My dear departed Granny was about 80 years old in the 1950s, and she liked Elvis. At that time of course Elvis was something "new." Contrary to current and widely-held opinion, it's not all that unusual for old people to accept and even like new things.
So how come I, now "an older guy," am having such problems finding things to like nowadays? Did nothing of Granny rub off on me?
Well, truth be told, there are lots of things I find to like. Unfortunately though, none of them have much to do with what's going on in the politics and culture of America. I have felt that way since LBJ became president on that terrible day when something more than a President died Dallas in November of 1963.
I am not a Democrat of any kind whatsoever. I also am not Republican. Nor "progressive" or Libertarian. Sadly, I do not admire anyone I see in public office or even in plain public view right now. What I am is a PASSIONATE Centrist. A little conservative, but not too much so. I'm a fellow who believes fervently in moderation in all things, public and private. I like the Greek philosophy "Nothing to excess." And I believe it with all my heart.
Thus, I can't STAND the loonies on the Left. You know who I mean, "The 100 People Who Are Hurting America Right Now." Their blathering pre-programmed-by-the-morning-fax is so cretanous it makes my sphincter pucker (I know this turns many of them on). In all the 50 years I have watched tv, I do not recall a single Lefty ever apologizing for anything one of their club did wrong. When a Lefty gets caught with his Left hand in the cookie jar, the group reply is always the same. If the Demo-perp is white, they say "Oh yeah, well (insert Republican name here) did the same thing and where was your outrage then?" Followed by a smirk as if someone else's bad behavior is an excuse for them to do the same or worse. On the other hand, if the (alleged) Demo-perp is black or brown or even female, the reply is always "Racism." Racism!? Uh-oh, there goes that puckering again.
I also cringe at the whack jobs on the Right. The religio-politico-talking-heads who use The Bible and Jesus and The Flag as hammers. I'm not all that fond of the blonde-haired leggy or black-haired desk-thumping talk show Righties either. Why do they keep demanding that it's encumbant upon me to support our troops? I'll support them when they are doing good things, and I'll say get them the hell out of wherever they are when the Commander-in-Chief sends them on a mission which is NOT in America's best interests. That's also encumbent upon me as a good Centrist.
But let's be honest here, in this period of history, the Lefties are more anti-American than the Righties. You know this is true. So I tend to listen and watch the Righties as right now I agree with them... only because they are trying their best to shine some disinfectant light on the Lefty-secular-progressive-socialist-Marxists who are rotting the U.S. from the inside out. Lefties are the true enemies of us Centrists.
What is a Passionate Centrist? We believe staying in the center of the road is the only way society can progress in any meaningful way. The farther you move to the Left or the Right, the closer you get to the gutter and the muck. Now here, in the Middle, we live our lives as happily as can be and do our best to avoid doing anything, well... weird. You know, little things, like we Centrists frown upon molesting children. We shy away from sex with members of our own gender. While we might titter hearing about a man of our acquaintance who hangs around in bars wearing a bra and high heels, we will raise an eyebrow if you go all the way and change your gender from one to the other either. Stuff like that.
We think it's okay to eat and drink well but not so much that it has a diliterious effect on you. We'll take a prescription drug if we need to, but not for recreation. We don't harm animals but think it's okay to enjoy a good steak and fried chicken. We like our entertainment but don't like it smarmy or sexually explicit, although we don't mind it being violent if the bad guys are on the receiving end... especially if they are Lefties ;-) We agree that we are stewards of the environment and we love clean air, forests, the ocean and its creatures but we think it's okay to have tuna bake for lunch and drive any kind of car you want. We think immigration can be a good thing, but only when it's done legally and in numbers which can be assimilated into our culture. We think marriage can be a good thing. But only for one man and one woman. Any other arrangement is, well, not really anywhere near the center. We like our music but prefer every third word not be "ho" or rhyme with "duck." We stop at stop signs, we hold doors open for others, we allow others to go first, we say thank you, we never knock others over in order to grab the last piece of food or drink or political contributions on the table. I guess that's called manners. We have respect for those who earn it, and scorn for those who don't. We pay for things. We don't expect the government to give us things unless we've earned them. We wait in line and passionately want everyone else to do so, particularly if they are behind us.
I guess you could say we Passionate Centrists are kind of dull in many ways. But were it not for us dull Centrists in every country in this big ol' world, you'd better believe things would be even more chaotic than they are now. Thank God for us Centrists. As a Really Passionate (but plucky) Centrist, to the Far Right I say; don't be so whacky, please come back to the Center. We need you here in order to move the world ahead. And to the secular-progressive-liberal-Marxist Left I say: you are the lepers of the modern world.
