#19 / Front Page

Joan Blade (MoveOn) and Mark Meckler (Tea Party)

Yesterday, it was "mind blowing," front page news in the San Francisco Chronicle that the co-founder of the "liberal" group, MoveOn, actually met personally, and talked politics, with a representative of the  "conservative" Tea Party.

I am sorry to be less than overwhelmed at what the participants are calling "transpartianship." The essence of any viable "politics" is the debate and discussion, conflict and controversy, that leads, ultimately, to the decisions that represent our political choices, and that creates, as we make those choices, the "political" world in which we most immediately live.

In other words, if we are not talking to those with whom we disagree, we are retreating from the most basic part of what democratic self-government is all about. 

On the other hand, the fact that there are people from both the "liberal" and "conservative" sides that are actually engaged in that democratic debate may be "big news," after all. It doesn't seem to be happening too often. If we talk, we still have a chance to make the changes we need to make for "our" world to survive!

Image Credit: 
http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/MoveOn-founder-Tea-Party-figure-meet-4204384.php