Reply #38: That is the most recent example...

[ticapnews]

Both parties have done it in the past and will do it in the future. Don't manufacture an issue to give you an excuse to make a scene. I'm getting sick of seeing people post that they are leaving the party because Senator X voted no on something or someone said something they didn't like.

This is a national party. There are dozens of different constituancies within our party and many of them have different agendas, and each group thinks their agenda is THE single most important issue in the history of the world. If you don't happen to agree that issue Y is the issue we need to focus on, or don't agree with how it should be handled, then you are "Repuke-lite." We need to become more cohesive, not splinter apart. If you aren't happy with things, do something to make a difference. Write a letter to Howard Dean, run for local office, get involved with a campaign: Be the change you want to see in the world.

How did the religious wackos rise to power? Did they desert the GOP and go their own way? No, they took over the party. They built coalitions within the party. They convinced the different groups that they may have to sacrifice some of their own agenda in order to advance the party, but that in doing so they would get most of what they want, if not all. Over time, they are able to get more of what they want by working together. Take the banking lobby. Not exactly the most religious of sectors in our country. But by working with the religious nuts and the neocons they have gone from not being able to pass any bankruptcy limitations to being able to pass a new bankruptcy law with NO limitations - victim of identity theft, unemployed veteran, sufferer of a catastrophic health condition - none of it matters under the new law. Could the banking lobby have passed this legislation if the GOP was as splintered as we are? And before you twist this point and start yelling about acting like repukes, there are lots of examples from our past where coalitions have come together to fight for environmental, privacy, labor and social issues.

I want to work with people to solve our differences and get the party back on track, even if the end result isn't exactly what I want. If you want to do that as well, then stick around, offer constructive criticism, work to make a change. If you don't want to do that then don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.