Friday, July 08, 2005

Moderation

The Modo Blog presents this definition of a moderate:

A moderate above all else believes that the integrity of the means--the constitution, beneficial economic incentives, international law--must be preserved in the face of any given end.

As a moderate, I want to believe that. It's pretty damn flattering to me in my glorious reasonableness.

But aren't there some partisans on both sides who believe that?

Discuss.

CC

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

In the current poltiical climate, a person ho believes those things would prob ably be lablled a "liberal extremist."

PG said...

I'm not quite sure what is meant by "integrity of the means." For example, I think the Constitution should be upheld because it is the system of government to which we have agreed, and because we still have means of changing it if necessary through the amendment process. If we cease to agree to it, or cease to have the ability to change it, then the Constitution ain't worth shit. Certainly it is an imperfect work; after all, this is the same document that enshrined the 3/5 counting of African Americans and the obligation of free states to participate in the capture of runaway slaves. Because of our ability to change the Constitution, these deficiencies and many others have been remedied.