You're Both Wrong

OK, OK, I talk a lot about how I have no more interest in politics; Yet I remain fascinated by the process. The problem is I just don’t know where I’d fit in anymore.

Today’s post by Jeff Jarvis in Buzz Machine expresses some of my present frustration with “the system”. Commenting on recent remarks by Karl Rove, and Sen. Dick Durbin, he says:

You're both wrong. Your all wrong. You think you're going to win at the edges because that's the way the game is played today. But you have lost the middle.
The NY Times' op-ed graphic illustrates the point, uh, graphically today. It shows that the number of moderates in Congress -- not in the nation, mind you, but in Congress -- has greatly reduced because:

The differences are attributable to the emergence of the permanent campaign, the rise of partisan news media and, most of all, changes in Congressional redistricting. The expansion in the number of “safe” seats in the House that began in the 1980’s has put an increased importance on primaries, which favor more ideological candidates. A number of these sharp-edged representatives have then moved to the Senate, where they have helped widen the partisan gulf we have talked about — and now can see.

The system is as broken as the American auto and airline industries. It's time for a political restructuring. It's time for a revolt of the middle. Right now, the middle is simply revolted at "leaders" such as these.