Thursday, August 26, 2010

Extremism

A new Rasmussen Reports™ says that

Forty-eight percent (48%) of voters now regard Obama’s political views as extreme. But slightly more (55%) describe the views of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, a favorite of many Tea Party members, as extreme.

Though they are both "extremists," clearly Obama and Palin do not agree with each other. The supporters of Obama and the supporters of Palin like their candidate precisely because s/he is an extremist and not a moderate, though none of the supporters would use the word "extremist." Conversely, supporters of one candidate hate the other candidate precisely because the other is an "extremist."

Adolph Hitler was an extremist, as was Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was arrested and hanged for conspiring to assassinate Hitler. But who today is most respected: Hitler the extremist, Bonhoeffer the extremist, or millions of moderate Germans who never lifted a finger to stop Hitler?

I oppose assassinations, and I don't agree 100% with either Palin or Obama, but I am proud to say I am an extremist. I hope you think so too.

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