The Will of the People

[cawacko]

You are basically claiming the two parties will do anything to win-I agree. Democrats controlled Congress from 1932-1994 with a couple of exceptions. During that time they gerrymandered to maintain control. They even refused to redistrict for many years to prevent political power from shifting to the urban areas until the Supreme Court decisions of the 1960s.

I grew up in a one-party Democratic state that used the worst kind of tactics to control the convention process until the reforms following the 1968 Democratic convention. Neither side has the moral high ground no matter how much liberals try to paint that picture.

Thank you. I’m not justifying Republican behavior but folks conveniently forget what Democrats did for decades like it never happened.

 

[ThatOwlWoman]

Thank you. I’m not justifying Republican behavior but folks conveniently forget what Democrats did for decades like it never happened.

Some of us for sure. It's wrong and subverts the will of the people, no matter who does it. We could easily draw up fair and equitable districts based on the Census, using computer technology.

 

[Flash]

Thank you. I’m not justifying Republican behavior but folks conveniently forget what Democrats did for decades like it never happened.

That is how we practice politics today. It is not about what policies our party pushes but what negative things we can say about the other side. It gets especially bad when we pretend tactics used by both sides (filibuster, gerrymandering) are "worse" when the other side does it.

Power is distasteful to Americans so we need to make it a moral issue rather than admitting we are using power to accomplish our goals. The same has been written about American going to war--it needs to be a moral crusade to support it.

 

[cawacko]

That is how we practice politics today. It is not about what policies our party pushes but what negative things we can say about the other side. It gets especially bad when we pretend tactics used by both sides (filibuster, gerrymandering) are "worse" when the other side does it.

Power is distasteful to Americans so we need to make it a moral issue rather than admitting we are using power to accomplish our goals. The same has been written about American going to war--it needs to be a moral crusade to support it.

To your second sentence this board is a perfect example with the way people spend far more time attacking each other than discussing ideas.

Having followed politics through multiple Presidents I’ve seen fellow Republicans support something when a Republican does it and speak out against the exact same action when a Democrat does it. I know democrats have done the same in reverse. It’s not an easy mindset to get out of and away from. Maybe being hypocritical like that is what’s required in politics to “win”.

 

[Flash]

To your second sentence this board is a perfect example with the way people spend far more time attacking each other than discussing ideas.

Having followed politics through multiple Presidents I’ve seen fellow Republicans support something when a Republican does it and speak out against the exact same action when a Democrat does it. I know democrats have done the same in reverse. It’s not an easy mindset to get out of and away from. Maybe being hypocritical like that is what’s required in politics to “win”.

I agree. We seem to be looking for things to dislike.

"Did you watch the Academy Awards?" "No, and I'm not interested in seeing the Best Picture because the director's third cousin once attended a communist party meeting and everyone knows Hollywood is liberal."

I mentioned to a relative that Nike stock lost 2% because of the shoe that came apart during that game. She said "good." I asked why and she said because Nike made a deal with Kaepernick. There are so many real problems to worry about and we are worried about Nike or Home Depot or Chick Filet.

We seem to enjoy hating. I've heard people claiming the Berkeley student who assaulted the guy was "justified" because he was a Trump supporter.