No One Asked Me But… (May 11, 2022)

By DR. LARRY MOSES

No one asked me but… I have often been approached by people who state they read my op-ed column in The Progress. Some indicate that they find my writing way too liberal and others state the same columns are way too conservative. They often ask what party I belong to. I readily explain that I have no party affiliation, which means I am one of many disenfranchised Americans who can only vote for someone the political parties select to put before me.

My political philosophy and political beliefs do not fall within the borders of any political party. I guess I am an illegal political alien who crosses all political borders. One of my dear friends has correctly categorized me as a mugwump.

Mugwump, is the anglicized form of the Algonquin word which first appeared in a political context in 1884, during the US presidential election campaign. The word was used to describe Republicans that chose to support the Democratic candidate rather than the nominee of their own party. The stalwarts of the Republican party stated those Republicans who supported the Democratic candidate had their mugs on one side of the fence and their rumps on the other side; therefore, they were mugrumps.

Let me state up front that none of the present-day political parties are to my liking. The very fact that they are political parties makes them suspect. The role of a political party is to gain power and then impose their beliefs on their fellow man.

The Constitution makes no mention of political parties and it did not anticipate their development. As originally ratified, the United States Constitution declared that the second-place vote getter would serve as vice president. This changed in 1804, with the ratification of the Twelfth Amendment.

As early as 1793, a group calling itself Democratic Republican Society began to appear in cities around the nation. President George Washington addressed this issue in his Farewell Address in 1796.

Washington stated: “the spirit of party serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-informed jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasional riot and insurrection.”

Washington was confident that the country would be better served without political parties. One must wonder if Washington was a prophet who knew that people like Harry Reid, Ted Cruz, Adam Schiff, and others from the extreme wings of today’s major parties would be inevitable.

With that being said, let me say that none of the present-day parties make me comfortable enough to associate with them. I am not a Democrat, I am not a Republican, nor am I a Libertarian. I am not a true conservative nor a die-hard liberal. I am troubled by the extreme right as well as the extreme left. I distrust rigid ideology from any direction. I am searching for a sensible center to emerge to best represent what I believe the majority of Americans believe.

I am convinced that the polarization of the nation by the actions of leaders of present-day political parties has denied the nation of the leadership it needs. The present conduct of the leaders of the political parties makes the thought of running for a political office so unattractive that those with real leadership abilities refuse to subject themselves to the lies and innuendos they must suffer in a campaign for office. Civility in campaigning is gone. In its place are attack ads and negative campaigns filled with out-and-out lies designed to destroy candidates and their families. Television talk show hosts replace reasoned dialogue with character assassination. Not only are candidates’ ideas attacked but so is their integrity. The slightest offense to any group, however innocently made, calls immediately for those in the cancel culture to demand the individual be fired, dumped, and in general lynched by their mob.

No one asked me but… One must wonder where our national sense of shame has gone. We claim to be appalled by the rise in sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy outside of marriage, massive abortion numbers, and by violent crimes running rampant in our major cities. Yet we immerse our nation in depictions of these things through the television programs, movies and the pop songs we allow in our homes. Our wives and children are exposed to language that was once reserved only for Marines among themselves. Our children see TV ads for products that were not even talked about in the crudest society ten years ago.

The question becomes how do we reset our nation’s moral compass. Let me suggest we do that by ending the character assassination of those who would seek to lead the nation. Attack their political stand? Yes! Attack them as individuals? No!

Let me suggest a book to all Americans: Founding Rivals by Chris DeRose. It is a story of how James Madison and James Monroe were diametrically opposed to each other politically, but remained friends for life. They campaigned against each other but never attacked each other personally.

We should begin by restoring the American family. We need to get away from President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society concept that led to the breakdown of the nuclear family. By predicating welfare on the premise that to receive government assistance there could be no man in the house, the young people were deprived the example of the role of the father. Would it not have been better to set a minimum amount of income for a family and then augment the income of the family to that level rather than eliminate a breadwinner and a role model for the child?

We must come to understand the government cannot replace the role of the mother or the father in their joint effort in raising America’s children.

We have a local school board that has reacted to the violence in our inner-city schools by establishing a program called “Dads in Schools.” Let me suggest that we don’t need dads in schools; we need dads in homes.

Thought of the week…Men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.
—Harry S. Truman