As always Chuck a great analysis, never heard the humans and aliens reference before but have heard show horses and work horses. The Senate is at a lose for work horses like Graham, RC Byrd, John Warner, and others that got things done. However and I know you might disagree, the 24 hour news and the fact that the Senators and Representatives that are always popping up on TV cable and podcasts are the ones being rewarded with name recognition and campaign contributions. So there is an incentive to be a show horse over a work horse.
I wonder if moderation's biggest marketing problem is that we've never built the civic infrastructure necessary to make it visible or actionable. Most Americans aren't ideological extremists. They want competent institutions that solve problems, respond to citizens, and reward practical solutions over outrage and tribalism. What seems to be missing isn't another political movement so much as better mechanisms for continuously identifying where broad agreement already exists and efficiently communicating those priorities to our elected officials. It feels like we're still trying to solve 21st-century democratic problems with 18th-century civic tools.
As always Chuck a great analysis, never heard the humans and aliens reference before but have heard show horses and work horses. The Senate is at a lose for work horses like Graham, RC Byrd, John Warner, and others that got things done. However and I know you might disagree, the 24 hour news and the fact that the Senators and Representatives that are always popping up on TV cable and podcasts are the ones being rewarded with name recognition and campaign contributions. So there is an incentive to be a show horse over a work horse.
I love this line: "Living together imperfectly [is] preferable to fighting forever." There's so much truth in that.
Progress comes incrementally. Two steps forward, one step back. But lately it feels like its two steps backward.
Seems that all things in moderation has become quaint.
I wonder if moderation's biggest marketing problem is that we've never built the civic infrastructure necessary to make it visible or actionable. Most Americans aren't ideological extremists. They want competent institutions that solve problems, respond to citizens, and reward practical solutions over outrage and tribalism. What seems to be missing isn't another political movement so much as better mechanisms for continuously identifying where broad agreement already exists and efficiently communicating those priorities to our elected officials. It feels like we're still trying to solve 21st-century democratic problems with 18th-century civic tools.