CENTRIST

(12,22,2022) Centrist refers to a person with moderate political views. In the United States Senate, as well as the House of Congress, there are many senators and representatives who, fortunately, fit into this category. People like Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger come to mind. Unfortunately, they will no longer be serving as representatives in the future. Like so many others, who are referred to as moderate, they are being forced out, either voted out or leaving of their own accord, because of the extremism which has pervaded American politics today. One or two centrists have chosen to become independent, but, I fear that it will not get them re-elected in the next election. It is a sad state of affairs. The American people need these centrists in order to maintain some sense of stability amongst the growing chaos perpetuated by extremist government officials and lawmakers in the house of Congress and the Senate. When you have extremists, in both parties, who see each other as the enemy, not very much can be accomplished. It is with thanks to the centrists that bills and policies get passed and the American government continues to function. The two aforementioned Republican representatives were wisely chosen to sit on the Jan. 6 Select Committee (thereby making it bi-partisan) for their moderate views and their unwillingness to bow to a would-be dictator’s wishes. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger were among those who voted to impeach the former president, the P.O.T.A.S. (President of the American Supremacists) because of his lies and deceit. As co-chair of the Jan. 6 Select Committee, Liz Cheney gave a scathing review of the P.O.T.A.S., declaring that, among the four charges which the committee is now referring to the Department of Justice, the P.O.T.A.S.’ worst violation was his dereliction of duty during the Jan. 6 attack on Capitol Hill, whereupon he sat in his office for over three hours doing absolutely nothing to stop it. The first official charge against the P.O.T.A.S., by the Jan. 6 Select Committee, is obstruction of an official proceeding, referring to the time when the P.O.T.A.S. attempted to force Vice President Pence to reject the electoral vote. Failing that, the P.O.T.A.S. incited his followers to go after Pence, which they proceeded to do, some of them chanting ‘Hang Pence’. The P.O.T.A.S. encouraged the rioters to do everything in their power to stop the count of the electoral vote. Renowned author and former columnist Bob Woodward believes that this obstruction of justice was the worst of the P.O.TA.S.’ crimes because the P.O.T.A.S. continually pressured Mike Pence to declare the electoral vote ‘null and void’. The second charge, against the P.O.T.A.S., is conspiracy to defraud the United States. The P.O.T.A.S. repeatedly attempted to force officials to fabricate votes in his favour. The committee believes that the P.O.T.A.S. committed this crime by conspiring to impede the function of the U.S. government and mislead the public about the results of the 2020 election. Another well known writer, Carl Bernstein, is of the opinion that defrauding the United States is the most significant of the P.O.T.A.S.’ crimes. The third charge, by the committee, is conspiracy to make false statements. Everyone is aware of ‘the big lie’ which the P.O.T.A.S. continues to promote to this day, along with many of his followers who declare that the election was rigged and stolen, regardless of the fact that many of his own people, ranging from the Attorney General to members of his own family, told him that this was not true. But the lie has continued to cause divisiveness among all of the American people. It is a crime to issue false statements or documents with the full knowledge that the information is not true. The committee found that the P.O.T.A.S. and his backers planned to submit a slate of false electors in key swing states, who would have handed him the presidency in defiance of election results. It is also a crime to try to cover up such a scheme. The Jan. 6 Select Committee’s fourth charge against the P.O.T.A.S., is assisting or aiding an insurrection. The committee has shown that the P.O.T.A.S. not only assisted in the insurrection, but that he was the prime instigator. Their investigation proves that the P.O.T.A.S. had been planning this coup for months. A former White House lawyer, John Dean, agrees that the committee has sent the Department of Justice a ‘roadmap’ laying out how all of the decisions to commit these crimes, the plans and speeches on where and when to attack, lead back to the P.O.T.A.S., beginning with his insinuation of a stolen election. What this committee has shown, is that America needs more centrists, and less extremists, in their government. The late Republican Senator John McCain was the prime example of a centrist. When he once ran for president, he would have preferred to have a friend of his, a Democrat, at his side as nominee for vice president. But, all of his people said that this was not possible, and they stuck him with a Republican extremist. The result was disastrous for McCain as well as the entire country! When he died, the world lost a hero. When the P.O.T.A.S. wanted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, McCain had literally given him the ‘thumbs down’ vote, ending that effort. John McCain was a war hero who ‘hit the nail on the head’, when he declared that the P.O.T.A.S. “fired up the crazies”. He also stated that the damage inflicted by the P.O.T.A.S.’ naivete’, egotism, false equivalence and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate, when questioned why the P.O.T.A.S. was solicitous of Putin. When McCain was awarded the National Constitution Center’s Liberty Medal, in Oct. 2017, he blasted the P.O.T.A.S.’ party during his acceptance speech. McCain said,” To fear the world we have organized and led for three-quarters of a century, to abandon the ideals we have advanced around the globe, to refuse the obligations of international leadership and our duty to remain ‘the last best hope of Earth’ for the sake of some half-baked, spurious nationalism cooked up by people who would rather find scapegoats than solve problems, is as unpatriotic as an attachment to any other tired dogma of the past that Americans consigned to the ash heap of history”. Even while he was dying, John McCain continued to fight against those extremists in his own party, as well as the opposing one. And he knew that one had to be willing to work with the opposing party in order to get things done. He is an exemplar!