It should be apparent to those of us who keep up with politics that the historical center has increasingly come under assault from both the left and the right. This is nowhere better illustrated than in the two impeachment trials of the former president. Presently, it looks as if he will be acquitted even though he has clearly committed impeachable offenses and violated the \u201chigh crimes and misdemeanors\u201d bar as stated in the Constitution. And why? Because the Republicans have abandoned any pretense of probity to favor the far right of their party. In contrast, the Democrats have maintained their left of center moderates regardless of some far left members.<\/p>\n
Historically, there have usually been two political parties in the United States, consisting of both conservative and liberal wings or members. This tended to moderate policy positions resulting in actions and legislation best described as left or right of center, avoiding either extreme. Parties were themselves coalitions of differing views as opposed to separate parties who came together to create coalition governments in what I would call the \u201cEuropean model.\u201d<\/p>\n
Third parties in the United States have never been very successful largely because they generally have focused on single issues which, if popular, were often highjacked by the major parties to attract votes. The Populist Party in the late 19th century, Ralph Nader\u2019s Green Party in 1996, and Reform Party in 2004 are examples. One of the shortcomings of third parties for voters is that they appear too ideological and out of step with conventional or popular values. The Libertarian party is a case in point with its cocksure solutions to problems and contempt for opposing views.<\/p>\n
We need two parties, conservative and liberal, with strong centers of moderates who can resist the tendencies toward the extremes. This has been, in my opinion, the real genius of American politics; it has kept us honest and on track to work for the vast majority of citizens, many of whom are apolitical and just getting on with their lives.<\/p>\n
I became acutely aware of the downsides of right and left, radical and reactionary, politics when I was in and out of Central America in the 1980s and 1990s. This was the time of the Contras in Nicaragua and the civil war in El Salvador that featured the struggle between the far right party, Arena, and the Farabundo Marti (FMLN) on the left. It was clear that both wanted to eliminate the center so as to achieve power; they had a stake in continuing the violence. The 1980 assassination of Oscar Romero, Archbishop of El Salvador, who spoke out against poverty and social injustice is a poignant example.<\/p>\n
The recent stirrings among Republicans discussing possibilities for a new party to replace or reform the present one offers hope. It is my opinion that if the Republican Party of Nixon\u2019s day still existed, the impeachment and conviction of Trump would be a foregone conclusion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It should be apparent to those of us who keep up with politics that the historical center has increasingly come under assault from both the left and the right. This is nowhere better illustrated than in the two impeachment trials of the former president. Presently, it looks as if he will be acquitted even though…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-by-robert-fischer"],"yoast_head":"\n