Respectful Politics Thread (Let's Just See)

[CensoredAlso]

I have to agree with a recent CNN panel that there is something deeply sick in our culture right now, and especially with young people. I personally would put a lot of the blame on social media. Kids are living in this artificial, extremely toxic environment 24/7. Not developing empathy, not experiencing consequences for their behavior, retreating to echo chambers that reinforce their anger and isolation. IMO, the recent crop of parents that allowed their kids to get so caught up in cell phone and social media culture were extremely naive. Not to mention many full grown adults are just as caught up in the online insanity.

That's why I can't get too upset over the net neutrality thing. I just don't consider the Internet an asset anymore.

 

[LittleJerry92]

The internet - where anything can be passed off as the truth.

 

[D'Snowth]

Well, it's been announced that the Obamas have partnered up with Netflix to produce movies, and the reaction from both sides are exactly as you would predict: right is calling for a boycott of Netflix for pushing liberal propaganda and for allowing fame whores like the Obamas to continue shoving their image down our threats; the left is poking fun at the hypocrisy of the right for calling for such a boycott while having no problems with their president being a former reality TV star.

 

[LittleJerry92]

And I'm just sitting here laughing at both parties.

 

[D'Snowth]

As are other indies.

 

[fuzzygobo]

I have to agree with a recent CNN panel that there is something deeply sick in our culture right now, and especially with young people. I personally would put a lot of the blame on social media. Kids are living in this artificial, extremely toxic environment 24/7. Not developing empathy, not experiencing consequences for their behavior, retreating to echo chambers that reinforce their anger and isolation. IMO, the recent crop of parents that allowed their kids to get so caught up in cell phone and social media culture were extremely naive. Not to mention many full grown adults are just as caught up in the online insanity.

That's why I can't get too upset over the net neutrality thing. I just don't consider the Internet an asset anymore.

A lot of why kids act like they do now, I blame on people my age. Yes, you heard me right. Here's a few reasons.
By the late 80's/early 90's, when people my age started having kids of their own, many were determined to be different than how we grew up.
We were disciplined regularly, but my generation decided not to discipline their kids, that would be too harsh. We won't be authority figures to our kids because they might not like us.
Instead of being parents, we want to be our kids' best friend.
That means not correcting them when they do something wrong, not letting them know there are consequences to their actions.

Misguided concepts, dire results.
Now you have a generation (going on two) of kids not obeying authority, not respecting parents, feeling entitled to so much, overfed by media (social and otherwise) that glorifies sex, violence, greed, destruction, and not being emotionally mature enough to make sound decisions.
Growing up has never been easy, but the generations that came after me have handicaps now I never could have dreamed of.

 

[LittleJerry92]

As are other indies.

 

[jvcarroll]

Sea change? Not at this point

According to the latest Rueter's Poll asking who would you support in the congressional races based on party alone:

As of the week ending May 20 2018:

Republican candidate: 40.7%

Democratic candidate: 34.5%

No matter how you slice it, as of May 20th, the Democrats message of hate Trump, divide the nation, support illegals, Russia investigations, washed up porn stars, taking away guns, . . . . does not seem to be working.

Will the Dems figure out a winning strategy? Or will they cling to their conspiracies and division tactics?

It will be fun seeing how or if these numbers change over the next 6 months.

Blaming that all on the democrats, rather on both parties, and not caring about America being turned into a runaway banana republic is disturbing and more partisan than I've seen from you in quite some time. I mean, you do you, but this doesn't sound much like the you I enjoyed conversing with on the merits rather than talking points. I really enjoy those! Like really, for real.

The truth matters! Conservatives have launched countless political crusades against democrat officials for far weaker allegations. I think perspective is being lost here. As for the Reuter's poll, it makes little sense because - as we know with George W Bush and Trump - the popular vote means nothing. This should all be whittled down to districts. That's precisely how Trump won when the polls said otherwise. Both parties should heed that warning!

I do believe that the dems will take more seats this time round. More than republicans. Not likely. I'm betting on a few key firmly republican seats flipping. That's might not be a sea change, but it's quite radical. I also think the democrats should have a firmer message. Taking away guns, though? That's a completely inaccurate talking point. I'm against "taking guns away." I'm from Texas. That's just something stupid that won't work and no congressional democrat is supporting that. Gun restrictions, greater gun safety and accountabily doesn't mean "taking away guns".

I miss the days when our conversations had more insight than hyperbole. I value your perspective much of the time (even when we disagree...and that's a lot).As far as conspiracy, it's no theory. We DO know that the Trump campaign conspired with Russian operatives. That's FACT. Not THEORY. How much Trump knew, whether he was personally behind it, how far it went, and whether any of it is technically illegal is the question. 3 years of Benghazi in the republican congress and no indictments. There have been many in this year long investigation of Trump.

As for the lack of civility. Both parties have had their issues, but Trump is the one who's turned it into an artform. He commonly uses the word f*ck in his rallies. He's a tacky man with no political experience and twice the swampiness!

Please, before you cite my partisanship, I encourage you to go back and read my posts, particularly the recent ones. I give credit where it's due, conservative or liberal, and I voted for 2 republican Presidents in the past. No more, however. Censored Also's feelings about the Democratic party leaving her are very similar to my feelings about the Republican party.

What kind of upside down world do we live in where our President insults nearly every person, for silly things, and on a daily basis, but has trouble saying anything negative about Russia's Thug in Chief, someone currently engaging in genocide (not hyperbole) Vladimir Putin. Ronald Reagan is rolling over in his grave right now. In fact, if Trump had run against Ronald Reagan. he would have insulted him too and would have labeled him a failed movie actor. I'm getting mixed messages here.

You tend to be defending Trump a lot, but then in other posts, you've expressed his racism and disavowed much of his behavior. It sure seems like you're a Trump supporter rather than a mere conservative or republican. There is a difference. Am I getting this wrong? Legit asking. I know there's likely no Stuckey's in our future, but I'm really trying to decipher what's going on. It's all mixed messages as far as I can see. Totally confused.

(RE EDITED for clarity.)

 

[MuppetsRule]

Blaming that all on the democrats, rather on both parties, and not caring about America being turned into a runaway banana republic is disturbing and more partisan than I've seen from you in quite some time. I mean, you do you, but this doesn't sound much like the you I enjoyed conversing with on the merits rather than talking points. I really enjoy those!

The truth matters! Conservatives have launched countless political crusades against democrat officials for far weaker allegations. I think perspective is being lost here. As for the Reuter's poll, it makes little sense because - ss we know with George W Bush and Trump - the popular vote means nothing. This should all be whittled down to districts. That's precisely how Trump won when the polls said otherwise. Both parties should heed that warning!

I do believe that the dems will take more seats this time round. More than republicans. Not likely. I'm betting on a few key firmly republican seats flipping. That's might not be a sea change, but it's quite radical. I also think the democrats should have a firmer message. Taking away guns, though? That's a completely inaccurate talking point. I'm against "taking guns away." I'm from Texas. That's just something stupid that won't work and no congressional democrat is supporting that. Gun restrictions doesn't mean "taking away guns".

I miss the days when our conversations had more insight than hyperbole. I value your perspective much of the time (even when we disagree...and that's a lot).As far as conspiracy, it's no theory. We DO know that the Trump campaign conspired with Russian operatives. That's FACT. Not THEORY. How much Trump knew, whether he was personally behind it, how far it went, and whether any of it is technically illegal is the question. 3 years of Benghazi in the republican congress and no indictments. There have been many in this year long investigation of Trump.

As for the lack of civility. Both parties have had their issues, but Trump is the one who's turned it into an artform. He commonly uses the word f*ck in his rallies. He's a tacky man with no political experience and twice the swampiness!

Please, before you cite my partisanship, I encourage you to go back and read my posts, particularly the recent ones. I give credit where it's due, conservative or liberal, and I voted for 2 republican Presidents in the past. No more, however. Censored Also's feelings about the Democratic party leaving her are very similar to my feelings about the Republican party.

What kind of upside down world do we live in where our President insults nearly every person, for silly things, and on a daily basis, but has trouble saying anything negative about Russia's Thug in Chief, someone currently engaging in genocide (not hyperbole) Vladimir Putin. Ronald Reagan is rolling over in his grave right now. In fact, if Trump had run against Ronald Reagan. he would have insulted him too and would have labeled him a failed movie actor. I'm getting mixed messages here.

You tend to be defending Trump a lot, but then in other posts, you've expressed his racism and disavowed much of his behavior. It sure seems like you're a Trump supporter rather than a mere conservative or republican. There is a difference. Am I getting this wrong? Legit asking. I know there's likely no Stuckey's in our future, but I'm really trying to decipher what's going on. It's all mixed messages as far as I can see. Totally confused.

(RE EDITED for clarity.)

Lot to reply to here and I don't have the time to cover it all to be honest. But a couple of quick notes.

1) No where in my post regarding the Ruetter's poll do I defend President Trump. It is more of a criticism of the Democrats than defending President Trump. I have no use for him personally, but I don't have a problem acknowledging the positive happenings in North Korea, China working with the U.S. on a new favorable trade deal, a strong economy, etc. It's still early to see if it all plays out (and I'm a bit sceptical yet) but heh, it's a good first step. The point was that the Democrats have a huge opportunity in front of them because of President Trump and I'm not sure they are taking advantage of it. I believe Heralde has pretty much made the same point. If you believe that the Democrats are putting out a winning message of unity and not of division I'm not sure where you are getting that from. And people are sick of politics of division. And you are correct, both parties, Democrats and Republicans, are guilty of it. But the fact you turned the poll results into a long rant and criticism of President Trump kind of falls into the same lack of message as the Democrats. But . . .

2) My reply was to you about hoping for a sea change. Maybe I'm not sure what you mean by a sea change, but to me, a sea change would be a swing from Republican control to Democratic control. The poll showed that that isn't happening and the Democrats are failing to take advantage of the situation. If the Democrats were in control and we were hoping for a sea change and the polls didn't bare that out, the Republicans would get the same mention as failing to take advantage of it and putting out a failed message.

3) Of course the poll means very little in terms of the November elections. A) they are 5-6 months away. B) they didn't ask about specific races, just would you vote Republican or Democrat?. But, in terms of messaging, if I'm the Democrats I'd be worried about the results.

4) I'm not sure your citing of having voted for 2 Republicans in the past really matters all that much. When was that? 15-20 years ago? If you tell me anyone's political leanings haven't changed or evolved over 20 years it'd be the first. And I've voted for Democrats in the past, still do on occasion. Sorry but I vote message and issues and not party.

5) Of course there was some hyperbole in my post. Isn't that pretty much what this thread does? All the time!!!!!! It's filled with it. But it never seems to get called out by you. Instead, I see you liking many of the posts. Is that because you happen to agree with the politics of that hyperbole? Try calling out that liberal hyperbole a little more often (or at all) and maybe I'll believe your so-called bipartisanship.

 

[D'Snowth]

Bernie is officially running again in 2020.

This should make his people vereh vereh happeh.