Revisiting

A Moderate America Takes the Mic

By Modern Melly

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I wrote this back in August, a spur of the moment, knee jerk reaction to current events. This morning, I decided to revisit and revamp and see what, if any thing has changed. New remarks are in red.

Hello, my name is Moderate American.

You may not recognize me, but unlike the infamous Bigfoot, I really do exist. Sorry I haven’t spoken up before now, but, well I’ve been busy living my life; you know- going to work, raising my family, paying my bills, juggling the demands of such, while I also try to fulfill my personal wants and needs, along with cutting my grass, arguing over whether we want or even need solar panels on our house (a house we’re not sure we will stay in for the next ten years), worrying about my aging parents, worrying about my children, that job, that house, my health, my families health, taxes, tomorrow…and, well, you get the idea, I think. Yup, still the same. Over the solar panel thing, though. Moved on to deciding where in Florida we want to retire (’cause it sure as hell can’t be in our taxed to death state.)

 Being focused as I am with living my life may have led you to think I have no opinions on these current country & world issues, so I think it’s time to correct your erroneous notion. The first clarification is this: I have opinions, strong opinions even. I just don’t think that my opinions or views trump someone else’s, nor are they less valid than someone else’s, they’re just different. (Not sure if I was trying to be sly with the whole’trump’ reference, maybe I was, maybe I wasn’t. Fairly sure I wasn’t taking him seriously at that point.) It’s all okay, really. Even when those opposing opinions piss me off, it’s okay. You just carry on with your business, and I’ll carry on with mine. I don’t want to ban anything, forbid it, or erase it’s existence. Frankly,  I don’t have time, interest or energy to get into lengthy debates and conflicts with people who don’t share the same views as I do.

The thing is that I, Moderate American, am more of a live and let live kinda person. Yes, ISIS scares me, and Caitlyn Jenner confuses me, Planned Parenthood videos disturb me, Hilary Clinton shocks me, Donald Trumps shocks me, and oh, yes, Obama shocks me. Gun rights vs. gun control. Marriage equality. The climate of hate against our law enforcement.The economy, foreign affairs, social media, politics, religion: yup, opinions on them all. If I have an indication that someone wants to have a respectful conversation on any of those, I’d pour us some drinks, and make time for it. However, the second you show me some bat-shit craziness, I’m out. Fair warning. Ah, yes, there have been some changes in this ‘bat-shit crazy’ regard. People have gone all out bat-shit crazy, with little sign of a decrease in crazy. Apparently, all you have to do these days is say, ‘That OFFENDS me! Ban it (or him/her)! Boycott!” whereas before, if you didn’t like someone or something, you calmly, quietly distanced yourself without fuss. 

What’s most pressing in the life of Moderate Americans right this minute are things like: my child’s college tuition is due the same week as my mortgage and car payment, and I just took a pay cut for the sake of having a job versus having no job, and so on. Regardless, I, the Moderate American, take care of my business. Forgive me for thinking that the people we elected to handle this other shit, should HANDLE THE SHIT. It’s why we fucking elected them, remember? You see, I’m getting fired up. Do I really need to add this to my already full plate? Really?? Just. Fucking. Do. Your. Job. And do it right. Well, it appears that a great many Americans have agreed with these sentiments & felt that our government was indeed NOT doing its job, and thereby elected a NEW president. A lot of other folks are really ticked off about this. In fact, they are the ones going bat-shit crazy. Rioting. Protesting. Boycotting, banning, bashing, whining, crying, swearing, pouting… I kid you not. Mind you, they’re the same folks demanding tolerance and acceptance, peace and love (No, really, they hold signs that read: “LOVE TRUMPS HATE” while screaming “fuck you Trump’. Very confusing, their messages.) They’re the ones who said, before the results, ‘it would be Un-American to reject the will of the people! The Russians are NOT hacking anything! Stop whining!” Irony, anyone?

Hence, this ‘letter’ of sorts. You see, I can’t help but notice all the drama the extremists are causing. Seriously, you folks are in everyone’s face 24/7. And now, now you’ve pissed me off enough to step into the ring, even though I’d rather not. Oh, I’m pointing at you extreme right and extreme left. You asshats think you represent the majority. You do not. The real majority is me, Moderate America, and we are just trying to live a good, simple life, you ALL need to sit down and shut the fuck up. Seriously, Moderate America wants you to shut your fat flapping gums and stop making the whole Unites States of America look like the world’s village idiot. Um, so recap: it would appear that the silent majority, the middle, the blue collar, the forgotten ones… won. They’re the ones who quietly cast their vote, went home (or to work) and got on with life.

Taking a breath. Counting to ten. Okay.

I am Moderate America.

I am not a Republican. I am not a Democrat. I am not an Independent, not a Tea Party member, nor in the Moderate Party, not any label other than: American. I want what should be obvious: I want fairness, equality, I want the government to know their boundaries, and I want to feel safe. I want for those who lead us to do so with temperance, intelligence, and caution, and above all else, accountability. I just want to live in the land of the free, and the home of the brave.  It is that simple. It is that plain. Yup.

That’s all I’ve got. You know why? I’ve got a lot of shit to do today, and it doesn’t involve a single political or social issue I mentioned above. It involves laundry. Errands. Work. Life. So, I’ll go work on my shit, and you all work on yours.

Um, and hey, have a nice day.

PS. I’ve written a bunch of books, all entirely unrelated to this post, so I figure… why not plug those bad boys in here, too? Check em out: Bookstore