What is “the Middle” Anyway?

Pop culture and the broad road to destruction

I don’t really keep up with music. It’s just not my thing. My music library has a lot of 90s stuff in it, and some gym music like Rocky soundtracks and Creed (not Apollo Creed, mind you). So that’s my polite introduction to saying I don’t give a hoot in hell about “Jelly Roll” and his career on easy street making millions for sounding like a wounded and dying giraffe on a microphone.

My point in writing today is that when I saw the latest outrage related to a singer, it reminded me of when I wrote about NFL players and their opinions:

Everyone was up in arms about Jaxson Dart cashing in on the opportunity of a lifetime to introduce the President of the United States. It’s a truly big deal to meet the sitting president, even if he’s one you don’t support (although Dart does support Trump - smart guy). Many service members have had medals pinned on or certificates signed by a president they didn’t vote for, and my home has a document recognizing my father’s life and service signed by (gasp) Barack Obama hanging on the wall.

Nevertheless, pop culture says it’s OK to crap all over Republican politicians and trash their supporters, but if 5% of the time there is a message of support suggested - no bueno. My charge to everyone here is to bake this into your psyches - who gives a damn what anyone who sings, dances, strips, throws, blocks, passes, runs, swings a bat, or takes selfies all day thinks about the world?

Here’s what Jelly Roll had to say after spending a week on Jimmy Kimmel trashing conservatives - who almost certainly make up at least 80% of his fan base given his Christian-adjacent content and personal testimony:

But just because I watched a fight on TV doesn’t mean I support everything this administration does. Just like how hosting Jimmy Kimmel’s show doesn’t mean I have all of Jimmy Kimmel’s politics. Sure, I lean left on some things. But like most folks, I’m pretty down the middle. I am a Christian. I am a country music singer. I’m a farmer. I’m a bow hunter. And most of the things I eat I prefer to get with a stick and a string. That’s the truth.

No, Jason, most Americans are not “down the middle.”

• Roughly 30% of Americans are lost for life to whatever banner carries leftist policies. Perhaps half of them, or 15%, are on the radical left. The overall group includes your standard single feminists and urbanites, even if not fully radicalized.

• Another 15% of Americans usually vote for Democrats, but are sitting on the race-bait plantation or rely on government cheese to get by.

• Roughly 40% of Americans, including suburban squishes and hardcore right-wingers, have either conservative views on money or culture (or both).

• That leaves us with about 15% of the population that can be persuaded based on no more than a few issues to vote in one way or another.

There is no “middle.” Not anymore.

What would it look like anyway?

Immigration - We either enforce immigration law or we don’t. There is no middle. You either become India, Mexico, or Somalia, or you don’t.

Trade - We either have trade policy that prioritizes the American worker, or we don’t. You can either create conditions that bring business to America and reshores industry, or you create ones that ensure your businesses close and relocate to another country.

War - We either use the military to defend American interests, or we don’t. It’s pretty obvious the entire Middle East has been waiting for six months for us to invade Iran, take the bullets, and entrench ourselves in another decade-long war. Iraq was a great teacher, and no one learned that lesson more than Europe did. That’s why they won’t touch the Iranian problem. I don’t see a “middle” position based entirely on the premise of how we’ve done combat post-1945.

Anti-Corruption - Here we have perhaps the biggest domestic problem. Scandinavian and Nordic nations are what we call “high trust” societies - in which the people trust the institutions and the government. America was born out of distrust of government, and a very low percentage of people relative to other nations trust government. That’s why Congress always has such a dismal approval rating. Where is the middle ground supposed to be in punishing corrupt officials and institutions for stealing elections, pushing pandemic hoaxes that are later revealed for everyone to see, and participating in activities like insider trading? Exactly - there is none.

There are either real consequences, or none at all.

All the other stuff is fluff and arguing about marginal tax rates. That isn’t the battlefield we fight on today. Today’s is the one of “sink or swim” that will determine if we have a meaningful national future. And on it, there is no middle ground.

We would all do our nation a great service to correct the lie of “I’m in the middle on everything” when we hear it, right after we’ve given up caring about what the out-of-touch celebrity class has to say.

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Seth Keshel, MBA, a former Army Captain of Military Intelligence and Afghanistan veteran, is the author of The American War on Election Corruption. His analytical method of election forecasting and analytics is known worldwide, and he has been commended by President Donald J. Trump for his work in the field.