This really bugs me. I used to know lots of Republicans who were not only good folks but also had at least a little political sense. I know there a still a few around but the loudest, most obvious ones these days keep espousing the most blatant lies. Obama is a (chose your favorite): Muslim friend of terrorist/s Socialist/Communist not a citizen of the U.S. etc. etc... Come on folks, that's all Neo-Con garbage and I'd be glad to take any and all apart in one sentence each (and often do). Damn, I used to love discussing politics with those who disagreed and now it's "Obama?", "He's a...". What happened to real issues?
Please excuse, Eric, where are my manners... Do you think any of the above are true? Actually, I'd much rather discuss whose policies would best benefit the US and world. Questions? Answers?
unlike half truths and silly semantic sleights of hand, which are quite common. not to mention wanking. seriously though, brooks wrote a great column about why that is. Check out the ny times.
Question: I got your measure when I read that you sent a donation to planned parenthood in Gov. Palin's name to bug her. Childish shit, nicht wahr?
I agree with one real republican....it is a cancer. I think the republicans gained in the short term by embracing "anti-elitism," but in the long run it just gave their message, and many of their supporters a shallow argument to everything. Some things are complex, and require complex solutions. Often what seems like an intuitive, simple solution, may have the opposite effect than it's intention. Usually one sentence can't sum up a solution...it can take paragraphs or more. I think this may be something that is affecting politics in general, but I think it was fueled and encouraged by the anti-elitism tactic. "Common sense" is important, but one has to dig deeply before applying common sense or it can be a problem. I was having a non-productive talk with a Republican family member soon after Palin was chosen. It was interesting because he kept saying his support had nothing to do Bush. I guess it was good that he realizes now that Bush was probably a bad choice, which is a complete turn around. But, he didn't realize that the same arguments that made him like Bush are the ones that make him like Palin. Until the leaders and the pundits of the Republican party start to trust the party members with the true motivations and complexities of their argument, they will not be able to pull out of the hole they've dug....and cure the cancer.
nope... there's no partisanship on this forum, is there?!?! Seriously... some of you actually think Republicans are any more evil than Democrats???? The two party system is what is destroying this country- it destroys democracy, it makes open elections closed elections, it polarizes every American every four years into bickering and argument- just like in COngress. And nothing is accomplished, no progress is made. The one thing the two party system does well in this country is divide and conquer All of us. We will never see a solution from the two party system It has failed this country, and is holding it hostage- to make way for more control, less democracy, more bureaucracy, and more for them- less for us. The two party system, not one side or the other, is what is tearing this country apart. The mind- numbing partisan bickering in this country has gotten us absolutely nowhere. There are no viable answers, no real solutions from the two party system or the candidates that represent it. McCain is not the problem. Obama is not the answer. Christ, this place needs some good old moderation... and some understanding, that when one party fucks things up for a decade, that doesn't mean that the other party has the right answers. Remember when the country voted control of Congress over to the Republicans in 1994? Remember how nothing was accomplished? And then remember when the country voted for hopeful change- the Democrats- in 2006. We voted for them to end the Iraq War. And they did not. See how this just goes back and forth... with absolutely no progress? The two party system has failed our nation. It has failed us. And for the record, I am slightly right leaning- not the right of today, mind you, but the right of years ago- back when the right stood for small government, a nation run by the states, and diplomacy in the world instead of preemption and nation building.
Seriously... some of you actually think Republicans are any more evil than Democrats???? Yes, particularly because they pushed the racists into the Republican camp.
SunLion, I believe we are talking about present day politics, not the civil war or the old south. The democratic party rejected racism long ago. That's why they lost the south to republicans, who gleefully took up the challenge. This goes back to the "me too" days of FDR and post FDR politics, when Republicans did not argue a philosophical difference with the Democrats, just that they would be better at administering the same policies. Johnson handed the south to the Republicans, and the Republicans grabbed it. Racism was simply part of the bargain. If you ask me, the net result was positive. Racism is become trash. Everybody's got it in their back yard but nobody wants to smell it. They are parties. Run by partisans. They are neither good nor evil. They are alliances. If we do our part when we vote, we can have a well cultivated "harmonious system of mutual frustration". The system is out of balance right now, and it has produced a storm. The Republican party will either adjust or die out and make way for one or more parties. NEVER confuse good, evil, and politics.
At last you got something right. Not a socialist, a Marxist. Marx believed that wealth should be redistributed, "each according to his ability, each according to his need," is the way he put it. Of course, Abe Lincoln said slavery was "where you work and earn the bread and I eat it." So maybe you are advocating slavery. By the way how are things on that cloud you inhabit?
