Center-Right America: Don't believe the myth.

It started happening even before the election. When it was clear that the nation was leaning left, and preparing to elect Barack Obama to the Presidency, and even more Democrats to the House and Senate, the right-wing pundits started pushing this notion of America as a "center-right" nation.

People, let me tell you right now, this is complete nonsense. A significant percentage of Americans self-identify as "conservative", for a few reasons: They're afraid of the idea of radical change. They would rather go with something bad that they know, than something good that is "new". They have been conditioned to believe that "liberal" means something bad, or dangerous, while "conservative" stands for strong and reliable.

But, consider that most Americans actually lean a little left on most important issues.

Most Americans want healthcare coverage to be available to all people. And, most of us realize that the choice is between trusting a corporate system that is driven by profit, or a government system that should (theoretically) be driven by a desire to meet the needs of the people. If we could really go to the polls on election day and vote out executives from insurance companies, then I bet my coverage would be a lot better. It's scary to call it "socialized" medicine, because the truth about Socialism has been so corrupted over the years. It's seen as somehow antithetical to Democracy. But, our federal government already spends more money per capita on healthcare than any other nation. And, we're the only one that doesn't provide socialized healthcare to our citizens. If we could clean up the government, instead of always reacting and throwing out the baby with the bathwater, sometimes new radical ideas can develop into incredible benefits for the citizens. But, my point is, if my Representative or Senator were responsible for overseeing the administration of a national health system, then every election day would see them held accountable for the job that they're doing. Most people favor that idea when you don't call it "socialist".

Most Americans think that the government should play some part in protecting us from being victimized by the greed of incredibly powerful people who do not have to answer to the voters.

Most Americans think that we should try to be better world citizens. Reestablishing our good reputation in the world will go a long way towards reducing the number of people in the world who want to do us harm. We know that engaging the world and leading by example is a more effective way to affect change than with fighting wars for oil OR money. Most Americans don't believe that we should be occupying countries to protect the financial interest of only a few very large corporations.

Most Americans realize that there are several reasons to make investments in alternative energy sources, and we CARE about all of them. Americans want cleaner air to breathe and water to drink. We can't afford to continue putting gasoline in our cars as the supply dwindles and prices skyrocket. We realize that most of the people in the world who hate Americans, do so because we exploit their resources. We know that investment in energy technology and infrastructure modernization simply HAS TO be done. And, we realize that in doing so, millions of great jobs can be created.

Most Americans don't think you should be able to go to a gun show and buy a machine gun. Most of us don't think that holding gun owners more responsible for what happens with their weapons is an attempt to "disarm America". You can respect the Second Amendment and still make every effort to keep people safe from firearm accidents and keep dangerous weapons out of the hands of criminals.

A majority of Americans think that access to abortions should be safe and legal.

Most Americans believe in our Constitution. And, most of us believe that it should protect ALL American citizens.

These are not "radical" ideas. And, this is not a "center right" nation. And, who the fuck gives Karl Rove ANY say in setting the agenda for the years to come?!? Barack Obama ran an amazing campaign. His agenda is not a partisan agenda. It is a common agenda. It is THE PEOPLES' agenda. The progress that he wants to make for this country and the world will not be derailed by a sensationalist media that thrives on controversy. And, it will not be remotely influenced by the logical gymnastics of newly irrelevant fools like Karl Rove or Robert Novak. The easiest way to hasten the extinction of the failed, divisive politics of the past, is to look to the future.