Category: Opinion

An Invitation For Respectful Dialog

On By SarahIn Community, Opinion, Politics1 Comment

Perhaps it is what the media is choosing to focus on, but it certainly seems like people in the McCain-Palin camp are more interested in continuing to assert misinformation about Barack Obama’s character and personal background. And to be fair, I know there are liberals who lash out at conservatives in ugly ways.

When I see these hateful outbursts in public, I respond in fear, and I go back to the comfort of my family and friends who share my values and opinions. What I see are people who hate me and my loved ones, and who want to move towards ensuring I am stripped of my civil rights. I am actually afraid for my personal safety, and I’m afraid to engage in any sort of dialog.

But I also know that if we are never able to talk to each other about our different perspectives, our country is never going to heal our divisions. I know there are people on either side of the issues who want to talk about about energy policy, the environment, healthcare, and the war rather than dig up dirt and attack the character of the candidates. I wish people would stop looking for reasons to hate and fear each other.

I know there are good people out there who have a world view different from my own, who are respectful and compassionate and who desire an open dialog about our differences. I just don’t know how to connect with them.

I suspect that I am like many others in that I tend to associate with people who are like-minded. My friends and my online social network reflect values that I hold. I am interested in dialoging with conservatives, and try to meet in the middle and find common ground on divisive issues. At the very least learn about what informs opinions that are different from mine and offer up the opportunity for people to learn about what informs my opinions. I want to get away from that place of fear and move towards mutual respect.

If there are conservatives out there who are interested in respectfully reaching across and learning about people who have a different perspective, let’s find a way to talk to each other.

The Ugly Heart of the Radical Right

On By SarahIn Opinion, PoliticsLeave a comment

The radical fringe right is rallying their base and spreading lies and reactionary opinion pieces, all of which is race-baiting the popular discourse about the economic crisis and ultimately the election. In a calculated move, they have people like Ann Coulter and Jeff Jacoby publishing opinion pieces basically saying that the blame for the economic crisis is on the shoulders of liberals and people of color.

Last week, the American “Family” Association revealed their true racist colors in two emails they sent out, pointing fingers at the Clinton and Carter (what?) Administrations, equating liberal advocacy for minority home ownership with the risky loan products that the predatory lenders on Wall Street have been so happy to take advantage of. What they refuse to acknowledge is that greedy lenders and investors were taking advantage of the hopes of poor people, knowingly selling them loans that they couldn’t afford. All of this in a deregulated market happened under the watch of the Bush Administration.

The Campaign for America’s Future is addressing these racist attacks on their website, explaining the history of banks discriminatory lending practices, and Carter’s and Congress’ passage of the successful Community Reinvestment Act in 1977.

People are freaked out right now, and I fear that many will fall for this damaging and dangerous misinformation coming from the radical right, making racism acceptable, even patriotic. This translates back to the election.

No one wants to talk explicitly about how race is playing out in this election, so while people are busy trying to be polite and not make anyone uncomfortable, the radical right is preying on the prejudice and fear that live in people’s hearts. They aren’t ashamed to cross the line, as illustrated by this quote from Ann Coulter’s recent opinion piece:

“Instead of looking at ‘outdated criteria,’ such as the mortgage applicant’s credit history and ability to make a down payment, banks were encouraged to consider nontraditional measures of credit-worthiness, such as having a good jump shot or having a missing child named ‘Caylee.'”

As posted in a comment on John Ridley’s recent article on the Huffington Post, “They are using these tactics to distract and to exacerbate racial resentment among hardworking whites in the swing states.” They continue to expose their hateful hearts at every turn, and I just hope that the American people are smart enough not to fall for their bunk and once again vote against their own interests.

Question of the Week

On By SarahIn Opinion, PoliticsLeave a comment

Fareed Zakaria posed the following question to his audience at the end of his show today:

Who on the campaign trail do you think will benefit most from the current economic situation? The Democrats or Republicans?

Here is my response:

I wish the media would stop asking questions that pit the right against the left. Perhaps instead you could ask a question that gets at how Democrats and Republicans can work together to solve the economic crisis. Politics should not be about whether or not the left or the right will win, but rather how the American people will benefit the most from its leadership. The media is responsible to help shape public discourse, and I’d really like to see more journalists answer this call rather than the call of the networks’ bottom line.

Sincerely,

Sarah

You can respond to him, too at FareedZakariaGPS@cnn.com

Lowering the Bar

On By SarahIn Opinion, Politics1 Comment

This article in the New York Times today really p*ssed me off.

As I have expressed before, I admit that my political views are not moderate. However, I like to think that I can be respectful of others. Just last night, Gillian was challenging me to try to reach across the political divide in the blogosphere and engage with social conservatives to try to find some middle ground, or at least try to have a respectful dialog with people.

But all week I have been listening to the analysis of the lies that the McCain campaign is telling about Obama and the Democratic Party platform, and I get a little impatient. Then I read the story on Salon about what people in small town America think about Obama. It is so frustrating that these people look the truth in the eye and continue to believe that Obama isn’t Christian like them. And they also choose to believe McCain’s lies that Obama intends to raise taxes on the middle class, when what he really wants to do is tax the rich.

The Republicans are again having huge success in convincing people to vote against their own interests.

This is all bad enough, but then there is this article in the Times about Obama waffle mix, depicting a racist stereotype in his image, and another one of him dressed in Muslim garb.

I’m ashamed of these Americans. This makes me feel incredibly hopeless about the state of American political discourse. How could I possibly engage in any kind of meaningful dialog without having the desire to scream, throw up my hands, and say some equally offensive things right back?

Someone on FriendFeed responded to all of this by saying that he was disgusted with the hate that was flying back and forth from either side against each other. I agree people have stooped to some pretty ugly lows on the left, but at least their actions are not being sanctioned by anyone who represents the Democratic Party.

The racist waffle mix was sold at the Values Voters Summit in a booth sponsored by the lobbying arm homophobic Family Research Council. Speakers at this event included Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney. The New York Times article says that people didn’t realize that there was anything offensive about this product, and I do not believe them. Even if it were true, there ignorance is not an excuse. In the words of MLK:

Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.

Not to mention that calling Obama a waffler is like the pot calling the kettle, er, black. But I digress.

I hold out hope that those on the left and right can try to find some middle ground, but how can we even begin to trust each other at all when people are doing and saying stuff like this? They ought to be ashamed.

Surely we are a better nation than this.

On Being Politically “Moderate”

On By SarahIn Opinion, Politics4 Comments

In this campaign season, I have been thinking about all of the people I know who describe their views as “moderate.” Democrat, Independent, or Republican, I wonder what “moderate” means.

In this society of ours we over simplify things by envisioning ourselves along some sort of spectrum between opposite extremes. We feel the need to define who we are and what we believe about the way our country should be governed by fitting ourselves into neat little boxes. Yet paradoxically, we resist being pigeonholed or put into what we think are little boxes that limit our true expression.

The truth is that humans are complicated beings. If there’s one thing I know about people, we are not moderate about the opinions we hold. I have very strong opinions about social justice, civil rights, economics, foreign policy, and health policy. I may express my views in moderation, but when engaged I don’t hold back. I am more than happy to speak my mind.

I bet that my “moderate” friends have strong opinions, too, and when pressed would say emphatically what they think is right.

I’m not suggesting that people dig their heels in on one side of any issue and be unwilling to compromise or see the other side of things. But it seems to me in contemporary politics if you’re not strong in your convictions, you stand for nothing. Another definition of the “moderate” is “mediocre” or “fair.” Indeed, the reality of politics these days is that if you occupy a moderate political platform, you end up making compromises on some of the very most important issues. It happens to every politician as they achieve greater power and success.

To my mind, identifying your political views as moderate is akin to staying in the closet. I’ve met a lot of queer people in my life who say things like “I don’t want to be labeled,” saying that they don’t want people making assumptions about who they are because of their sexual identity. Coming out, calling themselves gay or lesbian, would cause others to stereotype and believe things about them that aren’t likely true, thus limiting who their self expression. Indeed people do stereotype, and it sucks.

As difficult as it is, I argue that not expressing who you really are is even more limiting. When you don’t express your true self, people make even more erroneous assumptions about who you are, and then you’re really pigeon-holed into an identity that is not you.

Coming out, whether its about your sexuality or your political views, is hugly important for yourself and your community. It might make some poeple uncomfortable, but we’re going to have world peace, really learn to live together in this world instead of flocking to spearatist communities of the like-minded, we had better learn to be honest about who we are, and we had better learn how to talk to each other respectfully about it.

Being politically moderate is like being in the closet. Perhaps it is true that our politics do exist along a spectrum from left to right, but even if you identify smack dab in the middle I bet you money that you don’t feel your political convictions moderately.