Reality Check

Every once in awhile when I post something on G+ or Facebook and express outrage over something someone said or did and how ignorant or profoundly oppressive/hateful/etc. it was, I, on occassion will get a reply back to the effect of, "calm down, this person is the exception. Nobody really believes that way," or something to that effect (like I said pre-quote :)). This immediately gives me pause. On one hand, am I going overboard when I share something outrageous and expect people to learn from it? Am I being "had" on the theory that all the back-and-forth between politicians, all the attention-getting quotes that sound so ridiculous - all of that is just for show? Is the Daily Show with Jon Stewart and the Colbert Report with Steven Colbert two money making, grammy winning shows for nothing? What of this theory? What is the point? It is either to divide the country or something else that I am not seeing. I understand that on some level a politician is a politician. I also understand that after the great liberal movements between 1960 and 1990, liberalism in America has gone from a popular caludron of boiling water to a small flask of tepid water. In that perspective, politicians likely won't get elected if they lean too far to the left. As a matter of fact, the POTUSs have leaned right ever since I was born in 1980 (I don't care to go further back, but I would venture to guess it reaches to a couple presidents more). I imagine it is similar regarding Sentors and Representatives, maybe not 100% though. So why do I post my outrage? Maybe because I experience ignorance almost daily. Maybe because I have encountered people embracing these extreme ideas and embracing those that boldly pronounce them as truth. Maybe I have a shot at helping one or two people realize that intolerance and hate has no place in our world. Poverty and class warfare is unneeded and unnecessary. Keep in mind one other thought. Because liberalism has been relegated to an unpopular corner in America with extremely little limelight, the "left" in the media is in all actuality the "middle." What is known today as a leftist politician and policymaker is actually not left at all, and what is known as a politician on the right is one who is pretty far right. What used to be known as the political spectrum has been narrowed down to the right side of the political spectrum and even the bottom of the right side has been largely silenced or deemed unpopular. We are dealing with an idealogically upper-right country with a world that is leaning more and more to that same quadrant. So when I post my angst/outrage over what I deem ridiculous, it's not just because I deem it unworthy of consideration. It is also due to the fact that the world is more and more leaning dangerously off balance and I don't think that is a good idea. We give these morons a microphone and a stage, see what crazy stuff they say, and then talk about it. Fine. Give morons from all 4 extremes from the full political spectrum a microphone so we can discuss how ridiculous they ALL are and realize that dead center, or at least aiming for the 9/10 radial bullseye is what we should all be aiming for.