When Right And Left Agree, Something Is Happening!
By Timothy V. Gatto
28 April,
2008
Countercurrents.org
The political situation in the United States is different at this particular time than in any other time that I have witnessed in my 57 years on this planet. This is the only time in my life that I can ever remember when the right and the left agree more with each other than the so-called “centrists’” of the GOP and the Democratic Party. Those that lean left, like myself, are afraid of losing their civil liberties, afraid of the corporate control of the mainstream media, afraid of the government’s surveillance of our personal activities, afraid of violations of the second amendment when it comes to gun ownership and are thoroughly disgusted with the governments clampdown on our 1st Amendment rights on free speech. When we see protestors tasered and sprayed with tear gas, hit by rubber bullets and clubbed, as in what happened at the G8 meetings in Washington, something is definitely wrong in this republic.
The amazing part of this scenario is that the Right, not the Neo-Cons that claim to represent the right, but actual conservative, independents that abhor governmental control of their lives are expressing the very same sentiments as we on the left are expressing. I am completely flabbergasted when I listen to Blog Talk Radio and tune into some of the “conservative” sites and hear the same fears echoed by radio hosts and listeners that were just echoed by me and my “liberal” listeners. Could it be that right and left have gone full circle and are finally meeting in the middle?
I don’t believe that is the case. I believe that free thinkers from the right and from the left are both coming to an agreement that we no longer trust or support those entities that are controlling our government. The right and left have always had a healthy distrust of the Military Industrial Complex and the burgeoning control of everyday life by the corporate dominated Federal Government. We have, on both sides, expressed a desire for maintaining our individuality and our freedom of thought and movement. These freedoms are being usurped on almost a daily basis by the American Federal Government.
The Presidential run by Ron Paul brought the similarities of the two sides together in a way that no one before him could have. Ron Paul was vocal in defense of The Constitution, and while the right and the left may have their disagreements about the nuances of the document, both sides agree that it is sacrosanct. When the government starts toying with the document that governs our liberties, there is no right and left, there is only right or wrong. I believe that the right is just as suspicious of the intrusion into the American way of life by Homeland Security, the NSA and the Executive Branch as the left is. I myself have gone on to so-called “conservative” radio shows and voiced my concerns and have been received with voices from the right echoing my thoughts.
The fact of the matter is that both sides of the political spectrum are concerned about what our government is doing as far as foreign entanglements and the rights of its citizens. The issues that have kept us apart are not quite as important as the issues that bring us together at this particular time in our history. I believe that both the right and left value our personal freedoms more than say, gay marriage or gun ownership. These things pale in comparison to the Constitution being taken apart and reassembled to reflect the control of corporate big moneyed interests that have infiltrated Washington. It seems that we have all become suspect, both left and right. We are all losing our freedoms without regard for what side of the fence we happen to be sitting on.
I believe that the time has come to ignore the issues that divide us in this nation, and concentrate on the issues that both sides are concerned with. The war in Iraq, governmental interference in our daily lives, the stripping of our civil liberties and the wanton disregard of the middle-class with jobs outsourced to foreign lands by free-trade treaties. We all realize that the top 10% of the families in this nation control 71% of the wealth. This leaves 29% for the 90% of our citizens to share amongst ourselves and the percentage decreases yearly. Middle-class citizens are losing their homes while the government bails out the same bankers that brought this situation about instead of helping those about to become homeless.
The Democrats and Republicans are both sides of a mirror. They are financed by the same people and strive toward the same goals and that is to disenfranchise the American People that make up the Middle Class. It’s about time that both the right and left did something about the situation we find ourselves in and tell both political parties that we have had enough of their lies and schemes. The only viable alternative that can truly take power away from the duopoly that runs this country is the Libertarian Party. With ballot access in 48 States and a possible run by Senator Mike Gravel or Ron Paul or even Gov. Jesse Ventura the way ahead seems clear. The people that value their civil liberties from both the right and the left should coalesce behind a candidate that will clean house in Washington and restore the government back to its people. When we get the government back into the hands of its citizens, we can go back to arguing about the small stuff.
That’s the way I see it.
