The OP is entirely correct. There is far too much vitriol in the current political debates. I saw Clinton mention this in a very profound way. He said simply that we aught to be able to disagree with one another without demonizing one another. Very classy I thought. And I don’t like the guy.
blowero and Equipoise you are also right. There are serious issues at stake in this election. But that is all the more reason to reduce the vitriol. Try harder to understand the position of the other side rather than simply demonizing it. It is convenient to think that very close to half the country is ignorant or doesn’t care about soldiers dieing, but it is simply not true. There must be another reason the election is so close. If you can’t see any logic or reason at all in the other side of the debate, you have not looked hard enough.
For what its worth, I think the nastiness of this election is partially a good thing. It is simply a reflection of the growing number of people who are not merely passive news observers, but are actively developing and expressing opinions. From bloggs to message boards, more and more people are actively participating in the political process. Remeber, everyone, this is pretty new. Its only been a few years, and only 1 or 2 presidential elections since we had an internet. We have a long way to go to get our civil conversation rituals back in order to handle the new situation. But in the long run this is a good thing for the republic.
In respect to the OP, this will be my last word on the subject.
I’ll tell you why we go batshit. Because almost everything we’ve accused GW of is true, and 50% of the country are a bunch of stupid fucktards who are totally fucking blind to the second coming of the Nazis.
It’s frustration incarnate that people so stupid have so much sway. It makes me twitch with rage.
Nitpick, but important: This didn’t happen. The Republicans replaced Lott of their own volition because they thought he was bad for their party’s image.
I’m 29, and this country has never been more divided in my lifetime. I’m starting to imagine the next four years as looking more like 1964-1968 than any four-year period since then.
Since the topic of this particular election has already been covered, I’ll comment on the more general topic of why people get so angry in any sort of political debate.
Politics and religion are the two topics that people should know better than to try to discuss among people with differing views. Why? For the most part (note that I am qualifying this statement), politics and religion are (or at least seem to be(again, another qualification)) topics where a person’s views are not developed from logical starting points, but are instead instilled in a person from a very young age. Thus, instead of having any proof of why their particular viewpoint is utterly correct, they just have faith that it is. They know in their heart of hearts that this viewpoint is totally correct, and they just can’t understand how anybody can possibly be so stupid as to disagree.
And then, there’s the whole concept of cognitive dissonance, which leads people to rationalize away any reason why they shouldn’t feel they way they do, and you have people who can not be convinced to change their minds, since they think they have perfectly good reasons for believing what they do, even if the reasons had to come after the belief.
You could make that argument. But I think if we all loved God and our neighbors as ourselves then it wouldn’t matter who got in. Politics is important, but on your deathbed I doubt you’ll be regretting any votes that you cast- you’ll more likely regret how you treated others.
I don’t think it’s that people don’t care. In WWII, people certainly cared that Americans died, but they also knew the cause was just and necessary. But in the current situation, I believe ignorance IS a factor. Polls have shown, and continue to show, that a shocking percentage of the U.S. population believes that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11, and that we found WMDs in Iraq. And when Bush over-simplifies the equation with statements to the effect that: “Kerry thinks Iraq would be better off with Saddam still in charge”, I think a certain number of people actually believe it, and that can only be chalked up to ignorance.
Remember, HALF the country doesn’t necessarily have to be ignorant. Most of the country has already made up their minds. In fact, most people probably are a member of a party and always vote for that party. I’m sure many Republicans are aware of the truth, but nevertheless still support Bush, just as many Democrats will vote for Kerry even if there are things they don’t like about him. So the swing voters, a smaller percentage of the population, will decide the election.
And BTW, the vitriol isn’t only coming from one side, pervert. I could just as well say:
It is convenient to think that very close to half the country would prefer for Saddam to be in power, and are weak on terrorism, but it is simply not true.
No. Well, not to me, anyway. Why would it be? People die all the time, you can’t stop that. And politics isn’t the leading cause of death no matter how you measure it. In the US, the decisions that lead to the most people living or dying probably have to do with food. Or whether to drive on a particular day. But no one claims those are the most important issues possible.
Anyway, I’m doing my part to end the vitriol by boycotting the election process. Just say no to voting and all that.
The Republicans seem to have become the last great hurrah of Puritanism in this country. For the red states, the opportunity to crush the dwindling spirit of the “60’s” is at hand, a chance to revert to the good old days again (Aug. 3-Sept. 16 1953) while the blue states recoil in horror at seeing almost 40 years of progress handed over to the very narrow minded zealots from whom we needed to wrest control of the nations destiny in the first place.
There is no more important battle to come again in which direction we go as a nation, and as a civilization. The promise of a new millennium could be dulled quickly if we allow things such as science and knowledge, peace and prosperity, harmony and understanding to be laid wayside by fearful bigots and the ignorance and intolerance our culture has masquerading as religion to steer our course.
