I posted a comment to "American Angst", Jeremy Siegel, Yahoo Finance, 2010-11-17, http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/111333/american-angst, very similar to the webmail I sent to Gail Collins about projecting how some people voted to being what all people wanted, http://magree.blogspot.com/2010/11/republicans-do-not-have-peoples-support.html.
As of yesterday I had two replies. I'll let you judge how germane they are to the issue of voting. I chose not to honor them with a reply.
On vote count for Democratic Senators
Yes, but many of these folks were in cemeteries, so they had little choice.
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It was not clear to only those with tin ears.
The message to all parties in the recent election was that YOU WORK FOR US. Start doing what you are suppose do or we will come after you.....elephant, donkey, green or whatever.
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What neither poster seems to understand is there are a lot of people with differing views, many not in agreement with theirs. The first demonizes these "others". The second assumes that all the voters have an agenda that is different than that of the politicians. What the second poster doesn't understand is that some people were willing to keep an incumbent in office and some people wanted the incumbent to be replaced. This is true of either party. Some incumbents of both parties were returned to office; some incumbents of both parties were not returned to office. And far too many people didn't even care to cast a vote for or against an incumbent.
Showing posts with label civil discourse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label civil discourse. Show all posts
Friday, November 19, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Is the People's Republic of America coming?
For over sixty years when Communists or other dictatorial groups took over a country, they tried to give a veneer that their government was a popular government: for example the People's Republic of China. But it was not a republic and it relied more on dogma than any definable public will.
Now we hear charges in the U.S. that elected politicians are not listening to the people or that the people are angry or the people are…
But who are "the people"? It depends on who you talk to. "The people" are whoever agrees with the speaker, it doesn't matter what portion of the population actually agrees with the speaker. We have the Tea Party speaking for "the People", we have the Democrats speaking for "the People", and we have the Party of One speaking for "the People".
Lost is the "We the people" of the preamble to the Constitution:
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish
Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity…"
That is, "the People" work together to achieve these things, not form factions that consider all the other factions wrong.
Oh, well! Before a decade had passed, U.S. politics was descending into charge and counter-charge, extravagant insults were begin hurled about, and much other uncivil discourse had become part of the national landscape.
The more things change, the more they remain the same.
Now we hear charges in the U.S. that elected politicians are not listening to the people or that the people are angry or the people are…
But who are "the people"? It depends on who you talk to. "The people" are whoever agrees with the speaker, it doesn't matter what portion of the population actually agrees with the speaker. We have the Tea Party speaking for "the People", we have the Democrats speaking for "the People", and we have the Party of One speaking for "the People".
Lost is the "We the people" of the preamble to the Constitution:
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish
Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity…"
That is, "the People" work together to achieve these things, not form factions that consider all the other factions wrong.
Oh, well! Before a decade had passed, U.S. politics was descending into charge and counter-charge, extravagant insults were begin hurled about, and much other uncivil discourse had become part of the national landscape.
The more things change, the more they remain the same.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Coffee Party on Corporate Personhood
The Coffee Party has started a National Summit on Corporate Personhood. If you are interested in engaging others on discussing this, see http://coffeepartyusa.com/content/national-summit-corporate-personhood-0.
If you are interested in joining a Café Call on Money and Politics, see http://coffeepartyusa.com/content/join-coffee-party-“café-call”-money-and-politics.
The Coffee Party was organized to promote civil discourse on political issues. From a sampling of messages on one of the forums of the Coffee Party, I would say that the discourse is argumentative but civil. Responders may call into question an idea, but they don't seem to call into question the character of a writer.
If you are interested in joining a Café Call on Money and Politics, see http://coffeepartyusa.com/content/join-coffee-party-“café-call”-money-and-politics.
The Coffee Party was organized to promote civil discourse on political issues. From a sampling of messages on one of the forums of the Coffee Party, I would say that the discourse is argumentative but civil. Responders may call into question an idea, but they don't seem to call into question the character of a writer.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
A reasonable conservative speaks out
Today's Star Tribune had an op-ed piece titled "My fellow conservatives: Can we think?" written by Rod Dreher of the Dallas Morning News. It was originally published 2009-09-11 as "Zombie conservatives at the schoolhouse door". If you read the original, be sure to read some of the thoughtful comments that follow.
Dreher is really not happy about the words and actions of many who claim to be conservatives. He laments that thoughtful conservatives have no place to go. I suggest that people who think as he does should start shopping the various moderate parties. As one said who was in on the ground floor of a new party said, "As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew."
Dreher is really not happy about the words and actions of many who claim to be conservatives. He laments that thoughtful conservatives have no place to go. I suggest that people who think as he does should start shopping the various moderate parties. As one said who was in on the ground floor of a new party said, "As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew."
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