State Sen. Ellen Roberts is considering a run at the U.S. Senate, but she is concerned about a “tough primary” because she is a “centrist.” A valid concern considering that the country is by some accounts the most polarized it has been since the Civil War. Of course, those poor mid-19th century folk did not have the benefit of an electronic media bloated with strident, logic-challenged windbags obsessed with maintaining an “us/them” culture in America, often claiming that “them” are a bigger threat than Al Qaida or ISIS.
Abe Lincoln warned, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” The purveyors of partisan poison respond with, “Yo, Abe, I got your house divided right here, pal.” And Lao Tzu admonished: “Even in this, one needs balance. The Yin of liberal wingnuttery must be balanced by the Yang of conservative nitwittery. For without balance, the ship of the intellect will forever founder on the shoals of motivated reasoning and logical fallacy.”
If you listen to Rush Limbaugh, you should watch Rachel Maddow. If you watch Chris Hayes, you need Bill O’Reilly. If you listen to Mark Levin, well, you should move to a state that allows assisted suicide. While there is still time, you should watch Jon Stewart, as he is one of the few who is presenting a sensible perspective on the nonsense in which we are awash.
In her own interest, and in the interest of all Coloradans, Roberts should work vigorously to pass legislation that would make Colorado an open primary state. Currently, Primary Day, which should be called Taxation Without Representation Day, prohibits unaffiliated voters from participating in choosing the choices, even though primaries are paid for with public money. Put all the candidates on one primary ballot; everyone votes; the top two vote-getters (regardless of party affiliation) go to the general election.
If we are going to reduce the influence of nutjobs, loonies, science deniers, wackos and wingnuts, we need everyone, especially independents, to participate in the process. That said, Trump-Palin 2016! Woohoo!
Kevin Devine
Durango
