A Nation Divided

RELmajor03

RELmajor03

CAGiversary!
I'm starting to get really worried about the general political atmosphere in this country. I think partisan politics has always served to divide our country, but never more so than in recent years. As I read the newspaper, watch the news, even look at this message board, all I see is democrats calling republicans fat-cat bigots, republicans calling democrats idealistic hippies, and each side labeling the other a bunch of idiots.

This is bad. Really, really bad. America is supposed to be about working together to build a future, not splitting into warring factions struggling for power. We don't have to agree all the time; hell, that's why it's called freedom of speech. But complete unwillingness to see another side is getting us nowhere. If we're going to get things back on track, we're going to have to work together. ALL together.

I didn't vote for Bush in this recent election. I'm been very displeased with his presidency and with a lot of his policy choices. However, I'm not going to hope for him to fail simply because he's of a different party alignment than myself. He's our president for another four years, and I'm going to hope for his success. Why? Because, regardless of whom we voted for, we are all Americans, and we are all in this together.
 
[quote name='RELmajor03']I'm starting to get really worried about the general political atmosphere in this country. I think partisan politics has always served to divide our country, but never more so than in recent years. As I read the newspaper, watch the news, even look at this message board, all I see is democrats calling republicans fat-cat bigots, republicans calling democrats idealistic hippies, and each side labeling the other a bunch of idiots.

This is bad. Really, really bad. America is supposed to be about working together to build a future, not splitting into warring factions struggling for power. We don't have to agree all the time; hell, that's why it's called freedom of speech. But complete unwillingness to see another side is getting us nowhere. If we're going to get things back on track, we're going to have to work together. ALL together. [/quote]

its deeper than that.

democrats and republicans dont want to work together to build a better america because they dont care about america.

political parties care about keeping control of the country. its not a quest to build a better america, its a quest for power.

democrats and republicans are much philosophically closer than the media would have you believe, of course the media has to present it this was, so you can choose a side, so you tune in to see your side do something good and the other side do something bad.

i'd say its a joke, but the degree its grown too is far too sad to be a joke.
 
Okay, but you're talking about politicians. I'm talking about Americans. I'm talking about everyday people like you and me who, instead of trying to understand each other, are at each other's throats.

Let's not forget, regardless of what politicians may be after--power, wealth, a better America, lots of sucky-sucky--it's we, the voters, their constituents, that put them in office. As such, they have to represent our interests. If they don't, we will (at least, in theory) elect someone else, someone who will. If we as Americans can send a clear message that we want a united America, we can achieve it.
 
[quote name='RELmajor03']Okay, but you're talking about politicians. I'm talking about Americans. I'm talking about everyday people like you and me who, instead of trying to understand each other, are at each other's throats.[/quote]

ok, i did miss your point, so my post was most off-topic ^^

Let's not forget, regardless of what politicians may be after--power, wealth, a better America, lots of sucky-sucky--it's we, the voters, their constituents, that put them in office. As such, they have to represent our interests. If they don't, we will (at least, in theory) elect someone else, someone who will. If we as Americans can send a clear message that we want a united America, we can achieve it.
Click to expand...
americans are too brainwashed by the media to believe anyone has a chance at the presidency if they are not democratic or republican.
 
There was a hilarious example of this a while back. One poster who voted for Kerry said that he occasionally watches Fox news to get a different perspective. Immediately a different (radically conservative) poster jumped all over him, stating that first poster had just lost all credibility.

It's getting to be that when someone who voted for Kerry voices a generally conservative comment, he is immediately attacked for it. Isn't that what Bush supporters want?
 
[quote name='punqsux']its deeper than that.

democrats and republicans dont want to work together to build a better america because they dont care about america.

political parties care about keeping control of the country. its not a quest to build a better america, its a quest for power.[/quote]

That's harsh, but is true to a degree. They care about America, but being members of a political party they also have the dueling interest of the party itself. In other words, on some issues where they might personally believe the best interests of the country are different from the best interests of the party, they have a decision to make, and it can be a very difficult decision. Just look at the recently-removed chairmen of the House Ethics and Veterans Affairs committees as a good recent example, removed by the Republican Party because they were seen as too chummy with Democrats and working together too much. Political parties are bad for the country in this way.
 
[quote name='MrBadExample'][quote name='Scrubking']Very well said.[/quote]

Oh, the irony here is delicious...[/quote]

Typical liberal hatred. They guy makes a thread about us coming together and the first thing you do is start shit.

You're a winner!! :roll:
 
[quote name='Scrubking'][quote name='MrBadExample'][quote name='Scrubking']Very well said.[/quote]

Oh, the irony here is delicious...[/quote]

Typical liberal hatred. They guy makes a thread about us coming together and the first thing you do is start shit.

You're a winner!! :roll:[/quote]

Way to start the healing process! :applause:
 
[quote name='RELmajor03']I'm starting to get really worried about the general political atmosphere in this country. I think partisan politics has always served to divide our country, but never more so than in recent years. As I read the newspaper, watch the news, even look at this message board, all I see is democrats calling republicans fat-cat bigots, republicans calling democrats idealistic hippies, and each side labeling the other a bunch of idiots.

This is bad. Really, really bad. America is supposed to be about working together to build a future, not splitting into warring factions struggling for power. We don't have to agree all the time; hell, that's why it's called freedom of speech. But complete unwillingness to see another side is getting us nowhere. If we're going to get things back on track, we're going to have to work together. ALL together.

I didn't vote for Bush in this recent election. I'm been very displeased with his presidency and with a lot of his policy choices. However, I'm not going to hope for him to fail simply because he's of a different party alignment than myself. He's our president for another four years, and I'm going to hope for his success. Why? Because, regardless of whom we voted for, we are all Americans, and we are all in this together.[/quote]

The real shame is that kids, today, know nothing of political history.
Of course, neither do the news reporters and commentators who also claim this is the worst of times.....
 
[quote name='Scrubking'][quote name='MrBadExample'][quote name='Scrubking']Very well said.[/quote]

Oh, the irony here is delicious...[/quote]

Typical liberal hatred. They guy makes a thread about us coming together and the first thing you do is start shit.

You're a winner!! :roll:[/quote]

I was just reveling in the irony that you were the first to give kudos to the thought of a less divided nation yet your avatar preaches about the evils of a liberal society.
 
[quote name='MrBadExample'][quote name='Scrubking'][quote name='MrBadExample'][quote name='Scrubking']Very well said.[/quote]

Oh, the irony here is delicious...[/quote]

Typical liberal hatred. They guy makes a thread about us coming together and the first thing you do is start shit.

You're a winner!! :roll:[/quote]

I was just reveling in the irony that you were the first to give kudos to the thought of a less divided nation yet your avatar preaches about the evils of a liberal society.[/quote]

his avatar is from a videogame tho, its compleatley ficticious. his avatar (im assuming) has NOTHING to do with guns, or gun conrtol, im guessing its more because he likes gta games..
 
[quote name='punqsux'][quote name='MrBadExample'][quote name='Scrubking'][quote name='MrBadExample'][quote name='Scrubking']Very well said.[/quote]

Oh, the irony here is delicious...[/quote]

Typical liberal hatred. They guy makes a thread about us coming together and the first thing you do is start shit.

You're a winner!! :roll:[/quote]

I was just reveling in the irony that you were the first to give kudos to the thought of a less divided nation yet your avatar preaches about the evils of a liberal society.[/quote]

his avatar is from a videogame tho, its compleatley ficticious. his avatar (im assuming) has NOTHING to do with guns, or gun conrtol, im guessing its more because he likes gta games..[/quote]

I remember seeing it in Jackie Brown, the movie.
 
[quote name='elprincipe']They care about America[/quote]

again, i choose poor words...

i believe democrats and republicans DO care about america, but i dont feel they have ANY good intrests at hand. i believe they care about flexing international muscle in order to keep the power that they have aquired valid.

i dont believe that democrats nor republicans care (any more than they have to, to get elected) about the people of this country (now thats a broad generalization, im sure there 1 or 2 politicians out there thats not a complete waste of flesh, but yeah...)

look at the last presidency term. (this is not bush bashing, i dislike both sides equally) we suffered a major blow to our economy, and what do our leaders do? do they re-invest money in american business? no, they declare a very expensive war on a totally harmless (to us, with the exception of the few troops we had there at the time) country...WITH THE AMERICAN PEOPLE CHEERING THE WHOLE WAY!!

this is what im talking about. media controling people...distracting people from the real topics. america showing its "superiority" and showing the world, the map is drawn up how we decide...
 
[quote name='punqsux'][quote name='elprincipe']They care about America[/quote]

again, i choose poor words...

i believe democrats and republicans DO care about america, but i dont feel they have ANY good intrests at hand. i believe they care about flexing international muscle in order to keep the power that they have aquired valid.

i dont believe that democrats nor republicans care (any more than they have to, to get elected) about the people of this country (now thats a broad generalization, im sure there 1 or 2 politicians out there thats not a complete waste of flesh, but yeah...)

look at the last presidency term. (this is not bush bashing, i dislike both sides equally) we suffered a major blow to our economy, and what do our leaders do? do they re-invest money in american business? no, they declare a very expensive war on a totally harmless (to us, with the exception of the few troops we had there at the time) country...WITH THE AMERICAN PEOPLE CHEERING THE WHOLE WAY!!

this is what im talking about. media controling people...distracting people from the real topics. america showing its "superiority" and showing the world, the map is drawn up how we decide...[/quote]

America has not been cheering war the whole way. In case you didn't notice, half of America is pretty upset (so many here that they're trying to shut the massive wave of protesters out of Bush's big inaguration bash)

Blaming the politicians when more then half of the people voted for the current chickenhawk-in-chief is disingenuous. This is America, where the majority chooses the leader. If the choices of that leader result in a negative situation for the USA, then it is the majority who deserve to enjoy the ultimate share of blame and shame.
 
I was just reveling in the irony that you were the first to give kudos to the thought of a less divided nation yet your avatar preaches about the evils of a liberal society.
Click to expand...
Okay, take this for example. So ScrubKing is pro-gun (which I'm not sure he is, but for the sake of argument, will assume). THIS DOES NOT MAKE HIM A "CONSERVATIVE", or a "Republican", or any number of labels we'd like to apply. This makes him a guy who's pro-gun. And that's fine. He's entitled to that. The problem is that people choose sides based on these issues until the entire country has massed into one of two main voting blocs. You can be pro-gun and pro-gay marriage! You can be anti-abortion and anti-Iraq! YOU ARE YOUR OWN PERSON! Your party doesn't tell you what to believe, you believe what you believe, and then vote accordingly.
 
[quote name='camoor']
America has not been cheering war the whole way. In case you didn't notice, half of America is pretty upset (so many here that they're trying to shut the massive wave of protesters out of Bush's big inaguration bash)[/quote]
again, poorly chossen words, i didnt mean america as a whole was cheering it, as i stated earlier the 2 party system has divided america straight down the middle, so obviously when the home team does something the away fans dont like, they will protest.

[quote name='camoor']Blaming the politicians when more then half of the people voted for the current chickenhawk-in-chief is disingenuous. This is America, where the majority chooses the leader. If the choices of that leader result in a negative situation for the USA, then it is the majority who deserve to enjoy the ultimate share of blame and shame.[/quote]ill disagree. democrats and republicans are coke and pepsi, its all about what taste you prefer. they have similar goals and just diffrent ways of comming to them.

i blame anyone who voted for bush OR kerry (hey, myself included...i voted kerry) for not doing enough to change america. if kerry was elected, it would be "diffrent" but not much would change...
 
[quote name='RELmajor03']
I was just reveling in the irony that you were the first to give kudos to the thought of a less divided nation yet your avatar preaches about the evils of a liberal society.
Click to expand...
Okay, take this for example. So ScrubKing is pro-gun (which I'm not sure he is, but for the sake of argument, will assume). THIS DOES NOT MAKE HIM A "CONSERVATIVE", or a "Republican", or any number of labels we'd like to apply. This makes him a guy who's pro-gun. And that's fine. He's entitled to that. The problem is that people choose sides based on these issues until the entire country has massed into one of two main voting blocs. You can be pro-gun and pro-gay marriage! You can be anti-abortion and anti-Iraq! YOU ARE YOUR OWN PERSON! Your party doesn't tell you what to believe, you believe what you believe, and then vote accordingly.[/quote]

The gun stance is not the issue. His avatar mentions the "evils of a liberal society." I've read enough of his posts to conclude he doesn't mean this ironically so I thought it was funny that he would be the first to agree that the nation is too divided.

And you can be liberal or conservative without being divisive about it. When you're part of PAD's cheering squad, you fall into the divisive group.
 
Okay, well, I missed the "evils liberal blah blah blah" part. Stupid animated gifs.

And whether or not ScrubKing really is one of PAD's "cheering squad," I'm just glad he saw my point. And I hope some of the more "divisive" CAG'ers will too.
 
[quote name='punqsux']i blame anyone who voted for bush OR kerry (hey, myself included...i voted kerry) for not doing enough to change america. if kerry was elected, it would be "diffrent" but not much would change...[/quote]

Agreed. It's funny how people abroad are so ignorant of our political system (all the while attempting to tell us what to do) that they feel that Kerry would have a vastly different foreign policy than Bush. If anyone is still believing the myth that if Kerry were elected suddenly the troops in Iraq would be headed home the next day, let's dispel that right now. If you want to ultimately change the way our two-party political system works, start voting for someone other than the two major-party candidates. They're both terrible choices according to many/most Amercans anyway.
 
[quote name='punqsux']

look at the last presidency term. (this is not bush bashing, i dislike both sides equally) we suffered a major blow to our economy, and what do our leaders do? do they re-invest money in american business? no, they declare a very expensive war on a totally harmless (to us, with the exception of the few troops we had there at the time) country...WITH THE AMERICAN PEOPLE CHEERING THE WHOLE WAY!!

[/quote]

Well in some theories, war often stimulates an economy...Not that it makes it a good reason to go to war.

[quote name='MrBadExample']
And you can be liberal or conservative without being divisive about it.
[/quote]

To be honest, I've struggled to meet/see somebody that officially places on either side that really even has an open mind about most things aside from said groups viewpoint, let alone the ability to be non-divisive. It's scary and sad, but also true at least in my experiences.
 
[quote name='RELmajor03']
I'm just glad he saw my point. And I hope some of the more "divisive" CAG'ers will too.[/quote]

You mean people like MrBadExample, who constantly lives up to his namesake with statements like this:

[quote name='mr.BadExample']And you can be liberal or conservative without being divisive about it. When you're part of PAD's cheering squad, you fall into the divisive group.[/quote]
 
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