joether
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Joined: 7/24/2005
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quote:
ORIGINAL: JeffBC
quote:
ORIGINAL: joether
1 ) The current crop of 'conservatives' are something else entirely....
That's an interesting analysis but... uh... If the moderate fringe is those being singled out of the "american dream" then that would be everyone. You do understand, right, that the middle class is shrinking... or more accurately has both shrunk and been impoverished... to the point where it barely can be said to exist. And insofar as the liberal fringe and the liberal party morphing, I gotta tell you that when I self-identify with "liberal" I don't associate that with things like "police state", "torture", "bypassing due process", "covert state surveillance", and the like. So I find myself out of step with the current democratic party. And, as a final bit of hilarity, the tea party and the occupy movement both share an awful lot of core concepts. It sort of makes you wonder if the "fringe" on both sides is actually the moderates.
Your inputting 'moderates' to imply they are all 'middle class'. There are moderates whom are poor and rich as well. Libertarians are just rich anarchists for example. The fringe for moderates are those folks that could be well off or on the brink of financial ruin. What makes them the fringe is a decided lack of loyalty to any one embodiment of people. Just joining the local book club, the Boy Scouts, or get together with neighbors is not something they would do. They are not all anti-social, but a fair number may have some really bad social skills that keep them from realizing the American Dream.
Second, the occupy wall street movement was created out of frustration for how government was treating the citizens. The Tea Party on the other hand was bankrolled by the Koch brothers to remove regulations that hindered the Koch brother's net profit. As both groups grew, there are similarities. The OWS group did not wish to have a leader as things were to be kept open and honest. Where as every Tea Party group struggles to be the leader of the whole Tea Party movement. They both have lots of people that share their ideals, but the two groups are much more different than they are similar.
"..."police state", "torture", "bypassing due process", "covert state surveillance", and the like." Three of the four of these have their origins with the conservative and fringe conservative elements. The idea that conservatives would NEVER do anything bad against the US Constitution, was put to the test with the many justifications of 'torture' under the former Bush administration. There are many videos on youtube for example of police officers doing things towards citizens that is either of a questionable nature or out right violation of civil rights. Many of those videos do not explain what is A ) going on just before the tape starts or B ) What is happening in directions other than were the camera is pointing. Finally, most police officers are good people, trying to perform a tough task with ethics, dignity and respect. For most '...well regulated militia....' (aka the local police department) there are usually quite a number of 'checks and balances' to keep officers clean and honest. It does not work 100% of the time, but than, Republicans/Tea Party don't work even 3% of the time....
quote:
ORIGINAL: JeffBC
That being said, it is certainly possible for a philosophical group to die. But whatever reforms will take on the mantle of republicans or democrats because we (much to our detriment) have a two-party winner take all system.
And that will stay in place until a majority of Americans from all three political philosophies (conservative, moderate and liberal) get together and decide on another system. When one side loses the White House, its followers blame the electoral college. Running for any elected office in the federal government takes capital on a scale the average Joe on the street could never hope to afford unless they suddenly win the Powerball Jackpot. Until we as Americans understand that money is NOT free speech, but a mechanism that gradually reduces said freedom of speech, this nation will continue to have a two party system.
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RE: Bad News For Republicans...... - .gif){kind=avatar}
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