I suppose it's human nature to want to belong, to identify with a group of like-minded individuals, but I fear we will never reach a national consensus as long we insist on defining our political activism in ideological terms. While the existence of extremists on either end of the political spectrum cannot be denied, the majority of the electorate cannot be easily or usefully classified. Though most of us tend to self identify as being of a particular political bent, if we assess our values and priorities dispassionately, we find we don't belong in any one category.
Labels divide us into camps, bickering with each other, at a time when we need to form a united front to battle the true threat to our system of government -- professional politicians who work only for the special interests that fund their campaigns. Labels encourage us to argue over short term disagreements instead of working for the long term common good. Labels close the door to debate rather than build bridges to compromise.
It's time for us to stop worrying about who's in "our" tent and start approaching solutions under the umbrella of our common need as fellow Americans. Which is ending our current rule under the whims of secret executive fiat by insisting our government operate in transparency and is held accountable to the people, thus restoring our age old system of checks and balances to its former vital function in our governance. Without that, nothing else we do will matter.
Libby Spencer is a political blogger for The Detroit News who also publishes The Impolitic, a political blog with a pragmatic view and Last One Speaks, a blog devoted to drug policy reform and tales of her misadventures.
