Every election, we promise to change the tone of politics. And every election, things get nasty. While this election was truly not as nasty as some that have been (definitely not as bad as the ones in the ninteenth century), things did descend below the belt several times. None of the worst stuff was perpetuated by the campaigns, either. The worst rumors were perpetuated by internet crackpots and desperate extremists who counted on mainstream American ignorance to perpetuate their filth.

It didn’t seem to matter whether the stories were true or even plausible. The farthest side of each group kept firing rumors into the air, while news pundits kept bringing them up with a ‘You didn’t hear this from me, but…’.

When extremists want to destroy somebody, truth goes out the window, because the right had convinced themselves that they were trying to keep the antichrist out of office and the left had demonized Bush that keeping a Republican out of office became a a moral duty.

2. They are both conspiracy theorists

President Obama went to elementary school, middle school, high school, Occidental College, Columbia and Harvard. He got married, got a driver’s license, practiced law, had two children, ran for the State Senate, and the US Senate. During all this time, according to the Obama Birth Certificate conspiracy theorists, he did all of this without a real certification of ever having been born in the US. 

According to some, ever since Obama was born, there has been a conspiracy to make him an illegal President. And the conspiracy continues- the Supreme Court recently threw out the case for Obama not having been born in the US. Keep in mind that this is the same US Supreme that brought us Bush v. Gore, a supreme court that does not want a Democrat around to appoint their successors.

Then there is Sarah Palin’s baby Trig. He is the cutest little thing and how he managed to sleep through all the noise and clapping is beyond me. However, this innocent child became the center of a conspiracy theory when people began to say that his real mother was his sister, Bristol and that Sarah wasn’t his mother.

There is no crueler thing for a parent than for someone to deny that their child is theirs, but the most appalling thing is how this was snatched out of thin air. Why do people think every politician is capable of manipulating everything, including the weather.

3. They are both prejudiced

Sarah Palin was used by the Republican Party. She was used in a cynical way, to counteract the effect of having a minority run for president.  People tend to view Palin’s claims of sexism with scorn since she is a Republican. It would be sexist to criticize a male candidate for lacking political knowledge and not criticize a female. But I see what Palin’s talking about. Hers is the party of traditionalism. Her voter base is made up of a group of people who hold housewifery as the highest calling for a woman. They obviously didn’t put her up front because they liked her policy. They just used her face.

It seems that extreme left-wing feminists  want a woman to be able choose, but only when that woman chooses their ways. Isn’t funny how femininity is mostly demonized by women?

Obama haters barely try to disguise the source of their hatred. During the campaign, one man hung a sign in his yard that said: Barak Obama- Half Breed Muslin (that’s not a typo, that’s how he really spelled it). When Obama opponents criticize Obama, they speak to black people, ignoring the video an pictures from Election night showing crowds of white and asian people mixed in with the black and hispanic voters.

He won the majority of public and electoral votes, but he’s still plagued by just becauses: if he won just because he’s black then why didn’t Al Sharpton win when he ran? Why didn’t Jesse Jackson win when he ran?

You can dislike a candidate

4. They Cost us Too Much

People take political elections so personally that all reason goes out the window. It doesn’t matter if their accusations don’t make sense or if the rumors they spread cater to the worst elements of human nature . Their sleazy rhetoric makes intelligent political discourse less and less possible everytime they open their mouths.  And everytime we allow these things to go on, we lose our souls a little more. Hate Sucks.

The Middle Ground is a political blog. You’ll see examples of extremist groups and people. You’ll see fictitious conversations between conservatives and liberals, read news stories highlighting the destructive effects of extremism and get occasional reviews of political books.

I chose this topic because I am worried about American morality (which is not just about sex). In the USA, people who read books and ask questions are called elitist, the paths that make sense are ignored and while the sight of a man with a rainbow t-shirt and “booty” shorts inspires petitioning, protests and prayer vigils while the slaughter of children in Darfur is just a tidbit. That is immorality.

Our belief systems no longer make sense:

The Right Wing says that life is sacred so abortion is wrong, but when it comes to a controversial war, the Right also dismisses civilian casuaties-including children- as ‘unavoidable’.

On the Left, you have people who refuse to eat any animal product, who campaign tirelessly for the rights of dogs, cats, birds, horses, trees, fish- but they want society to view the abortion of a fetus as being like a trip to the dentist .

What do we really believe?

My hope is that The Middle Ground encourages people to think about their politics.