Quote:
Originally Posted by dc_dux
pan....IMO, the issue with your rant is more the tone than the substance....or that your anti-Obama bias (even if you voted for him) is no different than those you mock as blind and obedient followers. Neither bring people together.
Constructive criticism is more productive in bringing people together and/or discussing the issues of the day than characterizing the president as UnAmerican or constantly bitching and yelling w/o offering solutions.
|
First paragraph, that is why I am open to being shown where I am factually mistaken. I am very open to hearing and true debate over issues IF in TFP land a plausible solution or even respectable understanding of each other's views can be obtained.
The reality is that neither side breeds constructive criticism. Neither side allows for those of us in the center (and the US is a Centrist nation) to have opinions and try to see compromise.
The extremists on BOTH sides fight to silence the middle or to use us when they need our votes. Neither seeks true dialogue, where they can disagree with opposition's views but respect them or reaching a give and take compromise. BOTH sides are fighting to have ONLY their views, ideas and policies in force with NO middle ground.
IT'S FUCKING INSANE.... instead of debate, BOTH sides works to destroy the other, without letting those in the middle judge for themselves what they believe.
An example.... I'm being told I am drinking conservative Kool Aid... my past response would have been "fuck you" and I would have either dug in deeper in my views or gone with the mob and pushed my true beliefs aside because I didn't want to people to think that because
"I am a Democrat".
Well, the "fuck you" doesn't work because it divides further and truly allows no middle ground.
The "I'll play good Dem/GOP and ignore my feelings" doesn't work because then you allow by default of speaking out the extremists to take over.
Either way, the centrist voices who could work with opposing centrist voices and find compromises to benefit the many and that would work are buried and told by both sides (unless being used) that they are "radical" and "emotional" and so on. Yet, no one shows the mistakes, no one admits their own emotional ties. It's all about winning and being on the power to dictate policy (even if you know deep down it is wrong, divisive and destructive) for the extremists.
The reality to the extremist is that anything close to center seems extreme and wrong, there is no compromise. To the extremist, they do not believe their emotions play into their views because they have the extremist superior belief that only their way is right... hence the extremism. Without emotion and a superior attitude, there would be no extremisms.
Then when a Centrist like myself comes along and says, "You 2 sides are both fucked up, neither of you are willing to compromise. Neither of you are wanting to truly better the nation and the future, it's all about power and winning." That centrist voice must be silenced... because being a centrist nation that is primarily socially liberal/fiscally conservative that voice may arouse people to see what the under lying truth is. That truth being... the extremists do not want compromise, do not want what is truly best, they want to win and have the power.
If true universal healthcare was the goal.... time would have been taken, research and debates would have been done and a bill that would be something everyone who worked on it could be proud of would be what is getting signed. But it isn't that. It's backroom deals, one party's extremists dictating what policy will be and if you don't like it tough, "you're extreme and wrong, shut up sit down and vote the way we tell you or you won't get reelected". There was no compromise. Just power. No positive change in how government has been doing business the last 30+ years and we see where that attitude and extremism gets us.... a nation divided and falling apart.
There is negative change during this and the last administration though. The extremism has gotten exponentially worse. The power struggles and power plays are now getting more extreme and costly to the whole. Now there is no taking prisoners or giving anyone a chance to show a centrist view, that ended on the Dem side with the GOP going after Clinton and the extremists on the left saying Clinton was to centrist. It ended on the GOP side when Bush I worked with Congress and did what was necessary to better the nation and not just his party's extreme.
Look at the best selling political philosophy authors.... name a centrist MOORE???? BECK??? LIMBAUGH???? COULTER???? FRANKEN???? There isn't one because the extremists on BOTH sides silence the centrists.
Both sides are determined and have made people take sides... and the goal again is not to better the nation as a whole, not to help the people as a whole, not to move us forward in the right direction but to keep us divided and at odds so that they can continue gaining more power and not have to give it up in compromise that would better the whole and not just their niche.
In the end... the extremists on both want the same exact thing, it's just the sugar coating that they use to get the votes they need. They want absolute power. The nation and people be damned.