How do you know if a Republican has been in your yard? Your garbage collection has been privatised and your dog can’t get an abortion.
Movement?
*But as the Republican Party has steadily headed further and further to the right while Democrats lurch leftward, bipartisan cooperation has become exceedingly rare. The 115th Congress is the most polarized in American history. National Journal magazine, which analyzes congressional voting records, first discerned in 2009 that no Senate Democrat was more conservative than any Senate Republican — and vice versa. It’s been the same every year since.
This is a radical departure from the historic norm. In 1982, when National Journal started doing these comparisons, 58 senators (and 344 House members) had voting records that put them somewhere in the middle of conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats. The upshot is that 40 percent of Americans now refuse to identify with either major political party. Yet, unless you count Bernie Sanders — and one shouldn’t — Angus King is the only independent in Congress. (Sanders calls himself a “Democratic Socialist,” but he ran for president as a Democrat only last year.)
If a small group of good-government advocates get their way, however, Sen. King will soon have company.*
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A few days ago now, but I think this writer pretty much sums up why so many of us are tired of the current partisanship.
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Moving this over here because it’s mostly a partisan divide kind of comment. @paules , I mostly agree with your post.
Just commenting that sometimes when you actually break these things down you find out that it’s much more nuanced. For example, wanting more background checks at gun shows or for the mentally ill is different than agreeing to gun control legislation. We’ve had wide agreement on the former, and a lot less agreement when it comes to actually moving on the later.
When I see something like “the average American is pro-EPA,” I wonder what that means. I don’t want to NOT have an EPA. Would I be pro-EPA by that standard? And for people answering that survey question…
So many Americans know little to nothing about specific issues. How many of them could string together a few complete sentences about the largest environmental policy changes of the Obama years? How many people know what the Clean Power Plan is? Do they know what the Clean Water Rule is? Can the average American tell you anything at all about what previous legislation these things are based on? What regulations were already in place? Can they string together a few intelligent sentences about how these things changed in the Obama era? Could they tell us anything about how the role and function of the EPA has dramatically changed over the past decade?
It’s my sense that most Americans can say a few nebulous things like, “I care about the environment,” or “I think climate change is a problem.” It’s almost useless to talk in these generalities, and yet these kinds of statements will completely divide people.
Edited to add: None of us can know everything about specific policy issues, but some of these like energy policy or the EPA are very complex and I find people are particularly clueless.
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Seems like these days its all or nothing…
Right wingers bat shit crazy and frothing at the mouth… Liberals cant get their shit straight and worry about where chicks with dicks supposed to piss instead of real shit…both dont understand simple concepts like compromise or actually not pissing away our dollars on bull shit. Idealists never get it done they are blind to actual reality. I enjoy being a realist and a independent but Im no politician…right now whole country seems like idiots to me
Have you been to wallmart lately? This is murica a bunch of fat dipshits that think we are #1 in everything. Mike Judge was ahead of his time when he made idocracy
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What about snivelling libertarians who can’t spell “Walmart”? Do they suck too?
Nope they rule
If you say so.
I was touched by this article. Lovely.
Ask Andrew W.K.: My Dad Is a Right-Wing Asshole, The Village Voice.
https://www.villagevoice.com/2014/08/06/ask-andrew-w-k-my-dad-is-a-right-wing-asshole/
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“They do not care because their party loyalty trumps the rule of law. The most fascinating bit of data from YouGov is that Democrats were far more willing to curtail the first amendment when their party controlled the White House while the Republicans were, naturally, more opposed. Now that party control is reversed, so too are the parties’ opinions of the first amendment. Respecting the constitution based on whether your party controls the White House is a dangerous thing.”
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It’s like watching a football game in a sports bar. Your QB gets hit after throwing the ball “Personal Foul!”. Next drive opposing QB gets blasted and the flag is thrown: “Might as well put a skirt on him!”
Root for your team, fair play be damned lol.
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Great article. @thunderbolt23 put up a similar one in the Atheism thread. We have people on both sides who are really happy with authority, so long as they are pulling the lever. I think being blind to our own totalitarian tendencies is the natural state. How’s that for a low opinion of humans? Haha. I may have a low anthropology, but at least I try to be consistently low on the authoritarian scale because of it.
As much as possible, let’s let other people make their own choices, and be more reluctant to use the heavy hand of government. We’re not only a very diverse country, but also politically divided, so respect for freedom is the only good path. Otherwise, we take turns tyrannizing each other. I have too many dear friends who disagree with me to want to do that.
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Agree.
I’m also beginning to believe that hypocrisy is something that might also be a “natural” State.
Things that would have us up-in-arms and gritting out teeth in “righteous” indignation if done by “them”
or “the other side”… we almost become mute if done by one of our own.
I’m seeing it play out more and more everyday as I observe the American political landscape and people’s attitudes.
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Sadly, yes. Blindness is another word for it.
I’ve been considering the spiritual practice of shutting up, for that reason. Also, reflecting on the idea that the world doesn’t need to know all of my opinions. It’s better to put my energy and effort into real things in my daily life where I have some control, can have an impact. I can’t do a lot about most of the news.
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I agree but I think we all appreciate your thoughts, puff!
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Puff:
I’ve tried in my Life kind of a “middle ground” that I call “Selective Silence”.
Some topics (like abortion); I just don’t “discuss” with anyone.
Religion? Mostly silent.
Some, selectively (like Politics), IF I feel there is some honest inquiry/give and take going on. (Much like we do here on “PWI”). If I know someone is entrenched in unwavering partisanship, I may discuss certain topics with them…but am silent on many. (The one entrenched in unwavering partisanship is extremely frustrating to me, so it just tends to not be worth the aggravation). Needless to say; in the political environment we are currently in; I am silent…a lot…
Puff…you have had…and continue to have…some extremely valuable insights.
I hope you don’t stop.
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This could go in the MSM thread, but I’ll put it here. Really, as humans, I don’t think our rational, reasonable brain is able to keep up with the current technology. In most of our interactions, it’s unusual to see the kind of humility, openness, willingness to understand he’s talking about.
2:13 minutes.
Mindless partisanship is redundant.
Late to this party so sorry if this was said:
Can we? No, but it will fix itself. Do we need to? No. But it needs to be fixed.
I don’t think there is any real solution that we as a country can “force” upon one another to fix it. It has to come natural, and it will. Likely long before it’s too late.
Going to take something pretty painful to do it though, like another Depression or WWII… Something like that.