On the one hand, there are people who are pro-cannibalism.
On the other, some people are against cannibalism.
You know what? They’re all a bunch of shit-flinging crooks, and anybody who just defends one group or the other is an imbecile.
I am non-partisan. 
I’m not even gona guess which party is the canniballistic one. 
Oh, okay. Um, sorry, then, I guess my response wasn’t really necessary.
:o ← embarrassed, or offering an apologetic blowjob. You can decide . . .
We absolutely must demand and expect the most appropriate behavior from our public servants. Those who do not provide it must be thrown out. The flaws within the system must be changed.
Pretending that both parties are equally corrupt is fucking stupid and entirely antithetical to a proclamation that one wants change. Shrugging your shoulders and saying, essentially, “Feh. What are ya gonna do - they’re all politicians!” is the surest way to suggest that no solution is possible.
The fact is that suggesting that the corruption is equivalent is false. I am a partisan Democrat, but I will gladly see wrongdoing punished, whomever is at fault. That does not mean that I will pretend all wrongdoing is the same.
Look, in this thread, we have comparisons between Tom Delay and some Democrat who misspent tax dollars on his memorial library. Both are bad, but are both equally bad? On the board right now we have comparisons between Tom Delay and Cynthia McKinney. Both did wrong, but equally so?
As an analogy, is it helpful to a discussion about how to reduce violent crime in America if equal attention is given to homicides and to bullying? Once you start suggesting “Hey, what are you gonna do, criminals are criminals”, you’ve abused the perspective so vastly that coming up with solutions seem far less likely. “How in the world can we ever stop all these homicides and bullying?”
So, this bullshit false equivalence is actually harmful if you wish to address the problem. If you wish to distract attention from those doing the greatest wrongs, however, it is exactly the way you should go.
One day I’ll post a pit thread pitting myself for creating the thread in which I pit myself. That’ll show the Matrix who’s in charge!
Ow! Ow! Ow! Braincramp!
Interesting, but totally beside the point. If I had started a thread whose main point was to bitch that both parties are equivalent, then this would be a great response.
Unfortunately, I didn’t start that thread, I started this one, bitching about posters that blindly spew the party line that the other side is teh eeeeeeevil even in the face of rational discourse.
I already admitted to using hyperbole when I started this thread and now I regret that I ever did. I know that not everyone on both sides of the aisle is a crook but I also believe that the majority are not above a bit of influence peddling. Just look at some of the pork attached to anything that goes through Washington and you’ll see what I’m getting at.
I also agree that if someone, ANYONE on either side of the aisle is caught in any dishonorable wrongdoing should be thrown right the fuck out. I have absolutely no use for a polotician that is willing to whore themself out for a few bucks. I also have no use for a politician that will block passage of a bill or whatever unless his/her pet pork project is attached.
There. Are we clear now? <— channeling L. Ron Hubbard just for shits and giggles.
I said it, and after 15 years in a VERY political job, I stand by it. I think politicians begin with an honest intent, and are idealistic to a fault. After a few years, they see what kind of trough from which they can feed, and how easy it is to do it, and take absolute advantage of it. The parties and the system that feeds them are absolutely the problem.
Excuse me, but that’s my post you’re talking about, and I’d just like to point out that I never said that they’re equally bad. What I said, in fact, was
Which is to say, DeLay deserved “to [be] expel[ed] or dismiss[ed] in disgrace”, while Mr. Cohen is “a fool.” To me, that’s not a very close comparison; I’m sorry if it came off as one. Republicans are clearly more corrupt than Democrats at the moment, and didn’t mean to suggest otherwise. What I meant to say was, the enormous Republican corruption scandals shouldn’t give misbehaving Democrats a free pass, even if their misdeeds are less heinous.
I agree with the OP. The only thing more tiresome than the partisan bickering are strawman arguments and intentionally misspelling “the” for effect.
I apologize if I gave your post a less than nuanced reframing. I guess I just saw the setting of the two side by side as yet another example of someone trying to say something unnice about Democrats because they just said something about a corrupt Republican. It’s the MO of the media, and I jumped on your stuff when I saw it here- perhaps in haste.
I reiterate that nobody gets a free ride. We must expect and demand the best, and for Democrats, we must demand representatives who make us proud. For me, that includes not only leading by ethical example, but also not being afraid to be a Democrat with Democratic principles.