposite sides of the issues and become on polar opposite sides of each other. Words like terrorist, facist, communist, racist, dentist...er...okay maybe not dentist, but worse words are being used to describe anyone that does not subscribe to the viewpoints of either the extreme right or extreme left.
Personally, I'd like it if we could keep our extremities to ourselves; or at least bring something to the middle of the table. That's why we're starting this whole GCS thing. We believe that the parties as a whole have degraded to such a point as to ignore what is best for this country and fight the other party, instead of fighting for what is right.
So, who can join this "center of the battlefield" group? Anyone that is capable of listening to a rational argument without invoking the name Bushitler or French panzy is invited to be a publishing member. The only thing I'm asking in return is a link button. Eventually we may be putting out an optional blogroll, but with only five members I don't think we need one quite yet.
So, here's how you do it:
1. Slap the above button up on your website with a link here:
http://grandcentrist.blogspot.com
To make it super easy, here's the code to cut and paste into your template sidebar or elsewhere:
<a href="http://grandcentrist.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="centrist.bmp" src="http://warmonger.mu.nu/archives/centrist.bmp" width="88" height="31" border="0" /></a>
2. Email me and/or Jess to request access to the group site.
Jeremy:
jeremy.bol@gmail.com
Jess:
jessewithaj@yahoo.com
3. Jess and I beat each other over the head until one of us gets around to responding to the other's email and we both agree to let you in. Then we'll send you an invite to the blogger blog. Remember that you'll need a blogger account. If you have any problems just use one of the above e-mails.
4. Begin writing and/or crossposting stuff from your own blog that relates to the political issues of the day. It doesn't have to be centrist. It just has to be thoughtful and respectful. If you need an example of what is and is not respectfull let us know and we can direct you to some examples of both.
Good luck (seriously, not sarcastically, I'll drop by the site)...for the most part I find "centrist" to mean, "wet a finger and see which way the wind is blowing..." Not exactly riveting reading...and you know what happens to people at the center of the battlefield? Here's a hint, it's not good...
Posted by: Makrothumeo at June 1, 2005 11:34 AMJeremy,
You know I love you and Jess. And I echo Mak's thoughts. Ultimately, I am comfortable with where "centrists" of good faith will land on the various issues.
With that said, though, there are a number of flaws in your analysis of the "great center". For one thing, there appears to be the assumption that all who are not "with you" are "extreme" left or right.
Pursuing centrism is a losing strategy for building coalitions and making things happen. I will elaborate soon at the Cutter. For now, let me just say this as a teaser ...
You can't get anywhere by defining yourself by how you measure up against others. You have to define yourself and let the chips fall where they may.
Posted by: DC at June 3, 2005 02:13 PM