Is there a middle ground?

[nrgbeat]

It seems like everytime there is a controversial discussion on this board it's always a strong liberal opinion vs a strong conservative opinion.

Are there any middle of the road people here? Is it possible to have the best of both worlds?

I'm just asking.

[DiscoMan]

Yes, U.S. Jeffersonian liberalism is proof - debate and compromise. Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and John Fitzgerald Kennedy were the best manifestation of this American political tradition.

What has happened over the past 10 years or so is that the communists have fled the Soviet Union and found refuge in the Green Party, the European Union, the European and American Press and the U.S. Democrat Party. Massachusetts is a good example, in the U.S., of European liberalism and the welfare state. It's an economic and political basket case and the ONLY state in the union losing residents to the rest of the country. A trend that grows each year.

And then we have the atheists and whores that are France...

[Bernie]

Yes, I think there are some like me who take the middle ground on many issues. I've never quite understood extreme viewpoints. It's like you either have a guy who is an alcoholic or someone who won't drink at all. Neither is right.

Let's take the Pledge of Allegiance controversy:
I feel that every school child should recite it to show some pride, respect and allegiance to their country however, the words "under god" have absolutely no place it in. You want to hear about god, then go to church on Sunday.

Neither side tells the general public that the original pledge never had the words "under god" in it. It wasn't until the 1950s that some politicians took it upon themselves to alter the pledge by adding those two words. Instead of everyone simply saying let's return the pledge to its original words, we get liberals saying that we now can't recite it at all and then we get religious zealots and conservatives saying that anyone who objects is unpatriotic and some kind of heathen. It's not all or nothing. The solution is simple: keep the pledge, but return it to its former verses without the reference to god.

I'm an atheist and I love Christmas time and have no problem with a store or person using the word Christmas as long as it is not a government entity.

All people regardless of sexual orientation, race... should not be discriminated against and allowed to marry and receive any benefits that marriage brings.

I'm all for a woman's right to choose and see nothing wrong with stem cell research. I believe Terry Schivo's husband had the right to have his wife's feeding tube removed. I don't however feel comfortable about a teenage girl being able to have an abortion without her parents knowing.

Well, that's it for now. I'm done rambling. :D

[paul]

At this point in time, I would say no. As a liberal, I and many who share my political leanings feel we must be more proactive.
For too long those who are conservative have been allowed to define us and have framed the debate. This has also pushed the nation politically further right. We now have a one party state with little checks and balances.
The recent Schiavo case exemplifies this. The repugs in congress didn't like court decisions in the local courts so they along with bush passed an unconstitutional measure for the dead woman. They cannot write laws for a single individual. Among other things it violates the 14th amendment. Sadly, we have punk Dems who have capitulated. Grassroots people like myself, politicians like Howard Dean, and organizations like MoveOn are saying enough. Hopefully we can put some backbone in Dems and once again have legitimate 2 or more party debate. This will restore some semblance of checks and balances. That is the best way to ensure power does not go unchecked.

[DiscoMan]

Paul move to Massachusetts. The commonwealth is a one party Democrat utopia, you'll love it here.

[paul]

I used to live in Beantown. Loved some things about it, ie universities. Too cold though. While I was there I did support repubs like Weld even though I am liberal. If Dems have a problem, it's generally a over willingness to spend. I have a bigger problem though with repugs. They have this daddy mentality. What I am saying is their politics and they're constituents approach is in terms as their leader being the head of the household metaphorically. Thus everyone must fall in line with what that leader says and and does.

[DiscoMan]

And the Democrats/Libs don't pull the same shit!? Me thinks you're breathing too much of that Southern California smog.

Massachusetts is such a successfull liberal welfare state that residents are bailing out in significant numbers to those states that aren't.

[paul]

Originally Posted by DiscoMan

And the Democrats/Libs don't pull the same shit!?
.

No, they/we don't. To borrow a quote from Will Rogers, "I don't belong to an organized political party. I'ma Democrat."

[DiscoMan]

Yeah sure. You're drinking the Kool-Aid too.

[paul]

Originally Posted by DiscoMan

Yeah sure. You're drinking the Kool-Aid too.

:D I need that iced Kool-Aid here in Diego.
So umm, can you expound a little?

[markydefad]

I'm wondering if "DISCOMAN" has been replaced by a pod person? :o :o

It seems as though I've been reading his incredibly RAUNCHY & RIBALD tales of SEX, DRUGS, & DISCO for quite a while...now all of a sudden, "DISCOMAN" is a conservative prude??? :roll:

WUT UP WIT DAT?????

[Graham_Start]

Originally Posted by nrgbeat

Is it possible to have the best of both worlds?

No, because the dominant forces have made it such that anything that deviates from the ruling policy is "extremist".

Such people would consider me a "leftist" for my belief in socialized medice, which is laughable, as I have no love for unions or state-run economies. It's noteworthy that such people who are so quick to jump on socialized medicine are usually the same ones who have never visited a country which actually has it.

Such people have made the term "feminist" equate with man-hating, separatist, lesbian "feminazis", when the term actually just means someone who believes in equality for women. So, one cannot believe in female equality without being an extremist.

Such people have made the term "liberal" equal with someone who supports Stalinism, infanticide, and crushing of the human spirit. In fact, the term "liberal" is based on the word "liberty" and liberals support more freedoms, not less. So, to support personal freedom is to now be an extremist hell bent on destroying The Family.

Such people scream and protest that any non-Republican government is all about Big Government and Taking Control Of People's Lives, when in fact, the Republicans have created a far bigger government which has plunged the US economy deep into the red. With their various wars and theocratically-inspired morality laws, they have done far more to control the lives of individuals than any government in the past 40 years.

You can't have a non-extreme opinion when the very words you would use are taken away from you. We really have reached the point were war is peace, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength.

[DiscoMan]

I am not a prude. I'm not even a good Catholic. I'm half French - even had relatives from France! I don't go to church. I own firearms and I hunt and fish. I used to be a Democrat. In matters of personnal choice I'm libertarian. In matters of public finance and national defense I'm consrvative.

I was deeply involved in the anti-war movement of the late '60s and early '70s and George McGovern's campaign of '72 (even had a front row seat next to Roger Mudd during one of McGovern's campaign speeches) and I've seen what the Democrats have done to Massachusetts over the past 30 years. And I've come to despise them.

And I am goddamned sick and tired of the libs/dems characterizing people who disagree with them as right wing gun nut, anti-abortion, racist, homophobe, animal abusing, war-mongering, fundamentalist regious nut case wacko psychotics.

The anti-Catholicism exhibited on this board disgusted me. Like I said it's the last acceptable prejudice. And you anti-Catholic atheists don't like the fact that I called you on it.

[DiscoMan]

Such people scream and protest that any non-Republican government is all about Big Government and Taking Control Of People's Lives, when in fact, the Republicans have created a far bigger government which has plunged the US economy deep into the red. With their various wars and theocratically-inspired morality laws, they have done far more to control the lives of individuals than any government in the past 40 years.

Easy, cheap and smug for a Canadian to say when you've been living under our protection for the last 60 years. Just like the Europeans. You have the freedom to divert tax money from your own national defense to social programs because the U.S. has protected Canada and Western Europe since WWII.

The Canadian military is a joke. Just like the liberal government in Ottawa.

[nrgbeat]

Wow, looks like I've opened up a hornet's nest with this topic.

So who's going to win American Idol??

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: