Partisanship

[seanbrock 1,684]

Is one of the biggest problems in the in this country and it keeps people from seeing things the way they truly are. To frame point I'm making I'll make a sports analogy. Being on a sports message board we all know Homers who because they're a fan of a certain team they ignore all logic when looking at players on their team or coaches or what have you objectively. As a Democrat and somebody with very liberal points of view it's pretty obvious that he would be a horrible president if that's your point of view. I see people defend everything the guy does though like he's the fucking quarterback of their favorite team.

 

Republicans continue to vote for people who expand spending but only for corporate welfare and wars for nothing but blood money. They cut the shit that we actually need. Not only do they continue to vote for them but despite all logic they defend them and pretend like they're not steaming piles of dog shit. Not just because I disagree with them but because they're full of shit and don't really represent the views of the people who vote for them

 

With Donald Trump, there are plenty of things to knock him for. He's a pretty horrible person. A lot of his policies are dumb and yeah he didn't win the popular vote but people just jump on every little thing whethere it's valid or not. What proof is there that the Russians hacked the election? What proof is there that it made it so Trump won? They probably did hack us but intelligence agencies do that shit ALL THE TIME. People just accept it because they saw it on fucking tv. I have to think that if there WAS proof that it would be more than a talking point on television. It's propaganda.

 

Also I'm pretty sure that us bombing 7 countries in the middle east would be a bigger reason for terrorists to want to attack us than a ban on Muslim immigrants. Is it wrong, yeah, but it's funny how much more outraged people are about that than bombing campaigns that have killed thousands upon thousands of people. It's obvious how bad Trump is because he has no filter and he's an arrogant asshole but how different is it really than what's been going on for years now? People are horrified and justifiably so about his cabinet picks but just remember that Obama's secretary of state was Tim Geithner.

 

Now that TPP isn't happening we need to unite in getting money out of politics so every politician in Washington hasn't been bribed...legally. We need to make sure we don't let the government steal people's land so they can pollute their water supplies. We have to make sure we don't end up in a war to further line the pockets of billionaires. This is about issues. This is about the future of our country, not your team that doesn't give a fuck about you.

[Cherry 1,302]

The issue is when individuals tie themselves to a cross for or against a particular candidate. You get a situation where someone like Phil hops on Trump's dick and rides it regardless of the mistakes that he makes. Then you get a guy like Bloots who thinks Trump is literally Satan and everything he does is terrible. It's somewhere in the middle. Trump annihilating TPP and cutting the federal government is a good move IMO, especially with trying to revamp the economy through cutting business taxes. On the other hand, I hate the wall and buffing the military. I've been strongly against both of those since trump even began his campaign.

[blotsfan 2,112]

I'm not opposed to trump because it's fun to be opposed to people. I'm opposed to him because his policies are a disaster and it's abundantly clear he is using the office of president maliciously.

[Favre4Ever+ 4,476]

Speaking of getting money out of politics, Trump put a 5 year ban on politicians turning into lobbyists didn't he ? I think he could go a lot further but it's a nice start -- somebody ask Obama what he think he thinks about that one.

 

But the problem is that too many people know too little and I include myself that on many issues. Politics is a pretty involved thing... but so many people get tied to their party or candidate that their knowledge of policy is " I'm pro life " or " I hate government spending " and that's where it ends. Then they get worked up arguing over stupid over sensationalized garbage like " he is a Muslim or he wasn't born here " or whatever other media driven headline is out there.

 

Ignorance truly is bliss.

[seanbrock 1,684]

Trump is just a symptom of a much larger problem. Most of his presidency has been business as usual in Washington. The whole torturing thing is a prime example. The United States NEVER STOPPED torturing. We already have a racist judicial system that targets minorities. Some of his policies are dumb and racist, yeah his cabinet is full of obscenely rich guys that are out to fuck over middle class/working people, but so has pretty much every presidential cabinet regardless of political affiliation. There were a bunch of democratic senators that voted against making our prescription drugs cheaper and reducing the cost of health care, but there were some republicans who voted for it. Right and wrong doesn't have anything to do with red or blue.

[seanbrock 1,684]

Speaking of getting money out of politics, Trump put a 5 year ban on politicians turning into lobbyists didn't he ? I think he could go a lot further but it's a nice start -- somebody ask Obama what he think he thinks about that one.

 

But the problem is that too many people know too little and I include myself that on many issues. Politics is a pretty involved thing... but so many people get tied to their party or candidate that their knowledge of policy is " I'm pro life " or " I hate government spending " and that's where it ends. Then they get worked up arguing over stupid over sensationalized garbage like " he is a Muslim or he wasn't born here " or whatever other media driven headline is out there.

 

Ignorance truly is bliss.

And those issues that have really already been decided by in large and are nonissue in reality are the ones highlighted by the media to divide us so these fucking scum bags can pick our pockets. If we actually had journalists on our news networks and reported on facts and important issues people would know more. The consolidation of media was started by Regan and furthered by Clinton. See, democrats and republicans can work together when it comes to fucking us over.

 

Obama did very few things for the American people but not allowing Time Warner to be bought by comcast is one of the most important things he did on the low.

Edited January 31, 2017 by seanbrock

[BJORN 679]

The biggest problem is that 95%+? Americans voted for the wrong candidate. How do we solve that? We don't. We flee to Colombia and chill with Sarge. DIBS ON THE COUCH!

[seanbrock 1,684]

Nowhere near 95% of Americans voted and even less voted in the primaries to chose the shit candidates we got stuck with. Part of that is because independents can't vote in most primaries which is another flaw in the two party system. Many Americans don't vote because they believe they don't really have a choice and they're right to a degree. If 95% of people actually voted we would almost certainly have a much better president so in reality they COULD have a say.

[oochymp 2,393]

Nowhere near 95% of Americans voted and even less voted in the primaries to chose the shit candidates we got stuck with. Part of that is because independents can't vote in most primaries which is another flaw in the two party system. Many Americans don't vote because they believe they don't really have a choice and they're right to a degree. If 95% of people actually voted we would almost certainly have a much better president so in reality they COULD have a say.

actually I believe most states have open primaries, meaning that anyone can vote in whichever primary they want, many more have semi-closed primaries where independents can vote in either primary, but that doesn't do a thing to help the absurdly low turnout for primaries

 

As for the question of the thread, Tribalism creates problems in any setting, but when it infects government it's particularly troublesome. One of the biggest issues I have with the current political structure is so many people care more about who's getting credit than they care about what's actually happening. That's how we end up with Republicans opposing every single measure Obama puts forward and how we end up with Congressional votes that fall directly along party lines.

[seanbrock 1,684]

Good post, bUT there are really only a few things that Obama preposed that were good. The Iran and Cuba deals come to mind. They seem to be able to come together when it comes to fucking people over.

[oochymp 2,393]

Good post, bUT there are really only a few things that Obama preposed that were good. The Iran and Cuba deals come to mind. They seem to be able to come together when it comes to fucking people over.

There are a few things that come to mind specifically, but what primarily what prompted that observation is this article that popped up on Facebook recently: Obama’s Forgotten Plan to Reduce Abortions - POLITICO Magazine

 

The short version is that Obama made a push early in his presidency to reduce the number of abortions through better sex education, better access to contraception, and measures to encourage and improve adoption procedures. He attempted to bring anti-abortion groups into the discussion, but many of those groups wouldn't participate, the author argues that was because they didn't want a liberal President to get credit and because Obama had already been labelled by many of those groups as the most pro-abortion president in history. In fairness, while the article does seem legit I do think I need to point out that it is written by a former Obama staffer, so he certainly has some interest in spinning the story, but it's definitely worth a read if you have some time.