I am often accused of being a right-wing conservative "Rethuglican" by those on the Left and a bleeding heart commie liberal by people on the Right. And the synthesis of these criticisms often make me out to be a moderate. While I am certainly not a moderate, I very much believe that we need moderate rhetoric and temperament in our political dialog and debate.

A good friend of mine made this case far better than I can so have I included it below:

What bothers me is the absence of moderation--not necessarily in terms of political views but in terms of temperament and judgment--that is highlighted by shrill, self-promoting Manichean partisans like Malkin, Coulter, Olbermann, Maddow, etc.

Honestly I don't remember a time in recent memory where I was less interested in politics. I'm not saying this is all good. After all, this is a time when our country is having big debates over important issues like health care. One big reason is that I still believe that the differences between our political parties, while real, are exaggerated. I realize that both sides vote differently (sometimes) and offer different agendas (if at all consistent)--but the reality is that together they have created the political culture in which major decisions are made and legislation is crafted. It's not just that they are bought and paid for by their respective interests and indulge in brazen hypocrisy as we've seen in the case of Christopher Dodd--though that's certainly the case. It's not simply the seduction of greed, perks and influence, though that certainly seems true. I'm thinking about how the Republican Party and Democratic Party have together created the channels and culture in which they operate, debate, compromise, pass legislation, and indulge in institutionalized, legal corruption. All this in an environment in which the electoral process powerfully shapes how decisions are made and votes are cast. The bailout vote in October was a powerful expression of this--Obama, McCain, Pelosi, Reid, Bush, the Republican leadership--all game and all in need of each other to support this. These parties are in a death spiral together and as Will has experienced and pointed out before, they control the electoral levers to prevent serious reform in the form of a major third party.

I've read the ominous warnings about the health care bill and I haven't been excited by the details/concerns of which I've heard. My guess is that the majority will get something passed on health care and the vote will fall upon somewhat but not complete partisan lines. But this will be an incoherent leviathan of a bill--with both radical and watered down elements--and with all sorts of bipartisan itches scratched, special interests assuaged, and loopholes present. All drowned in hyperpartisan rhetoric that obscures a serious discussion about its merits.