For as long as I’ve been politically aware, there has been a constant bleating about the importance of moderation and bipartisanship. While some problems are conducive to meeting in the middle, some aren’t, and I see nothing inherently noble in declaring oneself a moderate. There are some things I hold fast on, and they are things about which I anticipate never changing my opinion (or indeed, even allowing that opposition can be valid).
One of mine is a voter ID law. There is no reasonable, or even coherent, objection to requiring voters to show identification. If you oppose such a requirement, you’re wrong.
I’m making notes, both mental and physical, on my list for a near-future post. It is not a long list so far, and I don’t expect it to get that way. For most issues, there are reasonable opinions, held by reasonable people, that nevertheless differ.
Watch for my list of exceptions soon.
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I want that on a plaque, or carved in to stone, or something, because the “virtue of moderates” has to be one of the most persistent myths in modern American politics. People think that taking the average of Republican & Democratic plans suddenly makes them a keen negotiator, when IMO all they’ve really done is help justify the corrupt status-quo of the two-party system!
Heh. They get that twinkle in their eye too, don’t they? “MY view is considered, nuanced, and far superior to yours, you poor drooling bastard. What a pity to be so shackled by ideology and blinded from real truth.”
🙂
Regarding voter ID, I’d personally like to see it taken one step further: National ID’s. I can’t remember all of the arguments against it, there’s probably an “unconstitutional” or two in there. But the fact is, we already have a national ID number today, our SSN. Yet the social security system was not designed to be a universal id system for our country, so it has major issues in security and protecting our identity.
A properly done ID would provide greater protection of our identities, and probably help to reduce things like voter fraud (think if you had to effectively CAC into the voting machine to vote and your vote was signed just like when you sign an email).
My two cents.
Tahm, I’ll have to consider how I feel about that. Historically I have vehemently opposed a national ID, but so damned much of the battle is lost already…