Senator Barry Goldwater, while running for President in 1964, stated: "Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice." On Saturday morning in his beloved Arizona, extremism was shown to be a vice.
Political rhetoric has reached a fever pitch in recent years with extreme conservatives and extreme liberals sniping at each other, putting those they oppose in crosshairs, and telling their followers that they want them "armed and dangerous". This not the America I grew up in and certainly not the one I wish to leave for my grandchildren. What needs to be done is to tone down the rhetoric and speak to rather than at each other. President Obama has been skewered by liberals for his agreeing to a tax cut extension for everyone, including the rich. The fact of the matter is that he did so in order not to let the tax cuts expire for those who need them most. This country was built on and matured based on compromise. The President has moved to a more centrist position and, in so doing, exhibited his willingness to talk out differences with the opposition and move the country forward.
May we all take a lesson. Rather than spewing vitriol and hatred, let us all come together and talk out our differences. In the end, even though we may not get all we want, at least we will get more than we would if we only turn up the volume and fail to hear what the other has to contribute.
Dave Hilsheimer
Dave Hilsheimer
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