The Political Spectrum- A Practical Guide to Understanding

Every so often, I read something from a Republican lamenting the tendency of detractors to paint Republicans with a broad brush,by portraying even the rank-and-file as crooks, haters and incompetents. These folks have a valid complaint which needs to be addressed. I am as guilty as anyone. I do it out of laziness, because I don't explain that there are real differences between Republican leaders and the rest, and I sincerely apologize. That said, I would also point out that EVERY party is guilty of the same laziness when criticizing some other party. I think it is because no one knows how to define our basic differences, or how various ideologies came to be placed on the broad political spectrum.

So, to help everyone, here is a simple, clear way that you can truly understand the makeup of the Republican Party and, at the same time, better understand the broader political field.

Go, in person or via computer, to a large sewage treatment facility. I will explain the process.

You will see a series of large tanks, each designed for different stages of treatment.
The largest of these is a sedimentation tank, where raw untreated wastewater enters. Envision this tank as the Republican Party. As the raw poisonous waste sits there fermenting, a toxic scum rises to the top. These are the Republicans skimmed off to go into politics or big business. The rest of the effluent, the larger chunks of ordinary crap, settle to the bottom to form the Republican base. This water will kill you in an instant, so tons of wedge issues are added to help solidify this base and remove it further from the maintream.

With the worst of the sludge removed, the partially improved water goes to the secondary treatment tank. This tank has smaller pieces of crap, representing the wing of the Democratic Party that has sold out to big corporate interests. This wing consists mostly of those allied with the Democratic Leadership Council. This slurry is also loaded with hypocrisy pathogens which kill you as surely as water from the first tank, only more slowly.

After secondary treatment, the water proceeds to the third tank of Libertarians and other misguided but well-meaning fringe parties. This water probably won't kill your plants, but is still impure enough to require oxygenation to remove the last traces of taint.

When that is done, the water is safe and healthful, and is released into the mainstream to nurture and protect life, cleanse mind and body, and provide lasting benefit to everyone. That final distillation is, of course, the progressive ideal.

Now that you understand all this, you would be well served to check out the water you're drinking, don't you think?