"Moderation is a family value"

Ideologues don't want you to go beyond the typical labels of left and right, because people might start believing you.
...I've always thought the American Eagle needed a left wing, and a right wing ...and both would keep the great bird on course. But, with two left wings, or two right wings, it's no longer an eagle, and it's going to crash.

-Bill Moyers - at the National Conference for Media Reform - May, 2005

The Heathen Middle is a loose collection of middle-of-the-road people who would like to be heard amid the rhetoric of the radical fringes. We are moderate in our politics, our way of life, and our choice of beverages. Our goal is to keep the fringes from unraveling the fabric of our society. The comments on this page do not speak for all of us. Regardless of what may be claimed, no political commentary speaks for the full spectrum of individual beliefs of any significant number of Americans. Being able to have diversity of belief is a fundamental strength of a democracy. Being able to have a little fun with it is one of the goals of this site. We are tired of politicians who don't recognize that it is probably a good idea for a democracy to have more than one political party. Given the outcomes of recent elections and the entrenchment of the right and left, it is clear that a small percentage of Americans in the middle will decide elections for the next 20 years.

We are radical only about comfort, security, balance and stability. There are enough sinners among us for many to consider us "heathen." (A little sin and a little sainthood are the best ingredients of some of the finest people we know.)

We also know that lots of preachers raise money by making people suspicious, angry, and afraid. That's how some are building 90-million dollar churches. We would simply remind them that power corrupts, and a combination of power, money, and religion corrupts absolutely. If there is a great judgment someday, those who are seen as "heathens" may fare better than some preachers.

"Don't Fiddle with the Middle!"

SOME OF THE TOPICS WE WILL COVER IN A WEEKLY COMMENTARY:

The Media

We are on to broadcasters who know the best way to get an audience is to exploit conflict. Most Americans would like our politicians and media to know we would benefit from a little less conflict and a little more peace and quiet, even if it involves aggravating the greenhouse gasses, executing everybody on death row tomorrow, and letting the guys next door marry each other and suffer like the rest of us. Just quit stirring crap so we won't notice when politicians hand all of our money over to their crooked friends!

We are also on to broadcasters who constantly find and interview obscure people from some "think tank" who tell us what we ought to be thinking about various issues. We are smart enough to know what to think, and it doesn't have to always be along party or partisan lines.

Stem Cells and "Life"

Some of us believe that killing an embryonic stem cell is probably no more a sin than whacking off in a tissue. (and we realize some people think that's pretty sinful.) Believe it or not, some would like for their neighbors to quit having so many children. Use a few stem cells to bring a better quality life to those already here.

Education

American children are in trouble. The left has raised so many equal opportunity concerns teachers can't teach school anymore. Making the curriculum move so slowly that no child is left behind will eventually make every American child behind much of the rest of the world.

Age

We are smart enough to know that many Americans are in a wave of "Baby Boomers" who are going to be out of luck when they get old. Their retirement has vaporized, and they are going to be expected to work well into their 70's. There is also a well-kept secret of age discrimination against them that will preclude their having worthwhile jobs as they age. No one, anywhere, is telling the truth about this. Big corporations are moving these people out of jobs in waves with offers of insignificant chunks of cash. Many are being replaced with cheap labor from other countries. We know that some high tech corporations fly work teams in from Russia to work 18 hour days while staying three weeks at a time in small hotel rooms. They pay them pennies on the dollar compared to what an American would make doing the same work. All of this is being done with little regard for the fact that we are rushing full speed into a crisis of elderly poor.

Liberals facilitated this corporate scam with their happy "We are the world" attitudes about immigration. Conservatives empowered greedy corporate bosses to skim and screw their way through the entire U.S. economic system. They have allowed top executives to rape all of our best corporations and put the money in their own pockets.

Liberals have been so "gentle" and non-committal that their political identity is now being defined only by conservative talk show hosts. Conservatives have traded their traditional democratic values for an ever-narrowing path of moralism which is dictated by self-righteous clerics.

Now, Only the middle can declare the emperor naked.

Americans long to find the middle ground. Civility, tolerance, acceptance, democratic values, dignity, and respect await us there.

Meet us in the MIDDLE!

(A note about the rules of journalism: We know them, but won't be following them. No one else does, why should we?)

Comments? Send your comments and commentaries to editor@heathenmiddle.com

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