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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPlease don't just read this: think about it.
Politics is not a "game" played for the amusement of a powerful few we've chosen to govern us.
Yes, I know. "Well, DUH!" may be your first thought about that, but don't we daily settle for "gamesters" who seek only to "win", i.e., to advance their personal interests without regard to how that may impact those they have sworn to serve and protect?
When we stop and really think about the "discussions" we listen to on TV about what is happening in DC or our state capitl, we have to understand that when we hear about how so-and-so will "spin" such and such or how they will "manage public perception" in order to "sell" a favored proposal, we are hearing a casual discussion of which lies and deceptions might work best.
Lies that work are "successful strategies". Accomplished shameless con-men are termed "cunning political strategists".
Those who question them are "naive idealists" who "don't understand how things work".
As you read the above, did you you begin to subliminally associate names and faces with some of the criticized tactics?
Weren't all of those people Republicans?
I did not mention any names because that was unnecessary. We all know who the arrogant "gamesters" are and THAT may just be the most understandable "difference between the parties": Democrats ask "How can we help? What's best for most people?" Republicans ask "How can I win? What's in it for ME?"
Nevilledog
(50,679 posts)N_E_1 for Tennis
(9,593 posts)N_E_1 for Tennis
(9,593 posts)Meant for Atticus. But hey.
abqtommy
(14,118 posts)KPN
(15,587 posts)The problem is many people who have the right to vote, erroneously view both sides as gamesters, and then there are the dyed-in-the-wool Republican voters who see Ds as the gamesters they actually believe that many if not most D politicians pander to the poor, POC and the oppressed for their votes rather than simply fight for what is right and humane.
What is right and what we believe is right are two different things in too many cases. We need to think about the latter and how to contend with it.
Mike 03
(16,616 posts)For some reason I pictured Andrea Mitchell, Chuck Todd and (perhaps unfairly) Jake Tapper.
I swear on my dog's life I'm not making that up. I guess I thought you were going somewhere else with your post.
But your post is right on, IMO.
Ferrets are Cool
(21,063 posts)Period.
Vivienne235729
(3,373 posts)More money at the expense of everyone. Why? I dont think it is just greed. I think it is an addiction. The rush of winning or the perception of a win. Much like people w gambling addictions. It is the rich mans dopamine high.
Act_of_Reparation
(9,116 posts)...is how little the human cost of politics interests them.
People struggling to make ends meet during this pandemic don't need a fucking professor to lecture them on the tenuousness of Joe Manchin's tenure. They have every reason to feel frustrated and angry.
MN2theMax
(1,384 posts)Very well stated Atticus. I totally agree, and you've spelled out so very plainly the difference between the two parties. Hard to digest that this is where we are as a country.
dlk
(11,435 posts)The contrast couldnt be starker.
mgardener
(1,799 posts)That is who I thought of.
Supporting Trump. Refused to stand up against Marjorie Greene.
She is a smart woman yet she is a moral coward.
KS Toronado
(16,909 posts)Loge23
(3,922 posts)Even before the republican party went full-on crazy, they were selling garbage and living in another realm than what was actually taking place in this country.
Their economic policies were based upon a fantasy: trickle-down. They convinced an awful lot of Americans (whom eventually became an awful deplorable lot) that if we seed the wealthiest among us, the overflow will lift everyone up economically - utter nonsense that has no objective evidence of its' efficacy, but the rubes lined up under the table for their pixie dust.
They steadfastly - and still do - oppose voting rights, civil rights, equality, and virtually anything that truly celebrates individual freedom. Yet, they use individual freedom as one their primary party platform identifiers.
They hamper democracy in practice, but wrap themselves in the flag for cover. One of the worst persons in our history actually did wrap himself in the flag while scheming to replace it with his own.
They tell Americans that they are the doers - the ones who accomplish their goals. They ones who deliver on their promises. But what are these goals and promises other than a destruction of the policies that actually help Americans?
There's been a lot of talk about the division in our discourse - the two Americas, the Civil wars.
But what are the two Americas?
One is the fact-based set that doesn't necessarily want to vote one way always, but sees little reason to not vote D.
The other lives in the fantasy, only voting R, and sustained by darker angels of racism, hatred, an inability to process change, and a thorough misunderstanding of democracy.
A commentator on msnbc was saying that when electing someone we should be looking for the right or wrong not the party the right should always win
homegirl
(1,419 posts)It is not patriotic to discriminate active duty members of the armed forces in one's companies, or to campaign to keep disabled veterans away from one's property.
It is not patriotic to compare one's search for sexual partners in New York with the military service in Vietnam that one has dodged.
It is not patriotic to avoid paying taxes, especially when American working families do pay. It is not patriotic to ask those working taxpayers to finance one's own presidential campaign and then to spend their contributions in one's own companies.
It is not patriotic to admire foreign dictators. It is not patriotic to cultivate a relationship with Muammi Gaddafi; or to say that Bashar-al-Assad and Vladimir Putin are superior leaders.
It is not patriotic to call upon Russia to intervene in an American presidential election. It is not patriotic to cite Russian propaganda at rallies.
calimary
(80,694 posts)To return to more than once.
BobTheSubgenius
(11,535 posts)I was going to say "politics," but it's everywhere, to a greater or lesser degree. It's all propaganda, and propaganda works. The only way to stop its dissemination is to somehow prevent it from working - a VERY tall order.
dickthegrouch
(3,151 posts)Each major political party seems intent on doing the exact opposite of each other, even when they have promulgated almost identical courses of action prior to the current debate. Its all about attribution and theyre like little kids who dont want someone else to get credit.
Both parties need to get over yourselves. Do whats right for the country.
Response to dickthegrouch (Reply #19)
Atticus This message was self-deleted by its author.