You don't know how to use sites like AoS. I do. I find more good links to more good articles from that one site than from about any other single location.
Why Do Republicans Keep Siding With America’s Enemies
- Thread starter Salvador
- Start date
You don't know how to use sites like AoS. I do. I find more good links to more good articles from that one site than from about any other single location.
Larry Gude
Strung Out
And that is why I never lose hope; we DO have control. The simple reality is that most people will be happy to vote for whomever their party nominates BECAUSE it's not the other guys.
That we don't use the power we have better, at least better as you and I may define it, does not mean we don't have the power.
So, either we stop being party first or we keep doing what we do and hope it changes on it's own.
Larry Gude
Strung Out
Those two statements are in opposition. IF it is destiny, voting makes no sense. I read something really interesting the other day about that very thing, about how the individual DOES matter in great moments and that we are ONLY flushed along by 'destiny' when people in key positions at key moments made choices that are poor.
Bush made several key decisions that simply are not compatible with a mind that favors limited government and trusts the American people. Obama merely exhibits a mind that favors more government and absolutely does not trust the American people. Either way, they both have had opportunities to do otherwise and we simply make the same old excuses, either they 'had to' or 'they were brave and wise' based on our own bias'.
LibertyBeacon
Unto dust we shall return
I'm sure you're right.
LibertyBeacon
Unto dust we shall return
First off, why would you assume my goal is to change anything? Though I will point out there are plenty of things one can do to change political outcomes outside of the voting booth.
Secondly, what have you changed by voting?
"If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal." --Emma Goldman
PsyOps
Pixelated
Nothing changes because a very few say it needs to, while the vast majority aren't interested. I haven't lost hope. My hope in change begins when things have gotten so bad that the masses actually wake up. I don't see that playing out well. Until then, folks are going to remain complacent and keep pushing us in the same direction.
In your lifetime, when have you ever seen our government manage a war successfully? In other words, when you have seen them forget about politics and just let the military do what needs to be done? Destroy the enemy.
PsyOps
Pixelated
I thought I made it clear that voting is sort of like watching the Superbowl, in that it’s something I do because I enjoy it, and because I feel because we have this thing called freedom I enjoy, even more, exercising that freedom with the thought of all of those who died protecting it. I feel I am honoring their sacrifice by participating in a really cool process. I do not expect you or anyone else to feel that way. And I do not expect any sort of change out of it.
And your quote is nonsense. The central point of voting is to change the dynamics of our politics. Does it result in that every time? Of course not. How about this: If no one voted, nothing would change. I don't know about you, but dictatorships don't appeal to me.
Larry Gude
Strung Out
What does 'bad enough' look like? A pal keeps saying that as though some rule applies. TARP and QE are new 'rules'. President Obama has over seen a system where the markets rebounded based on QE and that has placated MILLIONS who are simply happy their 401 ks look good again. That lesson is not going to be lost on future Presidents nor will the lessons of TARP.
PsyOps
Pixelated
WWII comes pretty close.
PsyOps
Pixelated
For most smokers, they don't quit until their health is so badly impacted that they wake up to the reality of what it's done to them. I really feel most people operate their lives this way. As long as life is good for them for now, let's just keep doing what we're doing. As a collective, it gets more complicated. The depression bought us FDR. Many regard him as a hero for bringing us out of that demise that impacted the entire world. But look at what FDR brought us today; the entitlement age.
For today, I think bad enough is when government has gotten so intrusive in our lives that we can't go from A to B without permission. Perhaps when our government starts confiscating guns from everyone. When the cost of basic things have gotten so high that we need government-mandated insurance to buy it. I hear all the time of the impending collapse of our economic system and banks… far worth than what we just experienced. Of course, war in our own backyards. The sweeping movement of hatred towards cops and the racial divide is well underway.
The problem with all of this is, we will look towards government to fix it; when it has been THEY who have broken it. They have set up the perfect scenario to grow their power. As long as chaos and fear reign, people will still gravitate towards government to fix it. Nothing changes.
LibertyBeacon
Unto dust we shall return
Well, I don't watch professional sports of any kind (I do know what the superbowl is, however), so I'm sorry that I don't relate to that analogy all that well. No matter.
OK, so you don't expect voting to foment any sort of change, but you still do it. So it's an ego stroke. Sometimes your team wins and you feel good, other times, perhaps not. I understand that. But I can look at my handsome self in the mirror to get that sort of emotional response.
:shrug:
PsyOps
Pixelated
If you consider doing what you believe is a patriotic thing as an ‘ego stroke’ I’ll wear that badge proudly. Is there nothing you’ve done in your life that you’re proud of? There is nothing wrong with stroking you ego from time to time. If admiring yourself in the mirror does it for you, well there you … Ego stroked.
We all have a need to feel good about ourselves to some degree. You can either buy yourself a really nice car and run around with your nose in the air or you can vote and run around with your nose in the air. Cars have very little meaning to me. I stroke my ego when I write and record a song and share it with friends. I enjoy the comments. I like to think my ‘ego stroking’ is more in the capacity of giving something to others vice staring at myself in the mirror or getting the most hip shoes.
Toxick
Splat
And also Obama and Hillary want to let gay homos get married (to each other!) and there's affirmative action, and the gun thing.
And abortion. Obama and Hillary are pro-abortion too.
Why do you hate America?
Larry Gude
Strung Out
1991
Lurk
Happy Creepy Ass Cracka
Yes, yes, the Republicans have destroyed THE WON's foreign effectiveness. But I wonder why all the Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted against THE WON this week.
mamatutu
mama to two
Just a quick couple of questions ,
1) So those gay homos are they any relation to the un-gay homos?
2) "the gun thing " ???
3) not pro abortion ...it's pro choice .I thought the SCOTUS resolved that years ago .So you want someone else telling women what to do with their bodies ?
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Larry Gude
Strung Out
Ok but, as an analogy, that doesn't work here because we're not smoking and thus risking our health that way; a rather irreversible thing. What we're doing now, I'm trying to get you to define in order to discuss it and see from there what we agree on or disagree and thence solutions.
If we're talking about social liberalization, then, I don't want to go back. We have more equality of opportunity than ever before.
If we're talking debt, that can be written off. it should be, frankly.
If we're talking the tar babies we've grabbed ahold of over seas, I say we are strong enough to disengage and that THAT would serve the national interest.
If we're talking immigration, that is a deep problem because the parties have supported uncontrolled immigration so thoroughly and for so long, it has become transformative which, to me, is all the reason we need to appeal to new folks on Constitutional and Declaration of Independence grounds, ideologically.
If we're talking morally, I think that is a mixed bag. Racism, despite the Presidents best efforts is, I think, on the decline. I mean, not to put too fine a point on it, the President is black and most people see his goons as hustlers, not MLK types. Not withstanding a VERY few cop related incidents and the fact that we refuse to talk about the 6,000 young black men a year murdered by other young black men, society is moving in a somewhat positive, melting pot direction. However, assimilation is a huge issue as is restating our beliefs in equality of opportunity, not outcome. That said, the socializing of the economy means anyone can be simply chosen to be in charge of it.
So, we're not talking about smoking. What are we talking about?
