While attenting your post holiday, mid winter gatherings it will be clear that politics is in the air. After all you no longer have the luxery of opting for sports talk to fill time before your meal. Bowl games are in the past, and it is just the beginning of the collegiate basketball season.
It is likely you have saved your bits of partisan sound bytes and you have been practicing on close family since the first sparring match during your thanksgiving slice of pie. Numbers and "facts" are all stored in your politico rolodex for this occasion and you feel confident. Go get em!
But first give me a moment to point out that the real opposition you must conquer is not the man or woman on the other side of the table, loudly bloviating on your obvious lack of judgement,while shoveling batter dipped biomorph into their mouths. Your real nemesis it the nondescript gawker sitting next to you. This crafty devil is the rusty toothless sprocket that needs attention. It is not an easy task to garner opinion from this gear of apathy. Any attempt to do so will net you a rolling of eyes and a dismissal wave of the hand. Pushed further they will retreat to the a claim that has served them well in the past, and if you allow it to succeed again will spell the demise of our democracy.
"I am a centrist"
With such a phrase Rome was doomed. Let me be clear here. I have nothing against "going along, to get along" when we disscuss the mundane. Or the prospect of a multiple party system. But in this time of war there comes a time to decide.
It is my intent to point out to you "the partisan", that the claim of centrism is exactly what we have known for so long, and have been reluctant to shed light on. When taken as a shield against admitting ones own indescision or lack of knowledge it merely puts more pressure on government officials who are charged with doing the bidding of their constuants, and it forces the rest of us to the fringe. These very people are the ones that must be reached and forced to decide. Lack of military judgement in Washington has and always will be traced back to the electorates fear to voice their opinion, and the present administration has forced so many back to the shadows that is the claim of centrism. After all you are either "with them or against them" unless you garner the free pass that has been till now a refuge for those that allow apathy to flourish.
