Everything needs moderation

What's the middle missing in our politics?

I got into sourdough baking way before the pandemic. I remember making pizza dough at home almost every Friday growing up, but it wasn’t until I raised a starter that I was baking all the time: deep dish pizza, croissants, raisin swirl bread, everything! One key tool to successful baking is a scale. It allows you to be precise with the flour-water-salt ratio, and appropriately measure any other ingredients. I have an electronic scale, but I’m always reminded of the balancing scale, with its two delicate platforms. Traditionally, it’s the symbol of justice, but it aptly fits moderation, or the need to balance a situation with an appropriate response.

When I say moderation, I don’t just mean “everything in moderation, even moderation.” I mean the aptness, the decorum in a situation. Part of moderation is the situation or context where one decides. I would say it’s moderate to cheer loudly at a football game, but not on the floor of the Senate. It’s not just the action, but it’s where the action occurs.

John Adams practiced moderation in speech and mannerisms. During the Revolutionary war, he was asked by Congress to go to France to seek support and loans from Continental countries, starting with France. He worked diligently in a system that didn’t understand our Country’s ideas and determination. We know from his letters that he often felt slighted throughout his time overseas, but he kept the appearance of level headedness and propriety, trying to do what he knew to be the best for a nascent nation. At one point, he felt the need to go to the Netherlands to seek a loan, despite the protestations of the French minister. You could say, based on the diplomatic rules at the time, it was indecorous for him to go without a sponsorship from the French government. However, he shows fortitude to go to a different country, not knowing the language, to secure our nation’s future. The situation required an apt response, to leave a fruitless situation in Paris for newer climes in The Hague. His other work, the constitution, reflects his demeanor.

The Constitution of the United States is a model of moderation. Tempering a decision requires careful consideration. Internally, it’s listening to your inner dialogue, your conscience. Externally, it’s the Senate, the House, the Executive, and the Judiciary having an external dialogue, trying to pick the best path for the country. At least that’s how it should be.

Everyone realizes that moderation is missing in our government, at all levels. What should be a discussion on policy becomes Hail Mary legislation, virtue signaling bills, or desperate eleventh hour omnibus bills that encourage “secret congress” to get stuff done.

That’s why I’m joining the Madisonian republicans. We’ll have civil discussion on real policy, with factions bringing their best ideas forward. Michelangelo talked about releasing statues from the marble, and this group will release a polished policy that many people from many walks of life can agree on. I think it’s the best way to moderate our politics and repair our republic.