This is old news but I have only found out about it
today. The John Avlon article
Personally I don't think there are any "pure" RC
columnists --although once in a while
a non-RC columnist will write an article that
embodies Radical Centrist principles.
Avlon, himself, claims to be a Radical Centrist,
but some days you would
never know it since he habitually comes down on the
side of the Clinton
wing of the Democratic Party.
There are, of course, a number of people on the Web
who use the phrase
"Radical Centrist" to describe themselves but who
are not really any such thing.
Regardless, Avlon's list is worth thinking about .
Three from his list who do, at least on occasion,
write RC-like columns are :
Maybe you can think of others. It might be useful
to compile our own list
of "part-time" Radical Centrist columnists.
The nation’s most widely syndicated columnist,
Kathleen Parker, recently declared her independencein a column
that said “it’s time to denounce the harsh
partisans who feed on polarization. It’s time to
give independents a voice.â€
Parker followed in the steps of radio host Michael
Smerconish, who wrote a February column for the Philadelphia
Inquirer on his decision to register independent
after 30 years in the GOP. In December 2009, Andrew
Sullivan eloquently announced his official break
from the right— his column echoed the author of the
LittleGreenFootballs blog, Charles Johnson, who
had risen to prominence as a committed
anti-jihadist— a cause he still
continues to fight. “I used to get some pretty
nasty hate mail from radical Islamists,†he told
me, “but the stuff I’m getting right now from
right wingers is an order of magnitude worse.â€
At the same time, centrist Democrats find
themselves embattled and attacked by an emboldened
liberal netroots culture.
These voices have been coming to the same
conclusions individually—that the parties are too
controlled by their most strident, uncivil, and
extreme elements. Like most voters in the vital
center, there is a coherence to their beliefs—a
consistent advocacy of fiscal responsibility and
individual freedom which leads most to be closer to
the GOP on economic issues and closer to the
Democrats on social issues.
Some might call themselves libertarians, others
radical centrists, moderates or independents—but
the underlying ideas are the same. They have refused
to surrender their conscience or common sense to
walk in lockstep with one political party. Theirs is
a rebellion from the pressures to conform in
today’s hyperpartisan debates.
In March, The Daily Beast’s Tunku Varadarajan
developed lists of the most prominent journalists
from the right and left. His lists enumerated the
rise of ideological advocacy journalism in print and
online, including television and radio-show hosts
who often function as the two parties’ attack-dogs
and apologists. These divisions are often encouraged
by newspapers and networks in an attempt to appeal
to narrow but intense niche audiences.
This list is intended to fill out the full spectrum
of political debate, spanning the center-right and
the center-left. It was developed with certain
criteria in mind: the individual’s civility or
sense of humor when engaging in political debates;
their pragmatic approach to problem-solving; their
principled independence from partisanship and
willingness to criticize the extremes on both sides
of the aisle; and finally, their prominence in the
arena.
Those invested in the right/left, red state/blue
state divide of American politics do their best to
deny the existence of the center in American
politics while simultaneously launching party purity
purges. Individuals on the center-right are cast out
and called “squishes†by conservatives who are
turning their political faith into something
resembling a cult. Likewise, on the left, centrists
are increasingly attacked as "corporatistsâ€
because of their commitment to fiscal responsibility
and belief that thriving private industry is the
backbone of the American economy. These ideas are
enforced by a relatively small number of
self-appointed sentinels in defense of a declining
orthodoxy—a Pew poll from last year found that
only 15 percent of Americans call themselves
conservative Republicans while just 11 percent
describe themselves as liberal Democrats.
In fact, the center does not only have the numbers,
it has intellectual coherence and strong advocates.
There are academics like the Hoover Institution’s
Morris Fiorina, author of Culture War? The Myth
of a Polarized America and McGill’s Gil
Troy, author of Leading From the Center.
There are centrist think tanks, like Will
Marshall’s Progressive Policy Institute and The
Third Way associated with the Democratic side of the
aisle and the Main Street Partnership for the GOP.
There are centrist radio-show hosts like Michael
Smerconish, Ronn Owens, and Alan Nathan. There are
centrist Web sites like TheModerateVoice.com,
Donklephant.com and BookerRising.net—as well as
aggregators like Fark.com that skewer absurdities on
both sides. Most important are the grassroots groups
that are growing up on their own, like the Village Square movement based
out of Florida, the Transpartisan Alliance, or the
newly formed Pragmatic Center, which announced its
presence in the wake of Kathleen Parker’s column.
The purpose of this list is to show that there is a
coherent and strong centrist movement growing in
America right now. It is principled and civil. It is
independent of the two parties’ influential,
entrenched special interests. And it is on the rise.
Taken together, this list should be a reminder that
American politics was not always seen as a
high-pitched battle between the far left and the far
right. A century ago, a more reasoned analysis
divided American politics into three currents:
radicals, reactionaries, and progressives. Radicals
wanted radical change. Reactionaries wanted no
change. Turn-of-the-century progressives like Teddy
Roosevelt wanted moderate change—reform, not
revolution. They are the centrists of today—people
who want America to move not left or right, but
forward.
Take a look at the list and let the debate begin…
=========================================
You
+1'd this publicly.
UndoApr
6, 2010 – ... calling it The
Top 25 Centrist Columnists and
Commentators (linked ... and political
independents, was probably enough to get her on
this list
[ The list is not
complete, others are mentioned in Avlon article
]
Kathleen Parker
Kathleen is your average conservative commentator -
nary an original thought or idea has fallen from her
mouth or found its way into her columns for years.
Well, actually, there was that one time she said
"...Palin didn't make a mess cracking the glass
ceiling. She simply glided through it." That was
kind of funny -- and that, along with some recent
favorable remarks directed towards tea partiers and
political independents, was probably enough to get
her on this list.
David Brooks
Neocon extraordinaire-turned-Obama enthusiast. Turns
out the Democrats aren't nearly as averse to global
military policing and alienating the working class
as he thought they were, so he switched camps.
Hooray for 'centrism'!
Michael Smerconish
'Conservative' talk radio host who wants Republicans
to stop being so picky about abortion and gay
marriage. Another moron who thinks that social
traditionalism is what is really
holding back GOP success (despite all evidence to
the contrary).
Matt Miller
We can have all the benefits of a welfare state --
without exorbitant government spending! Miller's
retch-inducing neo-liberal optimism makes George
Soros look like Oswald Spengler. Oh, and he supports
the Iraq War.
David Frum
Another Jewish neocon who soured on the Republican
party after it started to go goy on him. Like
Brooks, his welfare-warfare platform found a
surprisingly warm reception in the Obama
administration, so another 'centrist' is born.
One of the smartest people in
politics on either side of the aisle, Frum is a
committed conservative but a principled patriot
first.
Read: social and cultural issues come last -- war is
the only thing that matters.
Irshad Manji
Dykish-looking Muslim feminist recruited by Canadian
liberals as a living advertisement for Western-led
'reform' in the Middle East. Her book The Trouble with Islam is the
Muslim equivalent of Bishop Spong's A
New Christianity for a New World -- another
screed on why religions should jettison
long-standing moral attitudes in the name of
egalitarian freedom. Neocons may also find her
useful, too -- first we bomb
their houses, then we send in
brown Gloria Steinems to dissolve their families.
[ She is a female homosexual who seems to think
that the Koran's condemnations of
homosexuality somehow are optional and can be
disregarded; NOT the view of any
Moslem true-believers that I have ever heard of.
BR comment ]
Jon Stewart
Stewart's patended brand of smug,
pseudo-journalistic comedy is among one of the many
reasons why I no longer bother watching television.
Apparently, a few token attacks on fellow liberal
blowhard Keith Olbermann were enough to merit him
the centrist crown.
Joe Scarborough
Token MSNBC 'conservative' who was vetted for any
controversial or thought-provoking opinions before
his placement as the host of the
Morning
Joe program. Ignore.
Andrew Sullivan
With Glenn Reynolds, the leader of the libertarian
blog community. Left the Republican party because it
made him uncomfortable in his embrace of the buttsex
lifestyle. Famous for
fondling his own ass on
national television.
Ron Brownstein
Ho-hum political analyst whose columns share a chief
focus on party fortunes. Unlikely to inspire any
emotions, good or bad, on either side of the party
aisle.
Mark McKinnon
But he announced in advance that if
Barack Obama won the Democratic nomination, he
would ride off into the sunset rather than
participate in the negative attacks he knew would
be required.
All you need to know, really.
David Gergen
Slimy, Rockefeller-type Bohemian Grove veteran whose
complete absence of principle carried him unnoticed
through the Nixon, Ford, and Kennedy
administrations. A bureaucrat-for-life if there ever
was one.
Harold Ford, Jr.
Schizophrenic blue dog Democrat who is pro-life but
supportive of stem-cell research, fond of the Iraq
War but anti-death penalty, and a 'fiscal
conservative' who supports universal healthcare
legislation.
Charles Johnson
Libertarian jazz guitarist-
cum-blogger
who leads Israel's online amen corner; Jewish
turban-hunter known for his hysterical anti-Islamic
fear-mongering, but despises gentile anti-Islamic
groups like
Vlaams Belaang
because they set off his
Shoah-meter.
Doug Schoen
No idea who this is, really. Maybe he makes a living
as a professional Dick Cheney impersonator?
[img]
http://www.tdbimg.co...438097.jpg[/img]
Peggy Noonan
The only worthwhile writer in the entire list.
Thomas Friedman -
The baron of banality. The king of commonplaces. The
master of mixed metaphors.
Give a blackberry-addicted high school guidance
counselor column space in the New York Times and
you'll end up with someone like Thomas Friedman. His
barely-contained enthusiasm for rootless globalism,
and the techno-goodies it brings us (at low, low
prices!, he reminds us) would be despicable in
itself, but coupled with his naive belief in
education-as-panacea and his gushing, 'gee
willikers!' exposition Friedman easily outranks even
David Brooks as the worst of the lot.
David Broder
Professional pundit with frequent appearances on
shows like
Meet the Press. A
drooling admirer of Palin, whom he praised as
cool as a cucumber, comfortable with
her talking points and unrattled by anything that
was thrown at her.[ now deceased ; alas, mostly
measly mouthed and gutless --BR comment ]
Joe Klein
Author of Primary Colors, a
political drama about Clinton's 1992 Democratic
campaign. Like most of the others listed, he's
another fiscally conservative social liberal, but he
gets brownie points for questioning conservatives on
their ambition to '... [use] U.S. military power,
U.S. lives and money, to make the world safe for
Israel".
Christopher Buckley
Son of the titan of intellectual conservatism,
William F. Buckley; like Frankie Schaeffer, living
in daddy's shadow has pushed him into an embrace of
the left, although it's good to know that (like
nearly everyone else on the list) he "clings
tenaciously to the idea that one ought to have
balanced budgets".
Robert Guest
Another 'fiscally conservative, socially liberal'
media nobody. This one writes for The
Economist.
Jonathan Capehart
Otherwise unimportant black intellectual that is
mentioned solely because he completes The Daily Beast's racial quota
for this otherwise overwhelmingly pale (and Jewish)
roster of pundits.
Joe Gandelman
Who? Apparently, another tweeting blog junkie who
thinks moderation qua
moderation is, like, the best thing EVER. This one
runs a blog called The Moderate
Voice.
Ronn Owens
From his book Voice of Reason: Why
Both Right and Left Are Wrong:
..while I tend to be liberal when it
comes to social issues, I'm far more conservative
on foreign affairs.
See a pattern here, yet? He's a neocon radio jockey
who scorns Limbaugh not because (as he claims) he is
too 'far right', but because he's his major
competitor. His rear book cover also features
accolades from Joe Lieberman, Chris Matthews, and
John McCain. Barf.
Patricia Murphy
Inoffensive columnist who seems to mostly cover
political trivia and "This Week in Politics"-style
briefs.
