What is this site all about?

As my five year-old daughter holds my hand, I wonder what kind of country she will live in when her hand is as big as mine. I wonder if her fellow Americans will continue down the road we seem to be on. I wonder if the American pursuit of happiness will continue to be defined by some as the seven deadly sins. As much as my wife and I try to prevent it, my daughter’s life will be influenced by this new world and I don’t like it.

This website is a response to that world. I have spent the last several years writing an opinion editorial article a week. I usually send them to the New York Times or the Washington Post. But, common sense from a heartland moderate doesn’t sell too many papers. Until today, those articles have been a few ones and zeros on my hard drive.

Today those ones and zeros begin the migration to this website. I have started this website not because I need further validation or therapy. But, because I believe you do. You see, I believe I am not alone. I have a suspicion that there are tons of families like mine who lead normal jam-packed lives. We spend most of our energy paying bills and trying to make sure our children become productive members of society. Its not that we wouldn’t like to see the issues of our day discussed intelligently. We are just too busy to call a radio show and join the scream fest that is our national political scene. The trouble is our silence on political issues is misinterpreted as concurrence.

I believe there is a large segment of the American population like me who feel good ideas can come from both conservative and liberal philosophies. I believe labels and litmus tests are worthless. I think we should look at the strength of the idea and not the person who delivers it or the party they belong to. I think we have drawn lines in the sand so long we can’t even agree when we agree. I believe those lines inhibit discussion and prohibit compromise. I think the extremes of political thought have organized interest groups whose only goal is to limit thought and discussion. I think the resulting political environment threatens our democracy.

If you like what you have read so far, you may be a part of THE AMERICAN SILENT MAJORITY.

Feedback to the author is always welcome at feedback@americansilentmajority.com