NO EXTREMISTS FOR US AMERICANS, THANK YOU

Back in the 1960s, the American political landscape was rocked hard by the escalating war in Vietnam. There was ever-growing displeasure with the conflict in general and the constant stream of dead Americans coming home for burial in particular.

At the same time, the Civil Rights movement had transferred from the non-violent and effective approach of Martin Luther King to riots and mass destruction in cities across the country.

Throw in the King and RFK assassinations and America was longing for a quick end to the war and a nice dose of Law and Order.

In 1968, there was enough of what Richard Nixon coined "the silent majority" to raise him from the political dead and plop him into the White House. He and the Republicans appealed to the building fears and critical perceptions a majority of the country had when it came to radical extremists on the Left.

The lesson here is that the majority of Americans doe not like political extremes be they far left or far right.

Four years earlier, Lyndon Johnson had trounced Barry Goldwater, the face of American Conservatism, in the Presidential election. At the time, Goldwater seemed to a significant number of Americans to be an extremist whose views, especially on foreign and military affairs, were frightening. In fairness 45 years later, it needs to be pointed out that Goldwater was a significantly different Conservative than the so-called Conservatives who make up today's GOP. The senator from Arizona had two major dislikes: Communism and big government. He muttered just enough times that if he were in the White House, nukes were an option in Southeast Asia to stop the commies. (Scary stuff to a country still recovering from the murder of JFK. We longed for peace and serenity.

In retrospect, had Goldwater somehow become commander-in-chief, it's a safe bet that U.S. participation in Vietnam would not have dragged on until the mid-1970s. Granted, instead of roughly 58,000 American dead it might have been 158,000 dead and the vast majority of Southeast Asia would have been a permanent wasteland.

However, Goldwater was also a bit of a Civil Libertarian. In today's atmosphere, he would not get involved in things like abortion or gay rights. He and his wife, Peggy, were major supporters of Planned Parenthood and one of their daughter's, Joanne, had an abortion in the mid-1950s when it was illegal. In fact, Goldwater himself arranged for it to be done in Washington, D.C. Later, Joanne, whose abortion was the result of a pregnancy involving her future husband, had three daughters all of whom would have abortions.

Goldwater had a gay grandson whom it is said received the same level of love and support from him as all of his other grandchildren. Goldwater, who died in 1998, was around during the time when the issue of gays in the military was getting a fair amount of play. He had been a pilot and rose to the rank of Brigadier General in the Air Force and the Armed Forces were a big deal to him. When asked about the "don't ask, don't tell" approach regarding gays in the military, Goldwater snapped "I don't give a damn if somebody is straight; they just have to shoot straight."

In his last years, Goldwater spoke often and openly about his fear of the radical right taking over the traditional American conservative movement. He especially ranted about the intrusion of religion in politics and TV evangelists spouting off in support of Republicans. He once remarked, that "every Christian ought to line up and kick Jerry Falwell's ass."

Contemporary Republicans rarely reference Goldwater these days. Reagan, in part because he was somewhat more successful when it came to seeking the White House, gets far more reference… that and, of course, his pro-choice, pro-god position.

Back to today's extremism.

It's 2009 and Obama has been in office just shy of five months. In less than 30 days, two innocent people have been murdered, one because he performed a fully legal medical procedure and the other because he was black. The two men held as suspects in these killings, are obviously mentally ill.

Nevertheless, the perception is that both situations rose out of an extreme right wing part of American politics. It is far, far right but the views, comments and position by those less far, far right (but still very right) only contribute to the extremist label Americans don't like.

Back in the 1960s, there was a significant difference between the SDS Weathermen and college students working on the Gene McCarthy and Bobby Kennedy campaigns. In the end, it didn't make any difference to the majority of voters who flipped the switch in the voting booth for Dick Nixon.

Today, there are enough voters who will not see much difference between Michele Bachmann and James Inhofe when compared to Scott Roeder and James von Brunn. Yes, they know two of the four are psychotic. The other two are political radicals but they all seem to be milling about down at the far end of the field.

Combine all this with the constant barrage of stupid, rash commentary coming from the likes of Limbaugh, etc. and when 2010 rolls around, and unless there is a complete economic collapse, most independent, centrist Americans will not find the far right in America very appealing.

If you aren't paying attention to where you are standing in the political arena, it's easy to get painted with the same brush.