I used to be a moderate. Circumstances are driving me to radicalism.

[kentuck]

"I saw a room full of men with their hammers a'bleeding. I saw a white ladder all covered with water."

Now I see things happening all around that cannot be resolved by debate alone. I see bread and life being taken from small children and our elderly. I see lies and deception that are spoken as gospel and believed as the same. I see a religious fervor in people's eyes that blind them to the reality they are approaching. I see a wreck on the highway, with bodies and blood, and people passing in their indifference. I can no longer be a moderate in such times.

[mike_c]

1. I gave up on "moderation" DECADES ago....

eom

[stepnw1f]

2. My Sentiments Exactly

Some already call me radical, so I may as well fit the bill.

[BoneDaddy]

3. Join the growing club

As the country grows more fascist you will see more folks split to the extremes. The greedy fearful bots will go one way and the thinking, feeling people will go the other. Welcome aboard.

[leftstreet]

4. What did "moderate" mean to you?

I've never understood what people mean by that term.

[kentuck]

6. Willing to sacrifice for the good of the Party...

But it has taken a long time to see that sometimes a Party of "moderates" cannot defend itself against the propagandistic fascists of our times. It is a time for profiles in courage - not appeasement or so-called "bi-partisanship"...

[ewagner]

5. I know how you feel Kentuck

While my son was home for Christmas break (with his fiance' who comes from a conservative, if not RW, family) we talked politics at the dinner table and he asked me: "Dad, when did you become so radical?". I had to think about that for a while. Bush has driven many of us old, grey warriors over the edge...we spent our "middle years" as moderates and now just to protect the freedoms that were won at great price in the '60s and '70s we have to speak up again....we have to stand up again. And that, in my son's mind, makes me a radical.

I told him that some day, and that day is coming soon, he's going to have to make a choice whether to follow the sheep off the cliff or stand up and fight. His fiance's eyes were as big as saucers!

[ananda]

7. Moderation seems safe..

.. but is no fun.

Radicalism forever!

[springhill]

8. Boy..........

How I relate to your sentiments.

[welshTerrier2]

9. radicalism: nothing more than major changes to the status quo

this "moderate" versus "left" (or radical) debate strains the limits of absurdity ... moderates on DU mean that you should support Democratic candidates ... it rarely has much to do with issue positions ...

if you're being driven to radicalism, welcome to the club ...

our government has moved further and further and further away from the ideals of this country ... we can argue over programs and whether this one is better than that one ... but what's happened in America is that we've been losing our democracy itself ... the "status quo" is to allow those with money and power to exert a grossly disproportionate influence on policy ...

today's circumstances demand radicalism ... we cannot allow an uninformed public, cutoff from their own government, to continue ... we have to find a way to educate Americans that vigilance in safeguarding their democracy is the only way to protect their liberties and the nation itself ... this should NOT be radicalism but times necessitate that it is ...

we need a revolution, hopefully peaceful, in this country to make major changes in the way that government prioritizes its policies ... we will not be able to remain on the same path for much longer if we want to reverse the devastation to our democracy that our inattentiveness has caused ...

[boobooday]

10. We can't afford moderation

In the face of the worst right-wing extremism we've ever seen in this country.

[iconoclastNYC]

11. Amen brother.

I wish there was a network to help individual people like you and me, slowly drag people into activism. Not centered aroudn a party or an issue, just centered aroudn engagement.

[oneoftheboys]

12. I used to be a radical, but now I don't let them get to me.

Life is too short to allow a few idiots to spoil the show.