Switching Political Parties
Obviously many members of AI are pure Democrats (i.e. liberals) or pure Republicans (i.e. conservatives) as indicated by some of the behavior. I mean those who are actually members of one of those parties or vote straight Democrat/Republican in elections.
When I became eligible to vote in the 80's, I found Rush Limbaugh subbing on the Pat Sajak show late at night. He made lots of sense, so I found myself interested in hearing more of him on the radio. For a couple of years I listened to him and subscribed to the National Review. I was very conservative, although not a member of the Republican party. It was enlightening until some event occurred during the first Bush presidency. Unfortunately I don't remember the event, but I do remember that although I couldn't prove that Rush lied outright (something most people would find difficult to do), but that he only told one side of the story, the side he wanted me to hear. So as he joked then (and probably still does) about having 'half his brain tied behind his back', I realized that 'half' was also the other half of the truth that he was unwilling to tell the audience.
In the years since as I have grown older and become wiser, I realize that few issues are as black and white as painted by either Democrats or Republicans. It is clear to me that most of the written and television media is biased to the left and that most of the radio media is biased to right. I listen, I watch, and I read them all. I find that I sometimes agree with the right and sometimes with the left, but most of the time, I fall in the middle, making me hated by most righties and lefties because I 'can't make up my mind."
I'm curious to know if anyone has changed their political affiliation to one of these political parties or away from one of these parties and why.
BTW, if you have never switched parties, I would prefer that you start a new thread titled 'Why I am a Democrat' or 'Why I am a Republican' because I would prefer intelligent discussion here and not political rantings against Bush or Clinton or anyone else for that matter.
--Mark
When I became eligible to vote in the 80's, I found Rush Limbaugh subbing on the Pat Sajak show late at night. He made lots of sense, so I found myself interested in hearing more of him on the radio. For a couple of years I listened to him and subscribed to the National Review. I was very conservative, although not a member of the Republican party. It was enlightening until some event occurred during the first Bush presidency. Unfortunately I don't remember the event, but I do remember that although I couldn't prove that Rush lied outright (something most people would find difficult to do), but that he only told one side of the story, the side he wanted me to hear. So as he joked then (and probably still does) about having 'half his brain tied behind his back', I realized that 'half' was also the other half of the truth that he was unwilling to tell the audience.
In the years since as I have grown older and become wiser, I realize that few issues are as black and white as painted by either Democrats or Republicans. It is clear to me that most of the written and television media is biased to the left and that most of the radio media is biased to right. I listen, I watch, and I read them all. I find that I sometimes agree with the right and sometimes with the left, but most of the time, I fall in the middle, making me hated by most righties and lefties because I 'can't make up my mind."
I'm curious to know if anyone has changed their political affiliation to one of these political parties or away from one of these parties and why.
BTW, if you have never switched parties, I would prefer that you start a new thread titled 'Why I am a Democrat' or 'Why I am a Republican' because I would prefer intelligent discussion here and not political rantings against Bush or Clinton or anyone else for that matter.
--Mark
Comments
Cable News: Center-Right (with one clearly right-wing exception)
Network News: Center to Center-Left.
I haven't necessarily changed political parties, but I am now inclined to vote for Green Party candidates. The Democrats and the rest of the country has shifted rightward, leaving me behind. The Green Party seems to be the only progressive voice in the country.
Just the general principle of live and let live and maximum freedom have always appealed to me.
www.lp.org if anyone is curious..
Nick
The rest of the UK political scene has fallen under the spell of the American Republican religious right because there are so many English-speaking economists, lobbyists and idealogues to support their laissez-faire, small-government, every-man-for-himself, jail-the-poor, greed-is-good dogma.
This has led to the Labour party shifting so far to the right that the Conservatives have been kicked out of their traditional areas and are forced to appeal to racists and people who want to bring back corporal punishment to get votes. I'm hoping this will be the catylist of a shift away from the two party system.
Education is where I see a void and a failure in the American schools. As long as I have followed politics I have seen neither party make an effort to correct the failing system. The Democrats have done nothing but buy votes from the teachers union. The democrats will not rock the boat with the group of supporters they have "teachers". The Republicans have done nothing either to improve education. The problem with education as I see it is that it is funded at the local level.
I believe education should be socialized at the federal level and all students including those on the Texas / Mexican boarder and those in rich areas should have clean schools without mold and mildew. Schools with computers. Computers do not automatically make a student smarter but computers attract and retain the attention of students and would help reduce the number of dropouts. In addition computers are a large part of the work environment. Students of all location within the US should have clean schools with computers and qualified teachers.
Special interest ruins politics. I believe corporate, union, and religious groups should be banned from political donations. Donations should be made by individuals and limited to one time donation per election which is limited to a cap of $5,000. Individuals can make their support known to the candidate who articulates their ideas the best. Special interests must go. Voices can be transmitted to government officials or candidates via written letter, email, and phone calls. Money does not need to be a factor. Government should serve the people not the big money.
I believe the federal government should "open" discussion at university level over complex engineering and political issues. To create an ongoing forum to address and tackle issues that face society. Issues such as the electric power grid in the US, Space travel, Aids and Cancer research, Social sciences and on and on.
These are just a few of my opinions,
Fellows
Originally posted by FellowshipChurch iBook
I believe I am a social liberal while at the same time being a Christian. What I mean by that is that I have no hostility toward the gay community etc. I disagree with some in the religious community who do all they can to hinder the freedoms of some citizens they don't agree with. I believe in "live and let live". While being a social liberal I consider myself a supply side conservative. I believe a reduced tax burden creates the framework for an expanded economy which would ensure a lower unemployment rate than an economy burdened with a high tax load. I am not a liberal in the sense of Unions etc. I believe unions do not supply standard of living but rather education provides for standard of living. While I don't consider myself hostile towards unions I am not an advocate of unions. I believe many times over in history we as society in America or Europe have seen those in unions go on strike and as I see it it is economic terrorism. "Give me what I want or you don't fly" "Give me what I want or you don't get your UPS package" etc. And people wonder why jobs are being outsourced. As a person who runs my own business I see a job as something that is not an entitlement. I would like to see many that are prone to wish to strike in unions to go start their own successful business and run it with union labor. Enough about unions.
Education is where I see a void and a failure in the American schools. As long as I have followed politics I have seen neither party make an effort to correct the failing system. The Democrats have done nothing but buy votes from the teachers union. The democrats will not rock the boat with the group of supporters they have "teachers". The Republicans have done nothing either to improve education. The problem with education as I see it is that it is funded at the local level.
I believe education should be socialized at the federal level and all students including those on the Texas / Mexican boarder and those in rich areas should have clean schools without mold and mildew. Schools with computers. Computers do not automatically make a student smarter but computers attract and retain the attention of students and would help reduce the number of dropouts. In addition computers are a large part of the work environment. Students of all location within the US should have clean schools with computers and qualified teachers.
Special interest ruins politics. I believe corporate, union, and religious groups should be banned from political donations. Donations should be made by individuals and limited to one time donation per election which is limited to a cap of $5,000. Individuals can make their support known to the candidate who articulates their ideas the best. Special interests must go. Voices can be transmitted to government officials or candidates via written letter, email, and phone calls. Money does not need to be a factor. Government should serve the people not the big money.
I believe the federal government should "open" discussion at university level over complex engineering and political issues. To create an ongoing forum to address and tackle issues that face society. Issues such as the electric power grid in the US, Space travel, Aids and Cancer research, Social sciences and on and on.
These are just a few of my opinions,
Fellows
In full agreement...like a mirror held up to my values except in an Australian setting...