Not My President (3/3)

Surya,

Well, you haven’t given me much with which to engage. Maybe it was a bad topic/piece?

You wrote: “I’d write pretty much the opposite for each of the things [on your list].”

I would like to have read your list and your rebuttal. I think perhaps you gave up on finding commonality too soon. You may have noticed my many hedges and caveats. That is, I was not confident my lists were good lists.

I feel pretty good about claiming the protesters wanted a woman (obvious), a Leftist and a modern socialist in the European sense. I also feel pretty good about claiming the other side wanted a Doer (in the sense of action over words), a Rightist and a classic individualist (even nationalist). Much of that is really just describing the difference between Democrats and Republicans these days.

I feel less good about characterizing Hillary as a Talker (unavoidable negative connotations) and a Beta (hence my hedge on that one). I also feel less good about saying Trump’s Alpha style was desired (I’m sure many Republicans dislike it) and implying Republicans would not have backed a woman (given Sarah Palin’s popularity and Carly Fiorina’s credible performance as a candidate).

In other words, I thought there were plenty of opportunities for engagement and for possibly reaching a middle ground. Ultimately, I really wanted to have a conversation about whether a Republican could ever satisfy a Democrat’s requirements for president these days — and vice-versa. It seems to me the answer is “no” and that there is no hope. We have been, and will continue to be, a nation divided. Indeed, if the Bernie Sanders wing rises, we will move even further apart.

Or … does the rise of Independents (1/3 of voters now, I’ve read) mean there is hope? See how interesting this conversation could have been?!

On a relevant side note: Did you see Dubya was on Ellen the other day? Did you happen to read about his sweet friendship with Michelle Obama? This is just amazing to me! I guess everyone forgot that he was a racist? That he was undoubtedly the worst president EVER? Now he’s just a lovable teddy bear who’s best girlfriends with the first black First Lady. Politics is a powerful hallucinogen, my friend.