Political games

Where have the moderate politicians gone?

They all died? By moderate, I mean the ones who make sense to those of us who still possess a thinking brain, with the ability to think logically and rationally.

These days, except for some local Democrats I know, and a few local Republicans, most of the politicians spread across the state and country are knee deep in insanity.

Whatever sells to their base, that’s what they’re all about. It’s the fringe elements from both political parties who now control things.

The Republican fringe in Texas thinks that increasing the age to buy an AR-15 or an AK-47 from 18 to 21 is beyond the pale and an assault on the Second Amendment, despite the sad Uvalde massacre, perpetrated by a crazed teen who just turned 18 and went out and legally bought an AK.

The Democrats think that mandating small-business owners pay a minimum hourly wage of $15 makes sense, despite the fact that so many are still hanging on by a bare thread. In fact, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders believes that, and he is coming to the RGV this coming weekend to campaign for Michelle Vallejo, the Democratic candidate for Texas’ 15th congressional district.

If I were Ms. Vallejo, I’d tell Bernie, thanks, but I have “family business” to attend to, so sorry, but thanks just the same. For the most part, the Democrat voters in South Texas are moderate, not the sort who cater to Bernie’s platform.

Mention “family business” to anyone, and they won’t ask any more questions.

It’s as if the politicians from both parties, most of them, are doing their best to cater to the fringe element.

Bernie wants “Medicare for all.” Great, but who is going to pay for it?

We’ll figure that out later. The fringe right, which now includes most of the Republican Party, doesn’t even want to allow a woman who has been raped or victimized by incest to have access to abortion. They are so hard-core Christian conservative that their political hero is a guy who once bragged about his ability to grab a good-looking woman’s private parts just because he was rich and famous and could get away with it. To them, he’s a saint.

It’s as if both political parties, except for a very few, including some local politicians who are still fiscally conservative, went out of their way to find the most warped minds they could find and then elected them in the primary.

One wackadoo vs. the other wackadoo.

One side wants to build a border wall at the cost of about $2 million per mile, which will do little to stop illegal border crossings, while the other wants to let everyone in who can get to the border. No background checks, no health checks, no vaccine checks, just let everyone in. They love to quote the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor…” Of course, they’re all working for their corporate, well-heeled masters, since they’re the ones financing their warped campaigns that do little to help the “little guy” or “little woman.”

One side of the fringe element sees nothing wrong with letting a drag queen read a book about a gay protagonist to kids in third grade, while the other side of the fringe element thinks all gay people are going to hell.

One side of the fringe element thinks the cops should be de-funded, while the other side doesn’t believe crooked cops even exist.

Where is the common sense?

One fringe side thinks that personal pronouns are bad, while the other fringe side doesn’t even know what a personal pronoun is.

One fringe side thinks white people are responsible for every bad thing that happens, while the other fringe side thinks all Muslims are terrorists, despite the fact that the vast majority are some of the most decent people on the planet.

Meanwhile, both political parties are happy running up the national debt to increased record levels, with no way to pay down the principle much less the interest.

We need to return to the days of moderate politicians from both parties who could sit down together and hammer out solutions to our problems. Instead, today, they fight each other, curse each other, and as a result, we end up with nothing to show for it except more craziness from the fringe elements.

It’s like the new fascists are fighting the new communists. Two fringe elements going at it, tooth and nail.

It’s political theater, but it’s no longer fun to watch, knowing that neither side is capable of finding real solutions to our real problems.

Wackadoos from both sides, for the most part, are running the show. Comedy of the absurd.