Centrists are by no means even close to a threat to Democracy. Lack of centrists is

[OilemFirchen]

53. "... and always have been."

Bullshit.

Here's a blurb from the obit of Chuck Whalen, who was my Congressman from 1966 to 1978:

Mr. Whalen had served in both houses of the Ohio General Assembly before he won election to the U.S. House in 1966 as a representative from a district centered on Dayton, a largely middle-class factory town. During his 12 years in office, he built a reputation as one of the most liberal Republicans in the House.

He served on the Committee on International Relations (now Foreign Affairs) but was perhaps best-known for his years as the most vocal Republican dove on the Armed Services Committee. He was one of the panel’s “Fearless Five,” known for raising the ire of Chairman Mendel Rivers (D-S.C.) for insisting on scrutiny of military spending requests.

Mr. Whalen also co-sponsored several Vietnam troop-withdrawal bills and the unsuccessful 1971 Nedzi-Whalen amendment, which would have cut off military spending for weapons.

He was an early and outspoken proponent of ending military conscription in the United States. In 1967, he and four other members of the Wednesday Group — an informal group of liberal and moderate House Republicans — wrote a report describing how the country could successfully build an all-volunteer Army within five years.

I could name hundreds of others, and plenty of knuckle-dragging Democrats as well.