Political centrists, including those who run the mainstream corporate media, position themselves as reasonable and more rational than proponents of ideas to their left or to the right. But the militant moderates are fanatics in their own right, closed to any possibility that they might be mistaken and willing to ruthlessly crush opposing views.
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Ted Rall
Ted Rall is a syndicated political cartoonist for Andrews McMeel Syndication, WhoWhatWhy.org and Counterpoint. He is a frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal, a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose, and an occasional war correspondent. He is, recently, the author of the graphic novel "The Stringer."
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The first thing all journalism students (and others) ought to learn? “The system is not set up to resolve conflicts but to profit from them.” The moderates don’t want fixes or solutions or discussions; they want the debate to go round and round in a never-ending cycle of shaming/woke activism/influence peddling. Rollo Goodlove from the TV series “The Boondocks” comes to mind. Clearly a parody (and not a flattering one) of Al Sharpton, Goodlove never fails to find an opportunity to turn some event into a media opportunity to leverage his brand.
Seriously: look at all the media coverage. I haven’t, but you do the lifting. The current kerfuffle over the ridiculous chimera that is Roe v. Wade? Has anyone — and I mean ANYONE — tried to bring the two sides together to ask “Is there anything — ANYTHING — you both agree on? Is there any tenuous connection that you can both agree to and from which we can try to have a conversation that will lead to a resolution of this contentious issue? (Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?)” My bet is that the last thing the media’s various blow-dried talking heads want is for someone to offer the two sides a way to start winding this thing down.)
Here’s a start. I’m willing to bet that neither side wanted Gerri Santoro to bleed to death in a motel room. Do any of the “debates” start from that positionality?