Well, bear in mind there’s a big difference between questioning something and disagreeing with it…
that said, some of them hippie liberal types ain’t bolted down too tight. I see myself as the designated driver.
Let me propose a hypothetical. Seems like it was de rigueur for awhile that politically minded people have an opinion on whether being gay was innate or chosen. On either side of the issue, how many people do you think actually did their due diligence and researched the topic (assuming there’s even solid research to draw on) versus just following their crowd?
Well, sure, but that could be equally true of the opposite-party candidate. It’s by no means an infallible guide, and I try not to vote the party line for really important races; but as I said, Democrat to me is shorthand for “probably shares more of my values than the Republican”. Doesn’t by any stretch mean that I will agree completely with every position he or she takes, of course. For example, here in Georgia the Democratic candidate for governor has a 100% rating from the NRA. That’s a huge red flag for me. But as you pointed out in your post above, we elect people, not issues.
I question the positions on the issues but I make up my own mind. Its never up any other person to make up my mind for me. Ever.
One of the nice things about that is, because its my opinion, I really don’t have to justify it to anyone. No one gets to live in my head rent-free, Waymore.
I am most closely in agreement with the general American Democrat Party line … BUT, it drives me crazy how a lot of the politicking from my side boils down to “omg god, Republicans are soooo stupid.” Which is like, wow, what a convincing argument, you are really going to convince people to listen to your points with that approach. This was the most egregious during the second Bush election, and it was unbelievable how amazed the party seemed to be to lose that one. So that was very eye-opening, and now I am very aware of that tone and question any other content that is linked to that message.
I thought some of the hate directed against Bush was fucking bizzare, but then the Birthers came along.
I hold certain core values, or philosophic principles, but I also believe it is necessary to question the application of these principles in everyday life. Often, I take a (seemingly) contradictory stance because it represents the greatest common good.
For example, I believe adamantly in free speech and free expression. But, I also see money interests destroying the proper functioning of our democracy, so I believe in some level of campaign finance reform.
That’s a good summation of why I gave up on MSNBC (with the exception of the Rachel Maddow show): most of their programming, particularly the afternoon block, is the same people talking in circles about the stupidity of the GOP. In fact, that’s the entire premise of Lawrence O’Donnell’s weeknight show: Republicans are idiots! Let’s make fun of them for an hour! That kind of talk is catnip to some lefties, particularly bloggers who post “Stupid Republican of the Day” type stuff, but it ultimately accomplishes nothing.
I was a “middle-of-the-roader” most of my life; I was approaching middle-age before I understood the extent to which American government serves the interests of the rich. Both parties support the rich against the poor, but the GOP is worse. If “questioning my side” means wishing Democrats didn’t mimic GOP policies then yes, I do it all the time.
Many issues – gay marriage, abortion, gun control – just are not important to me. (Two of these issues would probably be much more important if I were gay or a woman. If I loved guns, I don’t think gun control would bother me – I wouldn’t be among the dingbats worried that Hussein is coming to grab my guns.)
What inflames me on message boards is stupidity. But, yes, stupidity supporting opinions I oppose is more likely to irritate me, or elicit a response, than stupid opinions by those “on my side.”
Many issues require nuance. Fight Iraq in 1991? Good. Fight Iraq in 2003? Bad. Fight ISIS in 2014? I don’t know. I’ll happily oppose any dunce who thinks the answers here should be “Yes. Yes. Yes.” or “No. No. No.”
And, oh, BTW: Questions like OP’s seem to assume that the two Parties on the national scene have equal credibility. Call me hyper-partisan if you insist, but I am joined by many (including some high-ranking Republicans) in no longer believing that is the case.
My natural personality is a sort of bizarre anti-authoritarian everyone is wrong thing.
So yes I do.
I think the main reason we HAVE issues is that people follow the party line; if they do any research at all, most of them check sources that are already in their camp rather than going to neutral or 3rd-party sources. For example, if people are in favor of gun rights, they go to the more rabidly pro-gun sites to find out what the laws are and how they work, rather than talking to a constitutional lawyer. And, likewise, people who are opposed go to anti-gun sites instead of the lawyers.