Country First - let's talk

The last thing I ever thought that I would do would be to get involved with politics again. But given the lay of the land, perhaps it's time.

Most of you know that I am no fan of either major political party in this country. In nearly every national election for quite some time, extreme polarization in our political process has produced, with grim efficiency, atrocious candidates who substantially represent no one except those on the fringes of the political spectrum.

So who do I vote for? Do I support leftist crusaders who are sufficiently enamored with social justice and identity politics that they'll tank the economy, wreck healthcare and drag us all down to the lowest common denominator to achieve social and green equity? Or, alternatively, do I support cult-of-personality enamored right wingers who's flirtation with fascism, insurrection and autocracy represents a potent and viable threat to our democracy?

I find neither of these options particularly agreeable. And unless reams of bi-partisan polling data are wrong, neither do a lot of you.

This raises an obvious question. Why do the aspirations of both of the major political parties in this country fail to align with the interests of about half of the population of the very same country?

I can confidently triple-dog dare you to answer that question with anything other than slogans and nonsense because I know that you can't. Most of us are being failed by our process of choosing people to represent us in office because both major parties, in tail-wagging-the-dog fashion, are dominated by the extremists who dominate their respective bases.

Moderate Republicans, Blue Dog Democrats, and really anyone else capable of working across the aisle, seeking compromise, valuing fairness (even if it means not getting their way in the moment), are being primaried or redistricted out of existence. What's left are two camps of winner-takes-all partisans who's timeline is the next election cycle and who's raison d'etre is victory at any cost.

In a diverse democracy of more than 330 million, no one gets what they want all of the time. But that doesn't prevent the partisans from trying. I would argue that this is to the detriment of us all.

I don't know about you, but the things about all of this that I find most distressing (and frankly, insulting) are the presumptions by both sides that most of the rest of us are incapable of digesting anything more complex than what fits on a bumper sticker, or of processing cogent ideas, or, perhaps most importantly, of recognizing that more than one thing may be true at once.

Yes the legacy media in this country is largely partisan entertainment masquerading as news; that does not mean that Donald Trump was not, in his final days, a threat to democracy.

Yes, vaccines are generally safe and effective; that doesn't necessarily give the government a right to mandate vaccines in a broad variety of circumstances.

Yes, social problems are real; but our democracy happens to be the greatest experiment in the world when it comes to giving people the ability to work social problems out, for themselves, peacefully.

Yes, climate change is real and we should explore all options to mitigate it; but focusing only on the options that enrich autocrats with nuclear weapons (some of whom believe that the next life will be better anyway) meets every definition that I can think of as foolish - if not downright crazy.

All of this leads to another even more fundamentally important question. What to do about all of this?

Most people, it seems, are content to gripe about how things are without doing much to change anything. I get it. Making one's way through life takes focus. Going to school is hard; establishing a career is hard; maintaining a family is hard. Not everyone has the time for any commitment beyond these endeavors, much less zealotry, which is why we are currently in the bind that we are in.

But there is something that you can do about extreme polarization that doesn't take more time or effort than it should – you can talk to people. Most of us are not as far apart as the media and the partisans like to portray. The way that you discover that for yourself is through discussion.

Since retiring, I've spent a lot of time traveling around the country, talking with people from all backgrounds and ways of life. This journey has actually encouraged me that our best days are ahead. But getting from here to there isn't automatic. Those of us who value comity, diversity of thought and fairness are going to have to step up, show our strength, and begin pushing back on the partisans.

To that end I've joined the Country First movement. Country First is not, first and foremost, a political organization, it's a social movement designed to bring together, in conversation, fair-minded people who value their country more than any political affiliation.

Country First was founded by Representative Adam Kinzinger (R), who currently represents a congressional district in Illinois. Representative Kinzinger is perhaps best known for being one of the few Republicans to serve on the January 6 commission. He's been redistricted out of his seat and is not running for reelection in the upcoming cycle. But I think that his next act might well be more important than his first.

I first encountered Representative Kinzinger a few years ago on CNN. Two things struck me about his appearance. The first was that a very conservative member of Congress wasn't ducking an interview with a very liberal network. The second was that while praising some of then President Trump's policies, he called him out for being a poor leader. He also, to the interviewer's face, called out the media for not being great at their jobs.

That, I thought to myself, is my kind of leader.

Country First is starting up chapters all over the country – including here in Idaho. If you are interested in learning more about Country First, and perhaps willing to attend a Zoom conference or coffee shop talk, reach out to me at martincountryfirstidaho@gmail.com. Let's get the conversation rolling.

Idaho Club award-winning columnist Martin Hackworth of Pocatello is a physicist, writer and retired Idaho State University faculty member who now spends his time with family, riding mountain bikes and motorcycles and playing guitars. His video blog: “Howlin' at the Moon in ii-V-I” may be found at https://www.facebook.com/HowlinattheMoonin251/ and https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6C9D1ueAe_7HB55uhdPDhg