A day or so ago the ex-president addressed an angry letter to fellow Georgian Zell Miller scolding the Democratic Senator for “unprecedented disloyalty” for his speech at the Republican Convention.
Well, I’m worse. I was once a Democrat and now I have no “loyalty” to any party whatsoever. In fact, I think loyalty to a political party in the strict sense is probably dangerous. It’s certainly limiting and anti-democratic (small d), blinding you to all sorts of possibilities, even to the truth. Sure, you should or could a support a political party while it reflects your ideas, but you should be just as ready to change when it doesn’t. Otherwise you’re a candidate for Animal Farm.
Indeed, having strong loyalty to our political parties is almost farcical because it is frequently impossible to determine what they stand for, deliberately so. And even when they have a (shifting) point of view, they hide it in order to garner votes from the innocent.
Now of course the “righteous” Mr. Carter knows this. He’s a politician, after all. And a successful one, no matter what some say. He was a governor and President. So what was the bee that got under Jimmy’s bonnet to that extreme degree, amplifying the considerable public outcry against his Georgia colleague of many years?
In reply, I am going to get more people angry by making an observation from personal experience. Whenever those I know well get particularly upset by my militant views on the War on Terror, even to the extent of losing control of their emotions and yelling at me, I know that deep down they are afraid I am right.
UPDATE: Here (via Instapundit) an immediate example of the shifting sands of our political parties and why we should think for ourselves.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member