Interesting Political Maps of the US.

[Virge]

If there is one things that 48 years have taught me.

Democrat and Republican are exactly the same thing.

I think I've said this in here before... and this is true. I know an old guy who is a book collecting fiend. One day we were talking politics at his house and he took me in and started pulling out BIG library size old dictionaries. The first one was from the 1870s I think. Then there was one from around the early 1920s and the lest I remember was from 1955. He got me to look up the definitions in each for "Republican" and "Democrat."

The definitions flip flopped almost word for word from the first dictionary to the second to the third.

[LJay]

I am sick of obstructionism. "We won the election and therefore we have ALL the power." needs to be replaced with "Now, let's sit down and get the job done with the best interests of everyone at heart."

We saw the Republicans in Congress doing their best to act like spoiled brats in the House and now that they have a Senate majority we can expect more of the same in the other house. Of course, there is no reason to think that the Democrats don't have the same playbook as any other minority.

ENOUGH ALREADY! It is time to grow up and do politics well instead of PLAYING at politics like a bunch of resentful kids.

And the thought of Shakeychin Mitch acting like an ass on camera with a majority behind him makes me think that the only good thing to come out of Kentucky is the bourbon that helps me deal with him.

[Virge]

I am sick of obstructionism. "We won the election and therefore we have ALL the power." needs to be replaced with "Now, let's sit down and get the job done with the best interests of everyone at heart."

We saw the Republicans in Congress doing their best to act like spoiled brats in the House and now that they have a Senate majority we can expect more of the same in the other house. Of course, there is no reason to think that the Democrats don't have the same playbook as any other minority.

ENOUGH ALREADY! It is time to grow up and do politics well instead of PLAYING at politics like a bunch of resentful kids.

And the thought of Shakeychin Mitch acting like an ass on camera with a majority behind him makes me think that the only good thing to come out of Kentucky is the bourbon that helps me deal with him.

WAIT WAIT WAIT LJAY!!!

Be fair about it and put the blame where it belongs. Think it out.

We elect by majority vote people to represent us in Congress. In order to do that they vote as we would vote if we were there. They in turn use their power of majority votes to do as the people who elected them would do. That's what they're supposed to do!!!!!

Now think about how stupid this is to call them obstructionists. Do you want to start voting for people who will do just the opposite of what you (and others) elected them to office to do??? Do you want the people you elect to go along with things they were elected not to go along with?

Now that's been dealt with... what do you think about the 380 bills Harry Reid has prevented from reaching the floor of the Senate for consideration of votes or to be assigned committees?

And I don't like Mitch McConnell any more than you do.... but if he sticks it to Obama I'm not going to get sad about it about after the way Obama treated him the first time they met. Go read the last 2 paragraphs of this.

[spilovn]

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=...HEZgv9Klfg

Hopefully one day it’ll all be dark purple

[LJay]

Obstructionism is just that, whether it is Boehner or Reid doing it, Virge. My point is that there is too much of it throughout the government, regardless of party. The reason that I cite the Republicans in particular is that this session of Congress (the House in particular) has been particularly stagnant.

Majority representation has been sidelined by low voter participation and the influence of BIG money and ideologues, as well as corporate "personhood." A majority of votes cast is not a majority of the body politic these days. Would that it were.

As for sticking it to Obama, the man has been well pierced already. That started the moment he was elected, if not before. Regardless of who is in that office, we need to respect it more and to become a LOT less personal in attacks of the job the President does. It is a responsibility that carries its burdens in way that are hard to appreciate from afar and the American public ought to be more careful about throwing the first stone, as well as mouthing off like a bunch of school kids. That is my problem with W. He made such a mockery of the office that the public has trouble treating it respectfully.

At any rate, I don't mean to get into a pie fight. You are certainly right about the need for the expression of majority will, but I fear that will not be practiced soon. Let's hope I am wrong.

[Virge]

You do realize that the obstruction you're talking about Republicans in the house causing would only be real if the Senate or President sent them something to vote on don't you? Go fact check that.. In any sane judgement of what's happened the past 6 years Harry Reid 86-ing 380 bills to keep them from being presented on the floor of the Senate for consideration, committee assignment or votes is far and above anything you can find evidence that Republicans have done.

I'm not arguing pro Republican. I'm arguing for honesty and truth. I'm sick of the lies from both sides and will call out conservatives for the same thing.

[Rareboy]

Congratulation tot he republicans for their victory on Tuesday. The democrats news and agenda were soundly defeated. Obama should behave or the democrat party will never recover.

Is the democrat party dead?

No deader than the Republican party was declared to be after the 2012 presidential election.

There is only one party in the US now. Everyone is owned by the same interests and gerrymandering and dark money have made a mockery of democracy in the US.

Like in any healthy democracy...fans of one political party should not be cheering the demise of the other. It is only a respect for pro-active opposition and the ability to forge compromise that keeps democracies healthy and alive.

[Virge]

No deader than the Republican party was declared to be after the 2012 presidential election.

There is only one party in the US now. Everyone is owned by the same interests and gerrymandering and dark money have made a mockery of democracy in the US.

Like in any healthy democracy...fans of one political party should not be cheering the demise of the other. It is only a respect for pro-active opposition and the ability to forge compromise that keeps democracies healthy and alive.

Thank you Rareboy!

It's nice to know someone else looks at these things objectively. When you drop all the noble chatter about democracy all it really boils down to is tyranny of the majority. Is it the best form of government? Any answer you give to that is subjective and depends on whether you are in the majority or minority. When you look at all the history of the world and all forms of government democracy in it's purest form is the least stable, most easily corruptible and believe it or not the cruelest >> except in a society in which not everyone from top to bottom is qualified and competent to administer the government. In the USA most people today barely have a 4th grade understanding of how the government works.... and that means they are not qualified to run it.

That's why the US government and many others aren't true democracies but republics in which supposedly qualified and competent people are elected to represent the rest in administering the government. This is where American politics are failing. People no longer vote on who is most competent to run the government but on who the perceive will address their own specific interests and throw them some pennies. Everyone votes for the person who will give them the most free shit.... except there's no such thing as free shit. Santa Claus doesn't run any nation.

[COLOR="Blue"][SIZE="5"]"The American Republic will endure,
until politicians realize they can
bribe the people with their own money."
- Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859)

“When the people find that they can vote themselves money,
that will herald the end of the republic.”
- Benjamin Franklin

"A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury."
Alexander Fraser Tytler

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