General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: "When did moderate become a political dirty word?" CNN [View all]lumberjack_jeff
(33,224 posts)Conservatives have been living by the Goldwater motto, and each year, the goal posts drift a little further to the right. Since "moderates" are chained by varying proximity to that goal post, they get dragged to the right - usually without consciously knowing it.
Liberals and progressives are caught in a "make nice" world view and a practical short-term need to appeal to those moderates. So now, implementing a healthcare plan that is far to the right of the one Nixon supported, ending welfare as we know it, and outright rejecting the Social Security solvency solution designed by Reagan are where the ball lies.
I think we mostly agree that this site is supposed to be a community of people interested in the idea of progressive solutions and moving the needle back to socially conscious priorities. Moderation fails to do that.
I would use gentler terms outside of DU to explain my contempt for moderation. I don't have much respect for anyone who "thinks for themselves" by planting their ideological flag half-way between Stephanie Miller and Glenn Beck. They're not thinking for themselves at all, they are lazily and stupidly splitting the difference in a hope of maintaining some proximity to the eventual winner.
Fuck moderation.