# Extending the olive branch (on Partisanship) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 21, 2004, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extending-the-olive-branch-on-partisanship/256093 "2004-07-21T00:13:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ninja\_Pizza\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f04885/32.png) [@Ninja\_Pizza\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ninja_Pizza_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extending-the-olive-branch-on-partisanship/256093/21 "2004-07-21T16:19:55Z")
> [@Binarydrone](#): > > To be honest, I am surprised that it took as long as it did. > > Re: \*\* Sisyphus’ Stone\*\*. Is this some odd whoosh? In my OP I suggest that both sides of the political debate adopt a wider (ie, more diverse) point of view and this leads you to say > > Am I not doing (and suggesting that other do) the very thing that you are berating me for not doing? What is your problem anyway? You did read the OP, right? It’s possible that **Sisyphus’s Stone** thought this sentence in your OP: “_I want to talk about our politics, and the reason that we are all here (at the SDMB)_” meant you think the reason we’re all here is politics, instead of ignorance and reducing levels of the same. I read it as “_I want to talk about our politics, and the reason that we are all here (at the SDMB) **, which is to fight ignorance** _.” (emphasis and perception, of course, mine) ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extending-the-olive-branch-on-partisanship/256093/22 "2004-07-21T16:22:33Z")
> [@Ninja Pizza Guy](#): > > …I read it as “_I want to talk about our politics, and the reason that we are all here (at the SDMB) **, which is to fight ignorance** _.” (emphasis and perception, of course, mine) Yes, that is in essence what I was trying to say. That, although there are things that divide us, we do ostensibly share this common goal ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extending-the-olive-branch-on-partisanship/256093/23 "2004-07-21T16:33:38Z")
> [@Brutus](#): > > Pfft. Sounds like something Hitler would have said. BWAHAHAHAHA!! 😃 Another coffee-through-nose moment, brought to you by the SDMB! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extending-the-olive-branch-on-partisanship/256093/24 "2004-07-21T17:27:31Z")
> [@Binarydrone](#): > > Yes, that is in essence what I was trying to say. That, although there are things that divide us, we do ostensibly share this common goal Funny…I thought what **Sisyphus’ Stone** was whining about was that by using **our** and **we** , you were excluding our foreign brethren and sistren, of whish **SS** is one. In the spirit of bipartisanship, I promise not to either: a. Do a Snoopydance of Victory or b. retire to my room to sulk and polish my guns. Face it…what makes the **other** side so aggravating is that they have valid points. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extending-the-olive-branch-on-partisanship/256093/25 "2004-07-21T17:34:06Z")
> [@Coldfire](#): > > Well, so much for olives. Who’s up for a nice bottle of whine? When life hands you olive branches . . . Crush the olives, grease up with the oil, and start the grappling. I think it’d be nice to bottle the whine. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extending-the-olive-branch-on-partisanship/256093/26 "2004-07-21T18:25:59Z")
I must say, it’s a good thing that our foreign members aren’t subject to partisan bickering and viciousness, like we benighted Americans. Thank you Sisyphus for straightening us out over here. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extending-the-olive-branch-on-partisanship/256093/27 "2004-07-21T18:46:40Z")
> [@SPOOFE](#): > > You don’t like Bush. I understand that. I understand that you think his politics are questionable, his religion controls his behavior to an unacceptable degree, and that he’s dragged us into a useless war. > > However, that does not mean that he’s deliberately going out of his way to ruin the country. Deliberately? No. But then again, my four-year-old doesn’t deliberately go out of the way to burn down our house; that still doesn’t mean I think it’s a good idea to give him the matches, however. > [@SPOOFE](#): > > That does not mean he’s an evil, twisted monster. I believe he places the interests of Corporate America in gneral, and his Texas oil buddies in particular, ahead of the interests of American citizens, which is worrysome. When that prioritizing allows him to boldly lie about Iraqi WMDs and start a war with Iraq _primarily_ to promote those corporate interests, I think the term “monster” does come into play somewhere. > [@SPOOFE](#): > > People in America like their politics simple. I have to respectfully disagree; I get _very_ suspicious whenever people present politics to me in sound bites, as it’s a sure sign that someone is trying to paper over a complex issue. And it seems to me this oversimplification of the news has been coming from the Right lately – “The terrorists hate our freedoms,” “Saddam has stockpiles of WMDs,” and “the institution of marriage is under attack” are three examples that come to mind. > [@SPOOFE](#): > > It’s not simply enough to DISAGREE with someone, or to say that they made a mistake… you have to say that you HATE them, that they LIED and MANIPULATED. I see where you’re coming from, but you mustn’t overlook the fact that sometimes people _do_ lie. > [@SPOOFE](#): > > Me? I simply start with the assumption that any of these significant political figures have the best of intentions in mind, that they believe their actions are good for America. Once you start with that assumption - rather than believing they want nothing but to destroy all you hold dear - you stop becoming dubious and suspicious of The Other Guy, and you stop being naive and blindly led by Your Own Guy. The problem is that there are other motivating points between these two extremes, such as “acting in his own self-interest.” > [@SPOOFE](#): > > Oh well. There’s my stupid thoughts on the issue. Whatta I know, anyway? I’m just a stupid Republican. 😃 That’s okay, we forgive you anyway. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extending-the-olive-branch-on-partisanship/256093/28 "2004-07-21T19:02:55Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Funny…I thought what **Sisyphus’ Stone** was whining about was that by using **our** and **we** , you were excluding our foreign brethren and sistren… Well, in a generalized way that may be a valid criticism of US character. It is also true that when I started a thread on this predominantly American message board specifically talking about partisan politics in a year in which this country is holding an election that I did not, in fact, include him. I guess that just makes me part of the problem. Another possibility is that he was just looking for something to be mad about. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extending-the-olive-branch-on-partisanship/256093.md?page=1)