By Jim Dickson
Newton’s third law of motion says that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, and we are seeing much evidence of this in today’s politics.
Newton was a pretty smart man, so I am inclined to believe what he said is true. No, I am not talking about the late great Las Vegas singer and entertainer, Wayne Newton, even though I am sure he was pretty smart too. I am talking about seventh century English polymath Isaac Newton, who you will remember, is the guy who had an apple fall on this head, and came up with the laws of motion and gravity.
For much of our recent history Newton’s law has applied to politics in the form of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, with the Democrats holding down the position left of center and the Republicans on the right of center. Neither party strayed too far left or right, and although that pushed back and forth, the government was usually close to the center without much influence from the radicals on the far left or the far right, and that worked because it reflected most people’s needs and values.
Newton’s law is working overtime today. The hard pull coming from the far left, and an equally hard push back coming from the far right is new, while the majority of the people are still pretty much in the center. What is playing out has the center majority confused, disturbed and wondering what is coming next.
I am going to make an attempt to simplify the situation.
As we all know, words matter, so now that we have strayed from the traditional Democratic and Republican parties I think, at least for the time being, we need new descriptions. Some Republicans have sort of morphed into what is being described as MAGA Republicans, and some Democrats have become an amalgamation of Progressives, Socialists, and Communists, and the line among those groups is growing very thin lately. So, I am proposing for simplicity’s sake the new Republicans be called “Magapubs” and the new Democrats be called the “Prosoclnists.” That leaves most of the rest of us who can be correctly referred to as Republicans and Democrats.
Just to confuse things further, Elon Musk has now started the new “American Party.” At this point we are not sure what it stands for, who might be in it, or if it’s good or bad. The only thing that I have heard so far is that Elon is against the expansion of the national debt, which doesn’t sound like a bad idea to me, but time will tell where that effort is going.
I think Elon has come down with a bad case of Trump Disparagement Syndrome, so he may be rejoining his former friends on the left, even though for the past months he has been persona non grata with that group, but they probably will forgive him, every cause can use a billionaire or two.
I am not sure how long it will take, but I have confidence that we will be coming back to the center, and that the gentle pull from center right and the gentle push from center left will resume again. “Prosoclnists” and “Magapubs” will be long forgotten, civility and reason will return to the American political scene.
A few brave men signed their names 249 years ago to what was almost certainly a death sentence if they were caught by the British, the Declaration of Independence. They pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor, and many of them lost it all but their sacred honor in the war for independence that followed. They envisioned a country that would be ruled by the people and for the people, and after nine hard years they succeeded, and it changed the world forever.
America has always been great, and as long as we understand what made it great and pass that knowledge along to our children, it always will be. Happy 249th birthday America!
Born, raised and educated in the Southwest, Jim Dickson served in the U.S. Navy Reserve in Vietnam before a 35-year business career. Retired to St. Helena Island, Dickson and his wife are fiscally conservative, socially moderate and active in Republican politics, though they may not always agree with Republicans. Having lived around the country and traveled around the world, Dickson believes that the United States truly is the land of opportunity.
