I got this in an email but it really makes you think

[FarmerChick]

The citizens "can not" ever be told the real truth behind the way any govt. is run. We would go insane!

That is why "all us poeple know" (who are we kidding) but we must let some slide because we understand that to buck the entire world system as is, would be suicide.

We have to rein ourselves in. We honestly have no choice.

BUT of course we can pick and choose and fight certain issues, morals, and we do get to vote.....voting is our "own defense and acceptance" of the situation.

And big daddy is right, the minute a person is in control of anything, it can be corrupt from day 1. Politics is just that, politics and don't think it comes with a higher moral standard because it represents the masses. It sure doesn't.

 

[patandchickens]

If it was about conscience, the dems would have refused to pay for the Iraqi war when they gained power in 2006. They knew that Bush would keep our boys over there without any ammo and when they all got killed he would blame it on them. So they kept writing the checks.

Insofar as there is truth in this, I do not see that it lacks conscience.

Politics is, and except in a dictatorship will always BE, largely about crafting compromises. Which should not be such an offensive idea if you consider that the gov't is supposed to represent ALL the people not just one segment of 'em at a time

Pat

 

[Big Daddy]

[
Politics is, and except in a dictatorship will always BE, largely about crafting compromises. Which should not be such an offensive idea if you consider that the gov't is supposed to represent ALL the people not just one segment of 'em at a time

Pat

Good point Pat. After the last administration it's sometimes hard to remember that. It's like half of us went 8 years in the passenger seat and now it's our turn to drive. However the party in power usually gets to make the choices. I think that since Regan our ideologies have slowly grown so far apart it is hard to achieve an effective compromise.

 

[FarmerChick]

good post BD

we are far apart. hard to come back into a common bond.

 

[Big Daddy]

Were the 2 parties ideologies ever any closer than they are now? Sometimes I wish that I wasn't into politics at all. I think there are a lot of really good people on both sides. It's just that now I find myself prejudging people based on a bumper sticker. It's as bad as being racist and I hate it. When did this start happening?

 

[patandchickens]

The problem (well ok, "a big" problem) is that people get so invested in believing that their own take on things is the ONLY POSSIBLE correct analysis and that those who disagree are either a) stupid or b) malicious or c) real selfish.

In reality, everyone has some reasonable points, and frankly we ALL want many of the SAME BASIC THINGS, just have legitimately-different ideas about how to best achieve those basic things.

If people would spend a little more time considering that maybe a number of the other party's ideas are not completely totally idiotic or corrupt, and may have some genuine value, it would be easier to craft useful compromises.

When any of the sides stands there and starts howling about how awful the other guys are and with them at the wheel we're all going to diiieeeeee, it really does not facilitate collaborative solutions :>


Pat

 

[FarmerChick]

You are not racist BD
You are disagreeing with anothers political view.

Racism is only called into play if you are basing your views on anothers race or color and show hate for that specific group.

Predjudice is another tough word. It means you "won't listen" to anothers side of debate based on gender, age, race or other "factors" involved.

If you disagree with anothers political beliefs you are neither racist or predjudiced if you do not base that on other factors.
I DO disagree with alot of others political views. It is not based on race, age, color, gender or other. It is based on the "underlying beliefs" of that view.


We are too "policitically" correct nowadays. I hate that. It means the interrpretation of every single thing we say is just that--interrupted to mean more than it might. ugh..how can any person alive play in this game?

It is almonst possible.

 

[patandchickens]

I dunno FC, it seems to me that judging a person b/c of a bumper sticker or party label *is* prejudice. That is, you are "pre-judging" (the etymology of the word 'prejudice') what kind of a person they are, based on massively-too-fragmentary info and on stereotypes.

I think BD makes a really valid point, I think we *all* do this sometimes and should *all* be aware of and dislike this in ourselves.

So I would give a lot of kudos to BD for pointing this out, and doing it in a way that is not all self-righteous about it either.


Pat

 

[me&thegals]

Very, very true, BD, the part about "how did I start feeling so *bipartisan*", or in similar words.

At the risk of *being* bipartisan, for me it really started with Bush. I didn't pay much attention to politics until 9-11, and then I started paying close attention. Some people have a nack for being divisive, and I think he really did. That's when I started feeling quite strongly about things. That is also the main reason I really like Obama--I feel he has the ability to try to talk about all sides of issues.

Pat, I also think you are right (2 posts ago) when you say we basically want the same things, whichever side of the aisle we stand in. Just HOW we get there can be so contentious. I have to constantly remind myself that many of the people I love and respect are NOT of the same political views. They are human, kind, respectable, and probably have a lot of great points. I expect them to show the same respect for me and my views, and they do.

Of course, name calling, being really opinionated and refusing to listen to the other side are great ways to escalate political opinion warfare...

 

[ducks4you]

I've gotten this email, too. I say, throw them ALL out, and get Representatives who want to serve and then go home, NOT "Party" in Washington, D.C.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Professor who taught a College Constitution class I took began his first lecture with the question:
"What do politicians want?"
The answer?
"A career, like everybody else."