logo

Say thanks by supporting us!

Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisement to our visitors. Please consider supporting to us by disabling your ad blocker.

Processing...

We need to punch back against the extremes of both the left and the right and define the terms of the debate ourselves.

- John Avlon
logo
Author:
John Avlon
Tags:
Debate
Back
Right
Related Quote
Show all

The American people are smart. They've gotten sick of the predictable hyperpartisan talking points and canned anger.

When people tap into this politics of resentment, it usually ends ugly.

A wingnut is someone on the far-right wing or far-left wing of the political spectrum - the professional partisans, the unhinged activists and the paranoid conspiracy theorists. They're the people who always try to divide rather than unite us.

First, I think more Americans need to declare their independence from partisan politics on both sides. The more that Americans declare their independence, the more the parties will have to compete for their votes using reason rather than the hateful appeals.

It's important to remember that Bush Derangement Syndrome on the left - comparing him to Hitler, calling him a terrorist and a tyrant - preceded Obama Derangement Syndrome on the right.

Politics follows the lines of physics: every action creates an equal and opposite reaction.

I believe that the far-right and the far-left can be equally insane - but there's no question that in the first years of the Obama administration, the far-right has been far crazier. In part, this comes from parties being out of power - without the responsibility of governing to ground them, the activists and the ideologues take over.

Right now, politics follows the rules of talk radio - using conflict, tension, fear, and resentment to find new recruits.

One tell-tale sign of a Wingnut: they always confuse partisanship with patriotism.

Showcase
Show all

We need to punch back against the extremes of both the left and the right and define the terms of the debate ourselves.

We need to punch back against the extremes of both the left and the right and define the terms of the debate ourselves.

We need to punch back against the extremes of both the left and the right and define the terms of the debate ourselves.

We need to punch back against the extremes of both the left and the right and define the terms of the debate ourselves.

We need to punch back against the extremes of both the left and the right and define the terms of the debate ourselves.

We need to punch back against the extremes of both the left and the right and define the terms of the debate ourselves.

We need to punch back against the extremes of both the left and the right and define the terms of the debate ourselves.

We need to punch back against the extremes of both the left and the right and define the terms of the debate ourselves.

We need to punch back against the extremes of both the left and the right and define the terms of the debate ourselves.

We need to punch back against the extremes of both the left and the right and define the terms of the debate ourselves.

We need to punch back against the extremes of both the left and the right and define the terms of the debate ourselves.

We need to punch back against the extremes of both the left and the right and define the terms of the debate ourselves.

We need to punch back against the extremes of both the left and the right and define the terms of the debate ourselves.

We need to punch back against the extremes of both the left and the right and define the terms of the debate ourselves.

We need to punch back against the extremes of both the left and the right and define the terms of the debate ourselves.