Two Things Can Be True, Even in Politics

Some Peach Pundit readers will remember me from my time in the Georgia House and LG’s Office. I enjoy writing, and have published a series about grief after my son’s suicide in 2020 here. I have stayed out of political opinions but now feel called to write on the issues of the day from a very different perspective, as you will see below in a copy of my introduction. My goal is to release a new column every Monday – the first two will be about Trump and then Stacey Abrams. I figured I might as well throw out grenades and blow everyone up right off the bat. These columns will be on Peach Pundit and my substack here. Thanks so much to Scot who’s very skilled writing inspired me to get off my duff, and to Charlie Harper who set that bar in this space long ago.

Like so many of you I am beyond frustrated with the polarization and simple sloganeering that dominate public discourse today. As a former elected official in Georgia and a technology/science educated businessman, I feel I have a distinct and informed perspective on “reality” today in modern politics.

Each column I hope will serve to chip away at the fallacy that a particular issue/person/law/event is either A or B. Our world is a mess of gray. Two things can often be full of truth at the same time, even if they live in different political camps.

I have been and remain a principled conservative, a fact which my voting record in the Georgia House easily supports. There and in other places I have encountered principled liberals, with whom I often disagreed and sometimes agreed. Neither our agreements or disagreements made either of us unprincipled. What I am here to say is that messy reality does not mean that you or I must give up our principles, nor does it mean you have to abandon your “tribe.” Just be comfortable in the real world, the one that lives between polar interpretations of A and B.