What Am I?

[oralick]

You know with all of this divisive name-calling going on, to the detriment of the American People in my opinion, I honestly don't see how I have exclusivity as either a Liberal or Conservative. And I don't feel like I am a freak. I suspect I am pretty common. A) I believe in the right to own and possess firearms. B) I believe there should be concern about the Gov dictating and controlling our dailey lives.C) I don't believe a pregnancy should be aborted when near full-term, except in physical danger to the mother. D) I believe in capital punishment when the facts are inarguable after a number of years, or the perpetrator confesses. E) I believe there is a God the Creator F) I believe the average American and small business is overtaxed. But, I also believe A) The Republican Party has a Private Agenda that represents primarily the very wealthy B) The very wealthy could give a shit about the average American, they can now make more profit elsewhere. C)The Democratic Party, for whatever reason, has a tendency to benefit more people (and this messy economy was contrived to make Dems look bad, they knew the McClain/ Palin ticket wouldn't win). D) I believe education should not be cut.The more uneducated a country is the less likely they are to be competitive in the world and understand what is happening. E) I believe that God should be kept out of politics, that our founding fathers knew first hand the need for separation of Church and State. E) I believe that Gov is incredibly inefficient but is the only player on the field big enough when you need a referee to defend against "Greed". So, am I Liberal, or am I Conservative? I know I am an American First.

[DTorrchia]

I would say you're not that uncommon.
I agree with you on the first A, B, C (in general) D, E,.
A(2)...I believe some Republicans try to help the rich more than the population in general
C(2) Totally disagree. I don't think there was a concerted effort to make this economy FAIL by the Republican party.
D(2) I believe that at the current levels of spending on education, we can do a MUCH better job educating our children what what's currently being done.

[Booth]

D - I think that topic is worthy of its own thread.

Oralick - you sound like proof that we're not all extremists. I agree with some of your positions and disagree with others. Could it be that you're a "Centerist"? That probably sounds like an ugly word to some but I'd put my money on centerists deciding the next election and not the wingnuts from either party.

[oralick]

Exactly my point, though why must we be labeled as one or the other, or come up with a new label. All labeling does is act as a devisive tool for those who would have us not think for ourselves. One person may lie and says he represents Godly ways so people vote for him, while he may actually be hideous, he is a politician. We must remember we are American, first and foremost. By nature we are not homogeneous, and though powerful together we are vulnerable if we turn on each other. I understand the right to disagree and I am proud of it. But we must not lose focus of the overview and succumb to fear tactics. Which choice, come election time, best represents the interests of the majority of Americans in my opinion, is where I will vote, and I hope fear has no bearing. But I do have a memory and a awareness.

[oralick]

And yes education deserves its own thread. DTorrchia has already made some good points, in my opinion, showing how implementation of education, though costly has failed. Obviously cutting funding back and increasing the number of students per classroom does not appear to me to help, not superficially anyway. But how the money can best be used seems to be the question. Perhaps teaching to the "Tass" test and some other questionable programs have hurt more than helped? Don't know that I have ever seen the word spelled, but my spelling appealed to me.

[Yssup Rider]

I find labels/namecalling to be divisive and counterproductive.

It's become so oversimplified, imho, by TV and radio commentators, that the labels actually seem to have become the ideology.

So many of the American sheeple are too dumb to know the difference and too lazy to try and find out.

Thanks, oralick, for the thoughtful post.

[Booth]

There's a lot of "I'm against whatever you're for" both in Congress and on this board.

[oralick]

Exactly. I agree with both of you,Sup and Booth. By establishing these phoney ideological differences and establishing these labels, Networks (And the Powers That Be That Own Them) have basically shut down actual sharing of ideas and opinions between Americans and divided them. If the first opinion given by someone is one that has been "programed" as either Liberal or Conservative, then that person is "labeled" and actual communication or sharing of opinions ceases if it falls under the guise of the "opponent" to that which one has self-identified. Now we have networks and media that actually "alter the truth" to suit their agenda. Whereas one network, Fox, was especially guilty at first, it appears like others are starting to try to compete. And we turn on each other and keep electing the fools that keep trying to divide us because we convince ourselves that we are either one or the other.

[oralick]

I will say this. It is my opinion, and as a fellow American I felt it should be given consideration, so I stated it. There is no way we were going to make Iraq into a Democracy like America, as was stated to us. About 30 minutes of research by anyone online would have likely given the same opinion. It has been ruled by Religion and Bloodshed throughout History.But our elected officials took advantage of our fear and anger, and took us into Irag. Dick Cheney and his "Big Oil" buddies got to use our military as security forces while they raped and pillaged the resources there, so I guess I do have a problem with the Big Multi-National Corporations that have no sense of loyalty to the American people beyond what dollars they can get from them. It is up to us to defend our country, and we better come together over the more important issues, like who controls our communication, who controls our transportation, who controls our food supply, who controls our finances.

[oralick]

Torrchia, maybe it was not a concerted effort, but when Cheney announced, just after they had a emergency "Bail Out" meeting, that he had "not seen this coming", it seemed "unbelievable" to me. Got me a little suspicious. And, though Cheney is out, Rove and his masters are still in control of the Party, IMO.

[DTorrchia]

Originally Posted by oralick

Torrchia, maybe it was not a concerted effort, but when Cheney announced, just after they had a emergency "Bail Out" meeting, that he had "not seen this coming", it seemed "unbelievable" to me. Got me a little suspicious. And, though Cheney is out, Rove and his masters are still in control of the Party, IMO.

But again, look at what took place when the Democrats had the House and Senate. Did anything change for the better?
Watch http://www.sonyclassics.com/insidejob/ and tell me where the Democrats behaved any more ethically than Cheney and his bunch. That's the problem, it's BOTH sides that are corrupt. When I start talking about liberals and conservatives on this site, it's in response to those that seek to lay blame to one particular side, mostly, the Republicans. That's when I tend to speak up. Not because I'm convinced that Republicans are any better than the Democrats, not at all, but because I know how corrupt BOTH sides are.

Also when you mention Cheney and going into Iraq for "Big Oil", if that's the case why was the United States shut out of some of the most lucrative oil deals?
http://www.time.com/time/world/artic...948787,00.html

Now, if you're saying that Cheney saw huge financial possibilities for the companies that provided support to the U.S. military for the food, transportation, construction etc, sure, I'd agree with that. Having been at the top tier of Haliburton, I'm sure he was aware of how much money could be made. Do I think that WAS the reason for invading Iraq? No.

Our political ambitions in the Middle East have always been convoluted at best. Ever since the end of WW2 we've managed to screw things up over there. Bush and Cheney certainly weren't the first or the last American politicians not to have a clear and consistent policy on how to deal with that region of the world. To simply say it was about oil and money is, in my opinion, ignoring the history of U.S. involvement in that region over the last 50+years.

[oralick]

I agree both sides certainly have their faults, and I question if either Party represents the best interests of the American People at times. This country desparately needs congressional term limits, in my opinion, if we are to have "representatives of the people, by the people" that we need. I just believe one is worse than the other. And I believe it is time for another major party.

[DTorrchia]

When this is what Politicians do during the final House session on the budget (Connecticut) it's time for change!

[oralick]

"Wall Street Government" isn't that the truth. What was the guy's name that was brought into a high position in the SEC by Bush/Cheney that had a odor of collaboration with insiders at Wall St? Thought at the time that did not bode well.

[oralick]

Great picture Torr, it would be hilarious if it weren't so disgusting. Damn shame isn't it.