Both major U.S. political parties have extremists. They are extreme in their ideology and their temperament. In both cases, these true-believing extremists are a very small minority. The rest of the members have to decide to what extent they will compromise with them. 🧵
In my view, it’s a well-established reality of human group dynamics that you simply can’t compromise with extremists in any meaningful way. By nature, extremism is never satisfied.
Moreover, giving a small minority outsize power is a disservice to the majority, and this is especially meaningful when you’re talking about public service in a democracy, where majority will must prevail (with important protections for the minority, of course).
When the Republican Party’s extremists became ascendant in 2016, I was a Republican elected official (now I am a nonpartisan elected official). So I had to make a choice, and I resolved to retain my principles and not compromise with extremism.
I never felt there was any other option. I wanted to be proud of my service. I’ve been rewarded many times over for that choice. Today, I feel like the luckiest public official in America. I serve authentically and with a focus on unity in an amazing city in an amazing time.
Meanwhile, for what seems like the umpteenth time since 2016, we see on our TVs today the logical result when one makes a different choice, when one attempts to appease extremists. I do hope for the sake of our Republic, everyone will learn lessons from these moments.
It is well past time to move back to mature governance, to reject extremism, and to serve our constituents with normal, competent (perhaps even boring!) government.
Clearly, some chaos still has to work its way through the system, but through these experiences I think we can emerge wiser and stronger as a nation. #1OKC
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