Dr. Arthur C. Donart, Ph. D. wrote this essay.
I use to be on the Editorial Board of Timely Issues in Education while I was an Assistant Professor of English at Western Illinois University in Macomb. There were three of us, and we read all articles that were submitted for publication. The criteria we used to judge each submission were Is it timely? Is it original? Is it accurate? Is it well written?
If the article did not meet these standards, I was to give it a NO vote. We had a deadline to meet, and the Editor would definitely publish an article that received three YES votes. If it only received two YES votes, it went into the “maybe” pile. A single word could often make a huge difference.
To give an example of this, consider all the political commentary that refers to Senators Joe Manchin III and Kyrsten Sinema as “moderate.” Really! I have been under the impression that a Moderate was someone who avoided going to extremes. Both Senators are big obstacles to enacting President Biden’s Build Back Better plan, which is very popular with the American people.
Anika Dandekar and Ethan Winter reported on a survey conducted by Invest in America and Data for Progress. This survey found the President’s plan was supported by Democrats, Independents, and Republicans. However, not one Republican Senator supports Build Back Better, nor do they offer anything to solve our Country’s problems. They are not Moderates. They are Obstructionists. Senators Manchin and Sinema are obstructionists.
Senator Bernie Sanders in a recent Fox News op-ed said, “Some 88 percent believe we should lower the cost of prescription drugs; 84 percent believe we should expand Medicare to include dental care, hearing aids, and eyeglasses; 73 percent support establishing Paid Family and Medical Leave;… 67 percent want universal Pre-K. Further, 67 percent believe the Federal Government should raise taxes on high-income people and corporations, to help pay for these desperately needed programs–which is what this [Build Back Better] legislation does.”
Do these seem like radical proposals? Perhaps if you are making over $400,000 a year, own a lot of stock in a pharmaceutical company, or are a dentist, you might consider this radical. However, many other Countries already have these benefits.
Unfortunately, our media keeps referring to Senators Manchin and Sinema as Moderates and fail to mention not one Republican is offering any help. When Senator John McCain stopped the GOP from repealing the Affordable Care Act, the media labeled him a maverick, not a Moderate.
Stopping your party from destroying something is far different than stopping your party from accomplishing what the voters sent you to do.
Most people are inclined to favor Moderates, but they dislike Obstructionists. Words do make a difference!