Light Shadows Rising:

The first in a series on Depolarizing Politics

Photograph by Author: “Shadows on Distant Peaks”

“Even the darkness is not dark to you;

The night is as bright as the day,

For darkness is as light to you.”

Psalm 139:12 (NRSV)

American Politics has collapsed into a black hole of angry recriminations and bipolar chaos.

The two party system coupled with a virulent social media ecosystem has amplified extremist views and drowned out moderate voices. Traditional Republicans like Mitt Romney, Jeff Flake, and Charlie Baker get vilified as RINOS (Republicans in Name Only).

Photo by Nel Botha from Pixabay

(Maybe we should call them RHINOS instead; Republicans with the strength of character to resist the cult of personality that has engulfed their party. Most party symbols began as insults that leaders turned into points of pride. Why else would the Democrats still claim the donkey or jackass for their symbol?)

The Democrats are also caught in a generational and ideological Civil War. Alexandra Ocasio Cortes symbolizes the emerging generation of progressive activists. They long to overcome centuries of racial injustice…