RE #8 Good point. Maybe the Europeans understand what’s happening here better than we do.

The problems we’ve been seeing, with extremism on the left and the right, may indicate that American politics are becoming less pragmatic than they were before - and more European.

Americans have, historically, been pragmatic, self-reliant people who tend to avoid extremists and demagogues like the plague. We’ve tended to avoid relying on the politicians, or messianic pundits, to solve our problems, because we know that an political extremists cause more problems than they solve.

When the left embraced Howard Dean, and when the right embraces Beck and similar-thinking politicians, it’s a sign that things are changing for the worse.

Since Europeans rely on the state to solve their problems, many Europeans tend to embrace visionaries and extremists. The folks at Harry’s Place and their friends are exceptions to the rule. They, like Charles, are often misunderstood.

Generally, the Left in Europe is more left than we have ever been, and the right is more extreme too. In America, extremists tend to be relegated to the sidelines. In Europe they become heads of state.

Old fashioned pragmatists tend to avoid joining either team, but in the last decade, most of us have have felt the need to declare some political alliances. During the 90’s, I didn’t know if my friends, the comedians and actors I watched, or the musicians I listened to were democrats or republican. I didn’t care. Now everyone’s political affiliations are everyone’s face every day.

9/11 and the threats that followed may have caused some of this polarization. The right and the left both felt the need for a strong state that could respond to the threat, to join a team that could protect their interests. Now these teams have become warring camps. Both sides see the ‘other side’ as the enemy. Both sides are causing more problems than they solve.

The more we rely on our red and blue political saviors to solve our problems the more European we’ll become.