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Originally Posted by hoyacoug
I expect the same of Democrats, though I currently hold them to a lower standard since they have so few opportunities to actually accomplish anything. If they were in complete control of the government, and had done as little as the Republicans have, I would have a hard time supporting any incumbent Democrat. Why should I? My political goal is not to elect Democrats. It is to elect people who best represent my beliefs. While the effect of such an approach (if undertaken by many Democrats) would be to give Republicans power, the more relevant effect would be that Democrats would be given a wake-up call from their own constituency which would prompt change within the party, making them worth electing the next time around.
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I would do nothing, which ever had the side effect, of assisting somebody who could harm me more, than those numscles currently in power. It's just a pragmatic decision. These leaders harm, but those will harm me more. It's a balancing of political and economic harm.
Neither of the party has my agenda, so I expect to act in a manner with which I disagree. Most of us do not view the rhetoric of the politicians to be genuine or reflective of true political philosophy. The true beliefs of those in power is power, be it Republican or Democratic. That is the only true political philosophy in operation. Anybody believing otherwise is blithely naive. That's okay, but prepare for disillusionment when your eyes are opened.
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Originally Posted by hoyacoug
why should I continue to support them? Simply for the sake of keeping those same people in power (who I already know I dislike)? That isn't very rational, if you ask me.
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Once again, you mischaracterize. Many of us don't support them. I have ceased donating because they are such incompetents. We won't activelly oppose them. The opposition is far worse than anything the deadheads of the Republicans can formulate. How is that irrational?
If one party swears it won't raise your taxes, but raises them 10 percent and another promises to raise your taxes twenty percent, I am screwed by the traitors, but I still have ten percent more money. Completely rational and pragmatic.
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Originally Posted by hoyacoug
As for Democrats and Clinton, you also misrepresent that issue. Many Democrats, myself included, strongly disagreed with what Clinton did. That said, I also strongly disagreed with the Republican's response to his actions. I did not, and still do not, believe that he should have been impeached. I believed, and still believe, that Republicans were motivated by political greed rather than any moral obligation (remember how many of the finger pointers later resigned for their own sex scandals?). Why should I jump on their bandwagon when I think it is a disaster for the country and our democracy? In that instance, disagreeing with what Clinton did had little relevance to wanting to vote the bums out. Now, if Clinton had done absolutely none of the things he told me he would do if elected, and if he had a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress who also did nothing (other than take time off), you can be assured I would not have supported those same individuals for re-election.
And yet Republicans continue to march to the same drum beat that has gotten their agenda nowhere.
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I never worried about the rhetoric, as politics is NOT about right or wrong, even if it's couched in the language of morality. That's total bull. So I didn't see much the way the Reps were doing but I understood it was to make political ground, which they did in fact win. So, it was effective. And the Dems are doing the same to Bush. Bush has no ability to deal with Iran or North Korea, and the Dems like it that way. They hope to reap the benefits come November of emasculating the President. From a pragmatic point of view, I understand the tactic and strategy. We'll see how it plays out.
You seem to still believe politics is about morality, right and wrong, doing good. I don't, it's about power and who's in power and who's oxen are gored. However, our society has grown so large, that government is NOT as important as it once was. We can live our lives out, irrespective of the sins of government. Not as well, if government had been implemented by good persons, but that's how it's always been throughout history and shall always be.