Out on the edge

One can become detached, hunkered down on a rock in the middle of nowhere, or in a boat out on the edge. It’s a lifestyle with consequences, even if not consciously embraced, it’s often pointed out.

But there’s a perspective in that detachment, though it should not be called objective. There’s no such thing. Let’s get that out of the way.

Yesterday I gave up my membership in the Democratic Party and became “unaffiliated.” Not Independent, and God knows, not Republican — even though I tend toward fiscally conservative.

Honestly, I’m not sure I actually walked away from the Democrats. It’s more like the party left me, a shell left to dry by a tide receding from shore.

Though I disagree with much of the “progressive agenda,” that wasn’t what drove me away. It was the realization that I simply can’t fight the condescension of true believers, and that their arrogance is going to keep them from creating the change I believe America so desperately needs.

Democrats are becoming a left-handed reflection of the true believers that worship Trump. Just as distasteful as Donald, Jr.’s smirk as he gloats about “triggering the libs,” Dems are shaking their heads at the simpletons of America who “vote against their own interests.”

I won’t repeat the litany describing their arrogance. It’s enough to say they believe anyone who does not embrace all of their values and accept their orthodoxy without challenge is less smart, less moral, less informed, less woke, less, less, less.

Confirming their suspicions about me, I’ll say to them, “How’s that working for ya?” A year ago they did not win close to what they had hoped in the national election. They just lost another election in Virginia. Yet, utterly incapable of honest introspection, they blame the people they hoped to represent.

We are too stupid, too ignorant, too inbred to vote for our own good. They just can’t help us if we insist on not buying what they are selling. Which includes a blend of hope mixed with accusation into a frothy view of the world unhinged from history and human nature.

And dishonesty. They blame racism for their losses, rather than the hollowness of their own message. They blame Republican dishonesty (which certainly exists) rather than exposure of elements of their own agenda that threaten liberty. They deny that they assemble facts to fit their narrative, rather than let facts guide their words and actions.

So, yesterday I went into the county clerk’s office and changed my voter registration to “unaffiliated.” It’s only symbolic, if I know what that even means, because I haven’t really changed at all. My hopes for America haven’t changed, either, but as the Democratic Party recedes deeper into divisiveness and partisanship and lies while clamoring incoherently for unity, I no longer identify with what the party has become.

Sitting on my rock in the middle of nowhere or on a boat out on the edge, I’ve lost a bit of optimism, along with my belief that America will always be better than she was and that our ideals will survive for another generation.

For more from Erik Dolson, visit https://erik

dolson.substack.com.