You Gotta Fight, For Your Right, To Party!
A third of adults in the United States appear satisfied with the proposal to establish a third political party, according to a poll by Angus Reid Public Opinion. 32 per cent of respondents think the National Tea Party would be a good thing for the country.
Honestly, and I’m not liberal concern trolling here, I couldn’t think of a better thing for American politics right now. A third of Americans (and this was an online poll, so caveat emptor) isn’t a majority, but it’s also nothing to sneeze at.
Contra the liberal blogger to whom Andrew linked the other day that has sparked a whole “leaving the left” discussion at the Dish, I’m of the opinion that strong voiced progressives and conservatives should not only continue to voice their opinions in a vociferous fashion, but even crank it up a notch or two. There was a time when I was a strong supporter of the “tack to the centre” school of thought on politics where you try, as much as possible, to moderate the party lines towards the most middle of the road and “practical” place you could. That was the best way to steal as many voters from the other party as possible, pick up those always elusive independent voters, and generate bipartisan agreement.
I have, frankly, abandoned that view of politics. My shift is due in no small part to the fact that I think such maneuvering winds up doing far more harm than it does good. It creates much of the intra-party drama that fuels so many of our, to quote Charles Johnson, “nontroversies” and it stifles sincere and vehement debate that is the cornerstone of a vital and successful democracy. That Americans continue to labour under a two party system only really exacerbates and reinforces the worst of those tendencies. A National Tea Party would be more than just a breath of fresh, if not somewhat frenetic, air, but I think would go a long way in helping to break that archaic and dysfunctional dualistic mold. And unlike in Canada, I think you’d actually have some decent, helpful, and better defined debate that would fall out as a result.
So any movement towards creating a National Tea Party is a move I would support. My ultimate hope would be to see the Democratic Party split into versions of its neo-liberal/centrist/blue dog and progressive/Kennedyesque/Dean constituencies, along with a possible reclamation of the Republican Party by the more economic/political conservative class and see what happens. I actually think there would be a lot of grounding to each segment given that they woulnd’t feel any compulsion to rail against the other end of their current teams. That grounding would, I might suggest, tamp down on some of the crazy and could really flesh out some of the different perspectives in interesting ways and allow for a much greater degree of flexibility and mobility in American politics in general.
Thoughts?
December 10, 2009 62 Comments
The Euthanasia Debate in Canada
Of 2,025 medical specialists who answered a poll on the subject, 75 per cent said they were “certainly” or “probably” in favour of legalizing euthanasia, as long as the practice were strictly regulated.
The president of the federation of medical specialists, Dr. Gaétan Barrette, said doctors already see some form of euthanasia in the course of their work.
“Eighty one per cent of doctors do see the practice of euthanasia given the circumstances in their practice,” Barrette said. “They hear their patients, they see their patients, asking for it.”
October 14, 2009 16 Comments
