In Search of Perfection
Let’s not toss the baby out with the bath water.
Definition of a Perfect Politician:
Hint:
100%
What person in your life agrees with you on every single point and behaves exactly as you want them to? Who reads your mind and fights your battles for you at his or her own expense while you grill kielbasa and watch football or take a winter-escaping vacation? Limiting alliances to only those who agree with you 100% and who are willing to represent you without your financial and public support is kind of crazy, isn’t it?
“Reciprocity” has taken on a very dark meaning in politics: “If you do for me, I’ll do for you.” However, it is common-sensical. If we want people to represent our concerns and issues, we must support them. If we want people to do for us, we must do for them, even if they don’t align 100% with our own thinking. We must support them on the issues where we do agree in order to have the ability to move the needle on the things where we differ.
They need to know that their support from us is greater than their support from the other side. They need to know that if they go out front, we have their backs.
All or Nothing at All
We see a lot of all-or-nothing rhetoric among conservatives. We are tired of being used, fooled, thwarted, sold down the river, lied to, left hanging out to dry, and so on. It can, quite understandably, make folks completely negative about the very process that has so far ensured our success as a free country. It darkens our thoughts and makes us feel impotent.
“Looking for an honest politician is like looking for an ethical burglar.” — H. L. Mencken
We are distressed when politicians behave politically. We want them to be transparent and forthright and moral. But the ones who wield power (for good or ill) and weld together effective alliances make deals. They have to. It’s the only way to get things done (or kept them from being done) among people with wildly differing priorities.
As a conservative, which of these would you support?
A ban on state government technology using Chinese Communist Party (CCP) - controlled Tik Tok
Preventing the purchase of South Dakota land by foreign enemies of the US
Instituting a comprehensive classical history school curriculum that does not promote anti-Americanism
Expressing whole-hearted support for the Second Amendment
Allowing biological males who transition to female to compete athletically against biological females
Forbidding spike-protein-jab mandates for SD government employees
Allowing spike-protein-jab mandates for SD hospital system employees
Allowing SD hospital systems and universities to provide mental health counseling that hardens gender dysphoria, and to provide irreversible hormones and surgery in healthy bodies of people under age 18.
You might find that all of those positions reside in one powerful South Dakota politician. You also might find that none of the positions that you agree with reside in other powerful South Dakota politicians.
Maybe we should support the politicians who share some of our positions against those who share none. And then use persuasion, not excoriation, to convince them about the rest.
Don’t toss the baby with the bath water.
