An Apology to My Moderate Republican Friends

Moderate Republicans, My Apology It occurs to me that, when I rant about the Republican right, I tend to generalize. I lump all Republicans into the same basket. I apologize. It is not fair. There are many Republicans who are thinking, thoughtful, informed and even moderate. Apparently, not every Republican is a gun-toting teacup carrying White dude over 50, and not every White male over 50 is a gun-toting teacup carrying conservative (not that there’s anything wrong with that). In fact, many are card carrying members of AARP. I know and acknowledge that painting one single group with stinging generalities is a form of prejudice. I own it. I am prejudiced, against extreme thinking. Once upon a time the middle ground was what we all sought; in today’s supercharged bipartisan world all those more reasonable viewpoints on both sides of the aisle seem to have been swallowed up whole. But they’re there, still, perhaps waiting for the current climate to change. I know several such specimens. They don’t shout lies and half-truths from the rooftops. They don’t base opinion or action upon pseudo-science or uninformed dogma. I may disagree with some of their views, and they with mine, but they offer intelligent argument presented from a reasoned and informed perspective. I can only hope to do the same. In that light, I also remember that not all Republicans are rich, just as not all Democrats are poor. Not all Republicans watch Fox almost-the-News, not all Democrats MSNBC. But the people in the running for high office court big money, and real life for them is a political commodity. Maybe the moderate Republicans and Democrats both need to get more vocal about the super-rich who have hijacked their government. I wager that moderate Republicans far outnumber the far right base we always hear about, but, unfortunately, most if not all of the serious contenders for the Republican nomination for President seem to be appealing to that base. This bodes well for the Democrats in 2016, all apologies aside.