The Grey Republic: A Look at What Divides Us

Within our modern society there is very little that we can classify as cut and dry, non-negotiable, agreed upon by everyone, black and white.  Most of us have never met a person that we agreed with on each and every issue.  As such we all have a few options when it comes to social interaction…  Sure, you could carefully structure your life so that you only spent time with a few select people. (where’s the fun in that?) You could of course choose to opt-out of people all together, an option being popularized by hermits everywhere. Or you could simply refrain from ever taking a position on anything.  Generally speaking though, at some point in our lives, we all must come to terms with the realization that part of what makes us unique is that every single member of our species is different, both internally and externally.

So how is any progress ever made?  Well, through one of our greatest strengths and greatest weaknesses.  Despite our differences, we naturally group with like-minded people.  It really is as simple as that, and yet another thing that makes the human race unique.  We see the results of this phenomenon around us literally every day from the moment we enter grade school to the day we die.  Despite it’s petty nature, our cliquey nature has yielded some impressive results over the years, from the golf foursome to Bill Gates not getting picked in dodge ball, only to build a computer and found Microsoft. (or was that bad?)  Our country first started breathing when a small group of people decided that there was enough common ground to break off from the most powerful and tyrannical nation on earth, in order to create their own, more perfect, union.

The difficulty is that the very same phenomena, if left unchecked, can cause serious problems as our country matures.  Within an established society, this “group with like-minded people” habit slowly starts to morph into permanent cultural and ideological divides.  The reason for this is diversity.  Don’t get me wrong, diversity is a great thing, a GREAT thing.  The problem comes into play when we let our diversity and our tendency to group with like-minded people get out of control.  We essentially let our diversity divide us. People stop worrying about the non-negotiables; life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and start focusing on what divides them, which in turn breeds a sense of separation and indignation directed at those across the divide.

We see this everywhere, and its only encouraged by the media which is portraying politicians as “blasting” their opponents left and right. (pun intended)  I’m not here to name names, Olbermann, or point fingers, Limbaugh, but you know it’s true.  We are conditioned to have zero respect for the “enemy”, which only serves to widen the divides.  This is a slow process, a disease, which is helping to bring an extremely advanced democracy to its knees on a massive scale.

For example, how many have read this post and wondered which way this blog “slants”?  It makes sense that we naturally prefer to read things we agree with, because it is easier to agree.  And lets be honest, most folks (including me) love to get a pat on the back now and again.  Some more than others… again, no names, Janeane Garofalo.  But in order to move forward as a whole, as a country, we must let go of the team mentality, this us vs. them thing.

So what is the answer?  This much I know: No one will ever agree with everyone on every issue, therefore it is essential to discuss and understand a position from every represented side in order to establish a mutual respect.  Not that it wont be a heated process, (if you are as passionate as I am, a very heated process) but in the end, a well-thought out argument/opinion/idea should foster a respect born out of common sense.  Once a mutual respect is found, a natural focus on what we have in common will evolve into compromise, while what divides us slips into the background.

If we never get back to the basics and try to understand each other, we will never respect each other; if we never respect each other we have no hope for any compromise.  Understanding, Respect, Compromise,  only in that order.

So, to that end, for every issue that cannot be considered cut and dry or black and white, there is the Grey Republic, putting what divides us under the light of independent thought and common sense.

unCommon Sense: to TeaBag, or not to TeaBag

The politically charged “Tea Parties” that seem to have become more widespread in the US recently have gotten a lot of people on both sides of the fence up in arms. The typical conservative response so far has been (not surprisingly) full support, while accusing the democratic controlled congress of attacks on their liberty and their futures; they say the protesters are just average folks fed up with big government. Ok…  Meanwhile, the typical liberal response has been to paint these protesters as anarchists and maybe even the newly minted and potentially dangerous “rightwing extremists”.  However, most major outlets largely ignored the protesters altogether… One commentator, Rachel Maddow, even went so far as to mock sexual innocence, wondering aloud on her MSNBC show tonight if the protesters realized what the dirty implication of a “tea bag” meant. The current guest on the show casually suggested that the protesters probably weren’t aware – since they didn’t watch her show, but rather the “other” channel.

So, to quickly sum up how Maddow was trying to rip conservatives: The Fox News Channel’s idea of a Tea Bag; protesting with some flavored water. MSNBC {Rachel Maddow}’s idea of a Tea Bag; dipping some testicles in an open mouth.*  Oh, those silly, out-of-touch-with-crude-sexual-terms Fox News watchers…  I guess they all must have graduated from high school more than 5 years ago.  Stay classy, Maddow.

* The Common Sense Republic’s official stance is that while we appreciate the humor inherent to both Tea Bags, we simply cannot choose sides.

Shockingly enough, MSNBC wasn’t the only network to associate the Murdox Empire with all this tea-baggery today:

Now this video was shown in a number of conservative outlets, and yes, on the surface, this lady seems to lack any journalistic skill. Maybe it’s just me, but she didn’t sound like she was there to really hear what people had to say or how they felt. She asked condescending questions, cut off responses, and had a pretty obvious “I am better than you” air about her. The real gem comes when she inanely accuses the tea parties of being “anti-cnn”, because “this is highly promoted by the right wing conservative, Fox” (probably the biggest giveaway of her lack of common sense) I think the video pretty much speaks for itself.

As I watched the video I thought her behavior was very out of the ordinary for a CNN reporter, who generally seem to be middle of the road, and I wondered what got her so riled up. So I did a little research and discovered another, longer piece of the clip, which actually explains why she was so abrasive with the average guy just trying to be a dad while saving a buck.  Right before talking to him she interviewed this guy…

So this guy… This friggin’ guy… He single handedly tries to help prove the whole liberal anarchist position right there with a stupid, off topic sign about the President.  Not only that, but this philosopher makes such excellent points and backs them up with such well thought-out arguments, how could he possibly be ignored by logical human beings? Granted, he probably wasn’t ready to defend himself, but does this guy really think that calling a sitting president a fascist is going to get his conservative and/or possibly redneck agenda anywhere? It just made him look like an idiot. That can be a big problem with the right, they sometimes can get caught up in the moment and take things too far. One day they are listening to a little too much talk radio, they get all riled up, suddenly the feathers are good and ruffled, and now they want to run out and shank something. (usually the only thing that ends up dying is their personal cause). And a great example is this overzealous or maybe even complete kook of a guy… this friggin’ guy… who makes all the good folks out there, everyone who stood in the rain and cold for a legitimate political concern, look like they have no common sense.

So once again it boils down to two opposite and overly extreme points of view playing a little game of “shoot myself in the foot roulette”.  And who ends up losing?  We all do.

It appears Im not the only one who thinks this way, respected blogger Michelle Malkin apparently saw it coming a mile away, and even exposes some further hypocrisy by the reporter, based on some actions during a protest back in 2006.

Update: HotAir is linking to a new Youtube video that contains a key former CNN reporter calling for an apology from the “journalist” above for being rude and crossing a journalistic line.  Good Stuff.

So what do you think? Are you going to let the liberals, conservatives, or even the Republic tell you what you think about this new plan for a bigger government with increased spending, taxes, and bailouts? Do average people think it’s a bad idea or is it just the extremists? Only you can decide.

Related Post: Liberals vs Conservatives vs. Common Sense: Most Offensive Protest Signs

9 Articles of the Republic

The Nine Articles for the Free Thinker

• The Common Sense Republic is an independent blog dedicated to the promotion of knowledge, ideas, free thinking, and general awareness. Often these viewpoints are discussed with an element of inherent humor. We try not to take anything too seriously, and attempt to keep everything in perspective.
• We believe in shaking off any pre-programmed prejudices of party and class, while approaching all aspects of life with independant thought, reason, debate, and comedy.
• We believe that open mindedness and a firm resolve to attempt an understanding of opposing views can evolve into mutual respect.
• We believe that all opinions, facts, and ideas presented with that same level of respect should be given an open ear.
• We oppose and condemn the all too common practice of engaging in demeaning and divisive discourse. Furthermore, we believe that this style of ugly debate hinders any progress in increasing one’s own understanding of a topic.
• We oppose any “dissidents” who prefer to abandon respect for personal attacks, who have no desire to further understanding or to persuade, but rather to simply win an argument. Too often this is a result of a blind faith in an ideology or pre-programmed belief that has gone personally unquestioned for far too long.
• We believe it is everyman’s responsibility to appropriately question his or her own existing beliefs, to constantly look for the truth, and to apply that knowledge without fear of conflicts, both internal and external, that might be awakened as a result.
• Finally, we believe everyone can and should be an independent thinker. It takes a desire and dedication to objectively analyze and judiciously weigh the constant barrage of ideas and opinions presented by institutions in all corners our society (in politics, the media, religion, family, even this website).
• The desire for personal understanding and the dissemination of knowledge is part of what defines the The Common Sense Republic.

The Constitution

The Constitution:

We, the slightly sarcastic people of The Common Sense Republic, may have created this forum to promote free thinking and general good sense through humor and social/political commentary. It may have also been designed to demonstrate, even prove, that opposing viewpoints can still be presented with logical argument in a respectful way. We might hope that everyone holds their views as passionately as we do, and we probably feel that every well thought out idea deserves respect and fair consideration. (The same might not be said for ideas or opinions that exhibit an obvious lack of independent thought and/or common sense.)

At the end of the day, we are probably right in the understanding that there are a few key elements that are helpful, if not essential, to achieving effective political and social progress, resulting in increased general knowledge and the ability to compromise.

• A mutual (and often grudging) respect for the independent thinker’s ideas.
• A sense of humor.
• A desire for greater personal understanding.
• A platform to promote general awareness and common sense.

* We will probably just go ahead and leave this up to interpretation and reinterpretation, and fully expect it to change with time.

The Amendments

The Amendments for the Comedic Minded

• We believe in Humor. We believe in Common Sense. Therefore we are not afraid to promote Common Sense through exposing those who demonstrate a lack of it. Please do not take it personally, and feel free to present your defense, no matter how silly it may seem.
• Every established institution and ideology has “champions” who will inevitably make exceptionally ironic mistakes at one point or another. We will be waiting.
• Social and Political extremists on both sides of every issue are perfect for lampooning, and often demonstrate extreme cases of C.S.L. (Common Sense Loss) in defending their various points of view.
• Desperation may be a stinky perfume, but rankest cologne is still made of pure panther condescension.  “80% percent of the time, it looks stupid every time”
• Sometimes the best way to be open minded about a hotly disputed topic is to look for the humor in the situation.