Myopia

Myopia is a defect in vision that results in the inability to see objects at a distance.  In a pragmatic and nonclinical sense it has reached epidemic proportion in this country.  Consider the Republican Governors who are doing their best to block mostly democratic voters of color, poor men and women, the elderly and the young from voting in 2012 by demanding birth certificates, car registrations, medical records, a grandfather’s naturalization papers or whatever else they have pulled out of their ass.  Has it not occurred to them that these voters will have time to register by 2014 when they come up for reelection, will vote and put them out of work?  They can’t see that far. 

Think about Romney and Ryan who are peddling enough bullshit to fertilize the Gobi Desert all the while smiling as if a growing number of media outlets, not to mention Ms. Rachel Maddow, hasn’t exposed their lies.  Does it not enter their tiny minds that the electorate will view them as frauds by November?  They can’t see that far.

What of the good citizens who have elected people like Christie, Walker, Kasich, Snyder, Scott and the idiot with the ultrasound probe in Virginia, and still support them.  Is it not within the realm of these taxpayer’s considered possibilities that too few teachers means too many of their children will never become college eligible adults; that the only people too few cops serve is the criminal element; that the firefighters and first responders were the people who saved lives on 9/11 running into burning and unstable builds while politicians all over the country ran like rats from their Capitols?  In another national emergency those valiant public servants would do the same, as would the politicians. They can’t see that far.

Clinically speaking an elongation of the eyeball or excessive curvature of the cornea causes nearsightedness.  Accordingly parallel light rays come to focus in front of the retina rather than on it and vision is shortened.  If we consider a world view to be the eyeball or the cornea, the various ideologies and partisan agendas to be the light rays and the retina to be the common good – we as a people have been shortsighted for a long time.   

There are many treatments for myopia today.  The oldest, some say the most tried and true, is corrective lenses.  The corrective lens for the body politic is compromise; that is to say, bringing as many ideas, beliefs and orientations as possible to bear on the problems pertaining to the common good, and reaching a synthesis of resolutions converging like light rays on the appropriate part of the retina.

It pains this old Lefty radical more than you can know to say this, but only those who can come to the center, or who are temperamentally and ideologically moderate, as I believe President Obama is, can save us.  The Republican Party has driven most of their Moderates out of office, preferring it seems to elect those who will not wear the corrective lens of compromise either out of vanity, greed, avarice or flat out stupidity.  The Democratic Moderates have been stained with the Blue Dog’s obsequious tribute to big money and big religion.  It is down to the electorate to demand that our candidates are capable of understanding common cause.  The first question asked of any of them should be, WILL YOU COMPROMISE on behalf of the good of the nation.

A myopic driver who refuses to wear their glasses will sooner or later have a crash.  The size of the vehicle, the speed and momentum will determine in large part the severity of that crash.  Politicians who refuse to compromise will sooner or later smash this nation on the rocks of foolhardy stubbornness and pigheaded spitefulness.  The size of their egos, the speed with which their partisan lies travel through the population and the momentum with which their self serving schemes engender fear, racism, envy and selfishness will determine the severity of the damage done to the Republic – will it be maimed or destroyed.  As Sherlock Holmes said, “. . . the parallel is exact.”