The Shifted Scale

It is almost impossible to miss, in this day and age, people talking about the left and the right. In fact, I do it quite a bit myself. There is, however, a big difference between when I say it, and when someone in the media says it. You see, I'm using the true scale, while they are using their own version of the scale, which shifts ever leftward.

On the true scale, I land just a little right of center, while many democrats of old end up just a little left of center. From those positions there can be compromise, and reasonable people in either of those positions can have real conversations with each other about what works and how things ought to be. The problem is that according to the ever shifting scale, those Democrats of old are now considered to be right wingers, and people like myself are considered to be far right extremists.

This is totally untrue, of course. I believe that governments are essential, but need to be controlled, as the Declaration of Independence states, "Deriving their just powers from the consent of the Governed." That is a just right of center position. Actual far right extremists are the anarchists, that think that there should be no Government at all. Many of the neo-Nazi groups (the real ones, not just the ones that are called such by the left) fall into the far right category. These people are easily as bad as those on the far left, and have nothing in common with those of us in the Conservative camp. Personally, I'm pretty darn sick of being grouped in with those people.

The shifting scale is also how people like Bill O'Reilly get called right wingers by the media. That guy is about as centrist as you can get, but according to the shifting (maybe I should say distorted) scale, he's considered to be on the right.

This has another effect though, by distorting the scale, and claiming the center to be way farther to the left than what it really is, the true far left extremists can be seen to be just a little left of center. This is how Barack Obama is seen to be just a little left of center, and John McCain is considered to be on the far right. The fact of the matter is that John McCain is a little left of Center, while Barack Obama is a far left extremist. Sarah Palin is much closer to being a little right of center, like I am, though she seems to be just a hair to the left of me, which is why I'm voting for her, and thereby, John McCain.

Now, for those who would see that I called Obama a far left extremist, and take exception with that, let me take a moment and explain. On the issues, after you cut throught the clutter, which I have, you find his stances to be in line with Marxism, which is a far left extreme position. But you don't have to take my word for it, look up the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx (hence, Marxist) and read it. Other than the fact that the language is old, you will think that you could be reading Obama's campaign platform. And those are the facts.