Re: Why I Hate America

[William]

You're joking, right?

We're the furthest "right" we've ever been (today's left is yesterday's center), were "conservatives" aren't even conservative, and where torture, domestic spying, and pre-emptive war are all standard procedure. The president appends "signing statements" to bills passed by congress that effectively change the law or say that the executive doesn't have to follow them. That is truly unprecedented! Republicans threaten to eliminate the "filibuster" if some of the most radical people in the nation aren't immediately appointed to important gov't positions, thereby disenfranchising at the very least half the country. Oil companies recorded profits last year higher than any business in history, while gas prices soared to 3 dollars a gallon...and the senate passed an "energy bill" that gave billions away to these very corporate entities. We are the only developed Western nation that didn't attend the Kyoto convention. Lobbyism has quadrupled under Abramoff and GOP rule. We're 9 trillion dollars in debt. New Orleans fucking drowned, yet somehow we couldn't get a single fucking helicopter to the scene. I could go on, really, but I won't.

What you absolutely REFUSE to acknowledge is that the Republican party is a completely different body than it was even ten years ago; it has fostered arguably the most corrupt gov't in our nation's history. People who have lived through Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Bush Sr. say as much with FREQUENCY. Every Democrat, Independent, and disillusioned Republican I've talked to between the age of 40-80 cannot recall a time quite as scary as the one we're in.

You're in denial, kid. Oblivious, perhaps.

[William]

*pigh*

You're proving my point right now.

No he's not. He's calling you out on your stupid statement. Democrats are known for widespread intra-party disagreement and moral/intellectual reservation, today more than ever. Republicans fail to see how one could be morally opposed to any of the radical developments listed in my last post. Example: I've seen fellows like Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Howard Dean, and numerous others criticize their own party with vigor. Never the case with the GOP.

[William]

Still wrong. I'm morally opposed to abortion, but I understand that there's no definitive answer as to when life begins, and I'd have trouble ever finding an effective way to legislate an abortion law. I may in fact be wrong on this one, and I accept that. That's a healthy debate. Also, I understand why legislators consider the Estate Tax unfair, as it essentially seizes some of your worth when you pass on. I don't agree that it's a big issue, as I do in fact think the Estate Tax is vital, but I respect the other side of the debate. Again, I could go on, but you get my point.

If anything, the "people like you and me" who also identify themselves as leftists come off as self righteous because things are so fucked up now on the other side of the aisle. Generally speaking, they are in the right when they bash the modern day GOP.....because no matter how much the Republicans (in Washington or in Naperville) try and twist the facts, torture, executive overeach, and a federal marriage amendment are dead wrong. There is no debating such radically regressive maneuvering.

[William]

i meant both. the divide is largely their doing, because the bush administration has adopted torture, war, discrimination against gays, and authoritarianism as policy, thereby making them political issues, when they outright should not be