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Originally Posted by Manx
What is the point of this thread?
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What is the point of your post?
It is for the fun and edification of the people who wish to participate; nothing more, nothing less.
It is an attempt at a different form of communication here that doesn't leave us all with bruised foreheads.
It is an attempt at a better understanding of the people we normally dismiss.
It is because there is an obvious interest, regardless of the numbers.
Everyday we see the same people clashing back and forth (myself included), accomplishing nothing other than getting a chance to type their own rhetoric. Up until this thread, there were things I honestly didn't know about some members here. Some of the things I learned have had a profound affect on how I perceive that member. Other people just reaffirmed my belief that, for some people, the desire to move forward and actually achieve something is over-ruled by the desire to always think they're right.
If this was as bogus as you would like it to be, then the number of people responding here and the number of PM's I have gotten would be a fraction of what they are.
And, for the record, nobody is being asked to lose their principles or to completely change their way of thinking, the idea is to see if there is a meeting place in the middle--that is how progress is usually made. You never get 100% of what you want, you just hope to get as much of what you originally wanted as possible.
Example: I would like to see a flat tax replace our system. You are completely opposed to the idea. Can I convince you that my idea is good and should be 100% accepted by? Not in a million years, regardless of the evidence/argument/whatever. Could you convince me to adopt 100% of what you want? Not a chance in hell.
So, where does that leave us?
Nowhere and getting there fast.
However, if we both sat down and tried to negotiate a plan that would possibly be acceptable to both of us, we might actually get somewhere. Are we both going to get everything we want? Nope.
What do you want more? 100% of nothing or 50% of something?
If you wish to participate, then please do so. If you don't want to participate, then don't. Nobody is forcing you either way.
I will close with a quote from Barbara Sinclair, professor at University of California, Los Angeles that was just sent to me by someone who thought it appropriate (to which, I agree):
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"To function well, Congress needs members who understand the need for and have the skill to compromise; who are willing to be team players; who can fight for what they believe in without demonizing their opponents, thus making it possible to work with them on a different issue tomorrow. Institutional effectiveness calls for members with a relatively long time horizon who see policy making as an ongoing process in which there are no final winners and should be no total losers."
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