What is the Middle?

Reader Rob “Nofrowns” Jackson writes:

Is there a middle ground for every issue? I assume not. Can one be middle ground on capital punishment, for instance?

Rob is right. There isn’t always a middle ground. And, even if there is, I won’t always take it. The driving force behind this blog is a commitment to ideas over ideology. I refuse to be polarized. Take foreign policy: the far left thinks America is always a force of destruction and misery while the far right thinks America is always a instrument of good, a beacon of light. If you come into a foreign policy discussion with either of those intractable views, you’re useless to the debate. But right now, those people are running the debate.

This has to change. Just because Dick Cheney comes up with an idea, doesn’t mean it’s wrong. Just because Michael Moore posits a theory, doesn’t make the idea invalid. Now, I personally wouldn’t use either of those men as the driving force behind my ideas (or eating habits for that matter)—but I won’t demonize them either (although I have no problem making fun of them for their, um, portliness).

As I said to another friend yesterday, my hope is that everyone who reads this, regardless of political affiliation, will find something to think about. Of course, it’s possible that everyone will just find something that irritates them. That’s the deal. I don’t follow any political doctrine. Some days I’ll sound liberal. Other days, conservative.

And on that death penalty question. I'm against it. Someday I’ll explain why. It has a lot to do with my religious convictions.