(01-18-2017, 11:59 AM)David Horn Wrote:

(01-18-2017, 07:45 AM)Odin Wrote: I've been doing some soul-searching since the election and I've come to the realization that while the New Left has had a lot of good ideas, in terms of practical political action they have been mostly toxic. They do activist sorts of things that do nothing but offend a lot of people in more conservative areas instead of changing their minds while at the same time often refusing to even vote, or if they do vote they vote for the Greens as a protest vote (this is why voter turnout on the Dem side is so inconsistent). A lot of these people would rather see the world burn than vote for the lesser evil. This has allowed the Far-Right wackos to pull the Overton Window further and further to the Right, because they vote and vote consistently...

The atomization of the left is certainly an issue too.  Every small group, fully invested in the righteousness of its cause, can't be bothered to support any other groups or causes because ... well, just because.  I was listening to 1A on NPR a while ago, and a woman promoting the march in DC on Saturday noted how her own mother had been shocked that she considered herself to be a feminist ... because she's black.  That kind of thinking is pervasive on the left.  On the right, winning is the central focus -- perhaps the only focus.  Their principles seem to be squishy at best.

(01-18-2017, 04:02 PM)Marypoza Wrote:

(01-18-2017, 07:45 AM)Odin Wrote:

(01-17-2017, 12:40 PM)X_4AD_84 Wrote:

(01-17-2017, 12:14 PM)TeacherinExile Wrote: Program alert for PBS viewers: check your local TV listings.
 
Frontline on PBS is airing a two-part documentary TONIGHT: "The Divided States of America"

Days before the inauguration of the 45th American president, look back at events during the Obama presidency that have revealed deep divisions in our country and examine the America the next president will inherit. Part 1 of 2, continued on Wednesday, January 18th.

There's been some good "buzz" about this documentary, which goes to the heart of the endemic polarization of our body politic.  I wonder sometimes if the threshold of this polarization (far from its peak, in my opinion) has reached a level that poses systemic risk to our republic.

One of the reasons Red America got so pissed off during the Obama years were things like inheritors of the New Left touting the figurative burning of the Bill of Rights / deeming The Constitution an obsolete agrarian concept and Hillary Clinton declaring war on Heller and the NRA. I cannot think of a "better" way to poke a sharp stick into the hornet's nest of angry Red America than these sorts of things. A few posters here also embody this mentality - poke, poke, poke ....

I've been doing some soul-searching since the election and I've come to the realization that while the New Left has had a lot of good ideas, in terms of practical political action they have been mostly toxic. They do activist sorts of things that do nothing but offend a lot of people in more conservative areas instead of changing their minds while at the same time often refusing to even vote, or if they do vote they vote for the Greens as a protest vote (this is why voter turnout on the Dem side is so inconsistent). A lot of these people would rather see the world burn than vote for the lesser evil. This has allowed the Far-Right wackos to pull the Overton Window further and further to the Right, because they vote and vote consistently.

Also, a good chunk of the New Left types, especially the ones who go on and on about "AmeriKKKan Imperialism" have gotten suckered in by RT and don't care when told that it is Russian state propaganda because they'll just dismiss legitimate news as "American corporate propaganda".

Maryposa here is an example of these types.

-- huh? an example of what?

(01-19-2017, 08:16 AM)Odin Wrote:

(01-18-2017, 11:12 AM)SomeGuy Wrote: Clearly, like many Midwesterners, Odin is a good Navy man.

Is there a joke here I'm not getting?

(01-19-2017, 09:45 AM)Warren Dew Wrote:

(01-19-2017, 08:16 AM)Odin Wrote:

(01-18-2017, 11:12 AM)SomeGuy Wrote: Clearly, like many Midwesterners, Odin is a good Navy man.

Is there a joke here I'm not getting?

Did you watch the video?  I think SomeGuy is saying you are willing to choose the lesser of evils.

Me, as a Navy vet, I can only say, "guilty as charged".

(01-19-2017, 09:45 AM)Warren Dew Wrote:

(01-19-2017, 08:16 AM)Odin Wrote:

(01-18-2017, 11:12 AM)SomeGuy Wrote: Clearly, like many Midwesterners, Odin is a good Navy man.

Is there a joke here I'm not getting?

Did you watch the video?  I think SomeGuy is saying you are willing to choose the lesser of evils.

Me, as a Navy vet, I can only say, "guilty as charged".

(01-19-2017, 08:22 AM)Odin Wrote: Yeah, I have a bad feeling about the march because of this, it sounds like all the different identity groups are already screaming at each other.

(01-19-2017, 06:23 PM)X_4AD_84 Wrote:

(01-19-2017, 06:20 PM)Ragnarök_62 Wrote:

(01-19-2017, 08:22 AM)Odin Wrote: Yeah, I have a bad feeling about the march because of this, it sounds like all the different identity groups are already screaming at each other.

Yeah, true enough.  In other news, new Dinosaur discovery in DC!

Alex Jones? Give me a f____ break!

BTW Rags ... for your own good please stop watching this evil man.

(01-19-2017, 10:08 AM)SomeGuy Wrote:

(01-19-2017, 09:45 AM)Warren Dew Wrote:

(01-19-2017, 08:16 AM)Odin Wrote:

(01-18-2017, 11:12 AM)SomeGuy Wrote: Clearly, like many Midwesterners, Odin is a good Navy man.

Is there a joke here I'm not getting?

Did you watch the video?  I think SomeGuy is saying you are willing to choose the lesser of evils.

Me, as a Navy vet, I can only say, "guilty as charged".

Or weevils.  God, I love that movie!

(12-18-2016, 04:16 PM)pbrower2a Wrote: And how does the fall in political distress manifest itself? A coup? Dissolution of the USA? Military defeat? Revolution?

(01-20-2017, 04:23 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: Jones is an extinct dinosaur himself, coming back to life in our bad times. And, I have discovered thousands of them swarming DC today!

(01-22-2017, 11:22 AM)The Wonkette Wrote:

(01-20-2017, 04:23 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: Jones is an extinct dinosaur himself, coming back to life in our bad times. And, I have discovered thousands of them swarming DC today!

I see you posted this Friday and not yesterday!  Hundreds of thousands of us swarmed DC yesterday, not to mention hundreds of other cities around the world.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/womens-march-on-washington-a-sea-of-pink-hatted-protesters-vow-to-resist-donald-trump/2017/01/21/ae4def62-dfdf-11e6-acdf-14da832ae861_story.html?hpid=hp_rhp-top-table-main_no-name%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.c55e11ae5246