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It’s time we had a rational discussion of the meaning of a word that
is playing an important role in current political debates and
discussions. The word we need to examine is the word “moderate.”

However, we must proceed with caution. Delving too deeply into
definitions can be dangerous. As a case in point, consider what has
happened to the legal profession. Lawyers will write a 25,000-word
treatise to define the meaning of a simple expression, for example,
“private property.” They wring out what each of these two words mean in
isolation, and what they mean in combination. Unfortunately, in the
process of trying to capture what is meant by “private property,” they
inadvertently put up for grabs the meaning of the 25,000 words they use
to nail down the meaning of two.

This philological chain reaction explains why your average lawyer’s
office is stacked to the ceiling with legal tomes that lead him and
others on fruitless chases around imaginary mulberry bushes. And it
explains why your average lawyer’s finite mind is full to overflowing
with words and jargon that have no discernible reference points in

Perhaps, by understanding what went wrong in the legal community,
with its codification of obscurantism, we can avoid the same corruption
of common sense and logic. Perhaps we can define “moderate” without
getting entangled in webs of our own weaving.

Politicians and voters describe themselves as moderate to give the
impression that they are fair-minded, that is to say, not a captive of
left- or right-wing dogmatism. It connotes someone who avoids extreme

As a general rule, these moderates are not hard to spot. If you go to
a serious meeting where a controversial issue will be discussed, the
partisans will quickly take a seat. The moderates may be seen wandering
around in the background looking for something to hang their hats on.

However, based on actions rather than words, it is fair to say that
many politicians use the term “moderate” to disguise radical beliefs
such as: legal infanticide is the answer to overpopulation; self-defense
is dangerous since it makes your enemies angry; socialism deserves
another chance; and sodomy is as American as motherhood and a walk in
the park.

What readily comes to mind are the words of the famous philosopher
Ludwig Wittgenstein, who warned us of “the bewitchment of our
intelligence by means of language.” It is confusing. Is a moderate
someone who occupies the sensible center, or someone who is mired in the
muddled middle? Or is the moderate really a closet liberal?

There is a famous line in a popular novel that reads, “Being in love
means never having to say you’re sorry.” It provides us with a suitable
definitional format:

  • Being moderate means never having to say you are a liberal.

  • Being moderate means rejecting the idea that we are all doomed in
    favor of the idea that we are only half doomed.

  • Being moderate (as a cynical politician once observed) means
    dismissing the radical idea that Washington, D.C., should be razed to
    the ground tomorrow, in favor of the idea of doing it one building at a

  • Being moderate means being willing to swap a value for a victory.

  • Being moderate means suing tobacco companies for killing people
    while voting for subsidies for tobacco farmers.

  • Being moderate means raising the flag of surrender only to

  • Being moderate means believing that Rush Limbaugh is too
    controversial to host Monday Night Football, while the vile,
    foul-mouthed smut-monger Dennis Miller is a perfect choice.

  • Being moderate means choosing purgatory over the extremes of
    heaven and hell.

  • Being moderate means choosing gray as a favorite color — and
    spelling it “grey” half of the time.

  • Being moderate means believing that Rodney King’s civil rights
    were violated, while the children and babies at Waco had no civil

  • Being moderate means having doubts about who should be punished,
    the criminal or the police officer who arrested him.

Here is a bit of counsel from the famous patriot Thomas Paine:

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