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Gentlemen, gentlemen, and I’m referring to talldave and RandFan, you are straining at gnats.
I understand why talldave put up his list, and I understand why RandFan is pointing out things on the list that need clarification. But bickering like this leads nowhere. There’s a Saki story from his collection of short stories _Reginald_in_Russia_ called The “Blood-Feud of Toad-Water†which points out the moral if you are interested. (I’ll take any opportunity to boost Saki.)
This past election was bitter and full of recriminations. Both parties were sending messages which had little to do with current problems, but were attempts to sway voters. I had one fellow in my office who said I should vote republican because they were founded as the abolitionist party.
However, talldave’s point about problems with the current administration is valid even if they were not part of any party. Rather than saying that it’s a republican problem or a democratic problem, let’s just say it’s a problem.
Many of the scandals which occur in politics also occur in other areas of life. It’s not unlikely that a sex scandal occurs in a manufacturing plant, or a drug company deliberately airs a misleading advertisement. These are scandals because of human nature. Clinton’s impeachment or the travelgate scandal with Hillary are both good examples of human failings. Maybe you think that a president should show a higher level of personal morality than others, but we should be able to understand and forgive human failings. We just don’t expect them to happen again.
There is a qualitative difference between having sex in the oval office and proposing to partially privatize a plan which has probably been the more successful device to prevent poverty among the elderly ever. Especially when the proposed changes do nothing to eliminate the problem being used to justify the changes.
That is an example of what talldave is getting at with this administration. There is no social security crisis. There was a social security crisis in 1984 when there was only 4 months before the entire system was bankrupt! Four months until complete shutdown. We are looking at 40 YEARS before the next crisis occurs. Yet, we are told by the administration that it is a crisis and the solution is to privatize it. That is a deliberate attempt at fraud.
But it’s not a republican or democrat thing. Most, if not all, elected officials of either party are trying to do what is the best for their country. Republicans can be proud they are republicans, and democrats can be proud they are democrats. Both parties have done great things for this country. When I was growing up, my admittedly simplistic view of the parties was that the republicans were concerned with making sure that businesses are successful and foreign nations respected our sovereignty, while democrats were concerned with the average man being able to find jobs, live well, put food on the table, and remain healthy.
All of these are noble causes. If you think that your party no longer follows these ideals, you have a few options. Ignore politics, join a third party, or become an active member of your party and change it from within. I personally think the rationalists have ignored politics long enough. We need to get more people into the parties who don’t want to bicker, but change things for the better.
Oh, and BTW, talldave, I agree with your list. I suspect there are a lot of people out here who agree but have chosen to remain silent rather than get bogged down in the Libertarian debate.
And RandFan, even as a rabid democrat, I do defend Bush’s integrity, honesty and intelligence. I may disagree vehemently with his policies, but that doesn’t make him a delusional fool.
Cheers,
-Flex
