By Design?...

Rational Nation USA
Purveyor of Truth



Cultural and political attitudes have created a division within our nation today that if unabated will result in tremendous social unrest and eventual violent upheaval. In short the American stage is being set for revolutionary change. Change that will determine whether our democratic republic stands or falls. Whether economic opportunity expands or shrinks. Whether we see another 200 years of growth or becomes a 2nd or 3rd world nation. Political decisions the people of America choose to embrace today will determine the course of our future for better or for worse.

To place blame exclusively on one political party or the other of course only succeeds in widening the already wide chasm existing between the two. Yet that is precisely what self serving politicians and the news media, particularly certain cable networks endeavor to accomplish everyday in America. Current day American politics is deeply steeped in the divide and conquer mentality. A mentality sure to lessen our chances at continued growth and equal opportunity for all. But yet we slog on as though it doesn't matter. Winning for "our side", most often at the expense of common good has become all that matters.

Unless, and until, our nation's politicians and government officials begin to put the long term best interests of this nation and all its people above the self serving interests of party and power we will undoubtedly continue on our current destructive path. You would think the individuals we elect to office and the officials they appoint understand this, but given they seem incapable of having rational and constructive dialog arriving at solutions to problems that confront the nation and its people one must question if such is the case.

Putting long term interests of the nation first and acting in the best interests of all the people takes courage, it means putting party and personal interests secondary, something few politicians seem able to do these days. Just why that is is hard to say, your guess is likely as good as the next persons. Our founding fathers even with the profound differences they held were able to craft compromises that made the United States of America possible. Had politicians back in 1787 been like today's politicians we would be 50 separate states today rather than The United States. There are probably some who think that would be preferable.

At any rate having made the point to place blame exclusively on one political party or the other of course only succeeds in widening the already wide chasm existing between the two demands clarification. Those of us who identify as fiscal conservative and libertarian leaning, and are not blinded by party loyalty and extreme ideology know with whom the greater responsibility rests. Anyone who has been paying close attention and taken the time to analyze the political events, hyperbole, and spin over the course of the last 15 years realizes one party and one cable network bears the greatest responsibility. The Tea Party GOP and the FOX News network. Both are longer on hyperbole and ideology than they are on facts and reason.

BTW, the is another open thread post, until 6:00 PM Saturday evening 10/3/15. Keep it clean and keep it truthful as you honestly see it.



Comments

  1. I think there is a problem defining conservatism, fiscal conservatism in particular. It's easy to tick off a list of "conservative" positions, but it's harder to apply a logic consistent with those positions on the larger more theoretical level. Why is it "fiscally conservative" to always demand lower taxes? Is it ever a better idea to pay down your debts? To take in more revenue in order to owe less later? Why is spending always bad? Well, almost always bad. Unless, of course, it's for the military/police state. Does a conservative person forgo investing in the future? Today's fiscal conservatism is not conservatism. It's just stingy nastiness.

    JMJ

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  2. JMJ... I've always looked at this way... When you are spending too much, you first cut expenses. Then you look for another job, to bring in more revenue.

    The deme will cut expenses, and have shown a willingness to do so, offering up some plum cuts. The other side has refused to accept even a 10 to 1 ratio of cuts to revenue increases.

    While you cannot tax your way to a balanced budget, you also can't cut your way there. Some expenses are unable to be cut...

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  3. I agree with you Jersey that conservatism today is no real or value based ethical conservatism. But it is effectively creating division within society.

    In a funny note. Your comment here was copied and pasted on a conservative, no resctionary, board by an anonymous sock puppet.

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    1. While it was on another subject Les, I get the one up on JMJ today as I discovered one of my comments was indeed cut and pasted. And of course, it was misinterpreted as to whom I was referring.

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  4. It's hard not to highlight what RN said about the recent trend of the GOP... Here's an example...

    Pres Obama wants more gun control, but knows with a GOP Congress, he's not gonna get it. Does he advocate shutting down government? No, of course not because that is childish and not reflective of reality.

    The GOP want to pass a law that has no chance of ever being signed and if they're own party disagrees, they advocate for shutting down the government.

    Someone tell me which U.S. The better approach...

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  5. I suspect Les many of these comments will be cut and pasted... Original thought, written in good English is hard to find these days...

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  6. I've said this before: I think we who blog about politics and comment on political blogs have a somewhat skewed idea of what our fellow Americans think about our government. I don't think they pay as much attention to politics and government as we think they do. Most Americans are raising families, paying their bills, and hoping they can afford to send their kids to college, but they don't get "too deep into the weeds" of political arguments the way we do. That's just my take. Don't know if it's really accurate.

    I live in a part of Boston that attracts thousands of tourists every year, and I get to interact with Americans from all over the country, especially when they ask for directions to historical sites or suggestions for where to eat. I have found all of these interactions pleasant, and the visitors are pleasantly surprised to find a Bostonian who is friendly, interested in where they come from, and willing to sometimes even walk them to the destination they're seeking. I could care less about their political leanings, and I find when we interact like decent people should, we receive decency in return.

    So what does this mean with regard to your post? I think a lot of us are political animals who have passionate feelings about where this country is heading -- especially those of us who are older and have raised our children and are observing the world in which our grandchildren are living. There will always be tension between political ideology, and that tension has been part of American political life since Adams and Jefferson went at each other's throats during their campaigns. America is still here, a bit tattered, but still a powerful, wealthy, functioning republic, warts and all.

    Try not to be too discouraged. I think the apocalyptic view of America and the belief that our best years are behind us could become self-fulfilling if we continue to denigrate everything to do with government. Is it reasonable to believe small government would work in the third most populous country on the planet?

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  7. Great points Shaw... Now, if my kid would just get married and have a couple of kids, I could enjoy that grandkids part...

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  8. Oh I'm not discouraged Shaw, it's just that I realize nothing last forever; including great world powers. Which respect to the USA, I'm convinced we are our own worst enemy in many ways. This of course is really what this post is about. Maybe we'll figure it out but I'm not hopeful.

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  9. RN, you and I and others who have grandchildren (and for potential grandparents like Dave and his wife) HAVE to be hopeful. I will NEVER give up in my hope that America is the world's best hope.

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  10. Yeah I know. But being a history major and a realist, especially given the tea party/GOP of today I am not hopeful.

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  11. I blame the Republican Party. Not exclusively, but almost exclusively. I mean, there are conservative Democrats, our current president identifying as one. And the Democratic potus frontrunner (whose husband was the first "third way" aka sellout president) is raising boatloads of money from the plutocrats (for which favors/special treatment will be expected).

    The only way to fix the problem will be to elect Bernie Sanders as our next president... And send more Progressives to Congress so he has people to work with and can get things done.

    Unfortunately (if this happens) it will only further enrage the types of people who declared that they needed to "take our country back) after a Black man was elected president. These are the kinds of people who have been threatening "second amendment remedies" for awhile now. If a non-Christian Democratic socialist Jew is elected it might push them over the edge.

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  12. Wow Dervish... A Sharron Angle reference...

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  13. Regardless of political persuasion, most of us are feeling disenfranchised because our votes no longer count. Instead of representing voters, our elected officials now represent the interests of Super PACs, billionaire benefactors, and lobbyists who control the levers of power. The Citizens United decision flooded the political marketplace with big money, thus opening a new era of graft and corruption. Politicians no longer represent the will of the people. And the people feel powerless (keenly felt by voters on all sides of the political divide).

    Who is at fault? No simple answers! At the top of the pyramid, I blame the ethos of “greed is good” and the wealthiest elite who selfishly game the system and grasp for more.

    Next, I blame a corrupt political establishment that places power above principle and willingly crosses any ethical boundary to achieve an end: Deception, demagoguery, gerrymandering, vote rigging, and more …

    Bogus claims without proof or substance, defamations, appeals to prejudice, errors of omission, and outright lies … these are the tactics of “wedge politicians” whose goal is to divide and conquer the electorate. In exploiting ethnic, racial, and religious tensions, their purpose is to divide large voting blocks into fragments that no longer vote common self-interests.

    Voters deserve much of the blame. Democracy is work, and citizenship is a responsibility. Frankly, voters have no right to complain when they fail to keep themselves informed and allow themselves to be manipulated by sound bites scripted by hacks.

    So what we end up with is a lot of angry people seeking validation but doing the same stupid things repeatedly: We have tribalism without reason, and a body politic polarized to the point of paralysis.

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  14. Yes voters certainly do hold the lions share of the responsibility for the present dysfunctional government. Multitudes of them have accepted what they have been told without thought or question. They believe what they want to hear, regardless whether it is true ir not and wilfullly dismiss truth because they don't like how it sounds.

    The dumbing down of America continues at an accelerated pace. I've never before in my life been as cynical as I am today.

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