08 Feb 09 Silly Partisan Labels
Do you consider yourself on the right, or the left?
Are you a progressive or a conservative?
Democrat or Republican?
I’m none of those.
Allow me to digress a moment. I hate crowds. Ask my wife. I dislike being in a crowded mall, or in any huge crowds of people. I’m not claustrophobic, I just get impatient with not being able to make progress to where I want to get to, and often with all the noise about something I’m not enthusiastic about.
You see, I don’t care if I’m in a group of 1,000 that are all supporting Idea X. If I don’t like Idea X, I’m not going to cheer for it.
I’m not going to go see a movie that most of the world thinks is the greatest ever, if it doesn’t appeal to me.
I’m not going to eat turkey on Thanksgiving, even though I am ‘supposed’ to because I don’t like turkey.
I am not going to put myself into any one political group either. I hate partisan politics. I hate the way that some folks will trash anything and everything that the Democrats do, simply because they always side with the GOP. Oh, and vice versa too!
No one group ever has the right ideas and policies for everything. Why can’t folks take a good hard look at an issue, and then come forward with some unpartisan ideas of their own, instead of wasting all their energy simply slamming the other side, imply because the other side thought of it?
A current example is the Stimulus bills or bailouts. Heck, the previous Bush administration started it, and it all went through with barely a whimper – give money to the Wall Street Bozos that have FAILED the American people in a bug way, but then, once the administration changes, condemn any further idea of bailout as wrong.
Labels again - now it’s Marxist, Communist, Socialist etc. All soundbytes really, as the majority of folks in the USA have never had a true experience of any of those things, and in any case, what the current administration is proposing is far from Communism, Socialism or Marxism.
It’s all down to these labels though. It’s like bumper sticker mentality, but an exclusive one. Whereas I might have a sticker that says I support a charity, that doesn’t mean I exclude other charities or causes, it simply means I want to promote this particular one, right now.
But the divisive partisan labels you see, are mostly negative. They don’t say that supporting any political view is good, but simply trash every other view except theirs.
There are whole twitter groups now, where the members twitter about politics, but not promoting their ideas, just condemming everything that their group or party hasn’t thought of.
Of course this is nothing new, but I’ve always gone through life looking at the glass being half full, not half empty.
It’s sad to see such negativity. Anyway, the last General Election was a vote for a change in the way things are done. The last eight years haven’t been any kind of spectacular success.
Why can’t people move forward together, and work in a constructive manner, instead of throwing negative junk around all the time, that benefits no-one?
Tags: bailout, bozos, bumper sticker, bush administration, communism, conservative democrat, crowds of people, current administration, huge crowds, marxism, marxist, mentality, partisan politics, political group, socialism, socialist, soundbytes, stimulus, true experience, whimper
21 Jan 09 The Rest Of The Year And Beyond
It’s January 21st today.
Yes I know that you know that.
Still it’s a significant date.
Why?
Well, We’ve got the ‘holiday’ season out of the way. (On a personal note, I’ve got my birthday out of the way as well). We’ve long since taken down all the decorations. We’ve got back to work, and done at least one full five day week.
Yesterday, we got the new man installed at the White House.
So, now, all that remains, is the rest of the year, and to revive the economy we all need to quit partying and get back to work!
Let’s give President Obama a little time to see if he can turn rhetoric into firm action, and see if Congress and Senate are going to help this to move along smoothly, or be obstructive.
Of course, not everyone wanted to see him elected, but elected he was, and with none of the Floridian-style fixin’ and fiddlin’ that went on eight years ago. A clear mandate in other words, that folks want change.
Many people aren’t sure what changes they want. Lots of folks can’t agree on which changes would be best even if they know what they’d like to see. Most people, however, Obama supporters or not, seem to agree that a change of direction was needed. Many felt that the previous captain of the ship was enjoying the view, but not issuing many useful orders from the bridge anymore (if he ever did).
I personally don’t give a damn what party he’s in; I don’t care what color he is (although I understand the significance of that to many people). I always find it ironic (and this isn’t just a US thing) that some of those big political noises (politicians and media) that bang on the most about patriotism, always seem to put their party before country.
To those that want to trash him before he’s even started, simply because he’s not in your party (and partisan politics does way more harm than good in any case), at least give the guy a chance to succeed or fail.
Politics aside, though, I’d like to be able to be sitting here in four years time, and say that even though he’s screwed up a few things, he’s helped to turn the nation around somewhat, and that he did what he thought was best for the majority of Americans as a whole, and that above all else, he’s proven himself to be a person with decency and integrity, not just at home, but on the world stage too.
Tags: bridge, change of direction, congress, economy, fixin, floridian style, holiday season, i don t care, little time, mandate, new man, partisan politics, patriotism, personal note, politicians, rhetoric, senate, white house
19 Oct 08 Powell Endorses Obama
I’m pretty much against big government. I think this country would do better to get back to the form of Government that the founding fathers intended, and butt out of interfering so much in everyone’s lives, with issues that really shouldn’t concern any level of Government let alone a Federal one.
Throughout this campaign, I’ve not been particularly inspired by either candidate. I’ve always been against partisan politics in any case – some members of both the major parties would vote for a goat if you put their parties badge on it.
Also, I have little time for, and little trust in, most politicians. Having said that, Colin Powell is someone I have respected and thought to be a person of integrity. As he, better than most – given his White House experience as Secretary of State – knows what it involves to be not only President but also Commander in Chief, this is a very powerful endorsement for Obama, and a stinging put down for McCain.
Tags: colin powell, commander in chief, endorsement, form of government, founding fathers, goat, integrity, little time, mccain, obama, partisan politics, politicians, secretary of state, white house
