Maybe the truth lies somewhere in the middle

We get so caught up this time of year in partisan politics (myself definitely included). We're pulling for our team. Red vs. Blue. Sox vs. Yanks. Bloods vs. Crips. It's tribalism in its purest form that transcends the concepts of unity, truth and fairness in its most extreme cases. But there's a political reality that we hate to face.

The Left and the Right NEED one another.

Trust me when I say that the kid in the Che Guevara t-shirt with the eyebrow ring does NOT want to live in a 100% Leftist country with the central government controlling how many children he can have as in China or whether or not he may own a television set or a cell phone as in Cuba. You don't want to go full on Socialist with 60% tax rates and overt economic redistribution so you definitely don't want to go full-on North Korea style Communism.

At the same, Ma and Pa O'Shansky out in the suburbs of Indiana...you REALLY don't want a completely Conserative, completely deregulated, socially intrusive system of government where there IS no central government to speak of. It's the Wild West. Tax money doesn't go to protect the common peace so you'd better save up for a better and bigger gun than the local roving band of thieves and rapists. Also, you'd really hope that nothing catches fire because there's no organized fire department and the roads, bridges and tunnels you take for granted everyday...forget it. All financed and maintained through the tax money that you railed against. You'll have to home school your children as there is no longer such a thing a public school and literally take your chances when you put your money in a bank as there are no government protection ensuring your money. If you lose your job, there's no unemployment insurance. When you grow old, you'd better hope that you'd played the stock market correctly or its Cat Food Fridays for you as Social Security is a chapter in a history book.

The truth of the matter is that both of the dominant political philosophies NEED one another because there is one concept that ACTUALLY keeps America strong and secure. It's not Liberalism. It's not Conservatism. It's EQUILIBRIUM. Balance. A mixture of the two.

It's knowing that someone out there is ensuring that the water that comes out of your tap is clean and safe without paying a 70% tax rate. It's knowing that every element of that cheeseburger you're biting into was inspected by a human being at some point in its development. It's having banks and mutual funds and money markets but having them regulated so that robber barons and crooks can't just steal your money...and if they do, there's a government agency that exists to go after them.

It's the constant tug-of-war between Democrats and Republicans that keeps this nation strong, sharp and responsive and responsible to the people of this nation.

So Democrats, while we don't like Karl Rove or Dick Cheney...they are not Satan (I'm pretty sure, at least)

Republicans, the word Liberal is not a dirty word and we don't spend all our time smoking weed, having unprotected gay sex and figuring out ways to spend your money. We totally use condoms.

I kid. I kid.

Either way, this is my call for people, during the 24-hour news spin cycle that FoxNews, CNN and MSNBC has us in, to reisist the temptation to hate and mistrust thy neighbor. Republicans can be funny and Democrats love their children.

We all want a safe, prosperous nation with a stable, growing economy and a completely fair and just social and judicial system. We just have different ideas of how to get there.