Op-Ed: Where the Left went Right and the Right Went Wrong

America, in my opinion, has lost its political balance. That’s because the Left went Right, and the Right went wrong. Both are to blame for the country’s failings.

Barack Obama won the Presidency by both popular and electoral vote, but even before the Inauguration he began to back pedal on liberal areas and beliefs. Although the Right considers him nothing short of demonic and Marxist (a typical epithet for anyone who disagrees) , the Left considers he has sold out, just like Clinton, social programs needed for the country. The healthcare debate is a case in point. Most Americans, as this author has observed in writing about the specifics of a number of polls, believe in having a public option for healthcare. Yet it is likely this option won’t be part of the eventual change. ABC News points out that the Democrats are losing the debate on the public option. Why? Because rather than pursuing what the voters said they wanted---real change—the need to be liked has overridden the need to do right. In short, President Barack Obama caters to the center and center right while constantly explaining what he means to those who are left and left behind. What this has accomplished, however, has been to undermine his support with his original followers while it has secured nothing from the Right, because the Right wants victory at any cost, even if it means undercutting the very democracy the country has enjoyed. The Democrats won, which means the voters wanted the change they once proposed. By playing defense against tactics driven by falsehoods, the offensive strategy has been lost and perhaps real health care reform along with it. A number of political commentators and scholars have pointed out the relative passivity from the Left, that tends to move Right when threatened, as opposed to doing right. This is the Neville Chamberlain approach to leadership that didn’t work in war and doesn’t succeed in politics. After the failures of George W. Bush, the voters said they wanted change and voted for it. What they have, however, is the Jimmy Carter hat-in-hand posture that cost that former President the Presidency and gave the country the conservative agenda and lack of progress on social programs for more than 25 years. That conservative agenda instead catered to the Wall Street wizards and bankers that brought us down. Now that’s how the Left went Right. The Right went wrong by losing balance, by supporting falsehoods and by a process that says winning is everything. Most have been schooled in the belief implied by the book title “Winning through Intimidation,” but not its message of caution and care. The Right also uses well the knowledge that people will believe a lie long after the truth is told later on. So it’s hit and run on message which gets attention, but enough to create problems and shift attitudes sufficiently so nothing gets done. The media in its effort to be “fair and balanced” has lost its moorings as well. Journalists are so busy writing “Democrats say---“ or “Republicans say---“ that no one is brave enough to say “the Emperor has no clothes” to those who stand bare naked. Instead, the journalist is likely to declare, “some people think the Emperor looked better when he wore robes” while others maintain, “some believe the Emperor wears clothes, but it is we who cannot see them” rather than pointing to the realities that exist and the lies when they are told. It is the mission of the press to educate, inform and hold power to account, according to Jeffersonian philosophy. To do so, the press needs to override the need to cater to the negative simply to get attention and do what the news was assigned to do. Catering to the public has cost the news its reputation, just as Obama is losing his by trying to appease and please those who can’t, won’t, and never will be on his side on anything. I propose that Obama proceed with his Presidency as Bush once declared and remember he has capital to spend as related in the Los Angeles Times and spend it wisely and well. I propose that he be held to account for how that capital is spent and that the press write clearly, capably and well when the capital doesn’t produce real gains. I propose that those who work with Obama and those who are the opposition legislate well, speak the truth, and that those whose proper role is to educate and inform do that and not simply be part of the problem of moving Right to placate or being wrong to be read.