Post #42,758
6/18/02 12:48:06 PM
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Honest answer...
Because if you still bother to vote, you have to pick a side.
I could easily substitute the word Democrat for Republican in your question. EASILY. Because a vast majority of Americans view both Democrats and Republicans who run for office - POLITICIANS. How many non-Ivy Leaguers are in the House, Senate, or White House on any given year... let alone POOR non-Ivy Leaguers. In case you are asking a serious question, which party is more honest about their ties to the common man or big business?
AFAIC, anyone who believes in Politicians or political parties is just as apt to believe in the Easter Bunny... Modern politics is nothing more than the reallocation of wealth and social engineering with a vote payout in mind. And "We the Frigging People" keep voting for it year after year.
What's your screed for why the Demos are better than Repos? You got some burning cause that keeps your idealism from seeing that they are the same party? The party of the priviledged paying lip service to the people whom they parasite from...
Just a few thoughts,
Screamer
There's nothing in the streets
Looks any different to me
And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye
And the parting on the left
Are now parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight
P. Townshend - Won't Get Fooled Again
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Post #42,760
6/18/02 12:56:16 PM
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An answer for you
What's your screed for why the Demos are better than Repos? You got some burning cause that keeps your idealism from seeing that they are the same party?
Perhaps history? The biggest looters of the public trough have mostly been repubs. The most indicted and convicted party? The repubs. If you don't see any difference between the two partys, then there ain't much to discuss.
"If you run Windows and read Email, You Have the Klez!"
-Andrew Grygus
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Post #42,774
6/18/02 1:50:31 PM
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Speaking as a Democrat...
Perhaps history? The biggest looters of the public trough have mostly been repubs. The most indicted and convicted party? The repubs. If you don't see any difference between the two partys, then there ain't much to discuss.
I think you're turning a blind-eye to the transgressions of the Democratic party (ie: seeing the mote in your bother's eye while ignoring the log in your own). Democrats have their share of problems as well. Ignoring, for the moment, the obvious references to Clinton, there is, off the top of my head:
- the ties to organized labor, in particular the corruption that invariably seems to involve Democrats
- L.B.J.
- Marion Barry
And that's off the top of my head. Were I to really dig, I'm sure we could find a lot more to go with.
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Post #42,783
6/18/02 2:42:26 PM
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Of course
We are, after all, talking about politicians. Many (most?) of them look to line their own pockets. Look to Chicago for evidence of shady Democrats, plenty of them to find in the windy city. But as government parties, over time, do they truly seem equivalent to you? Perhaps the number of morally 'challenged' members of the two parties roughly equate. Perhaps the number of illegal actions by those members are roughly equal. But the *kinds* of reprehensible actions are qualitativly different. And I submit that the Republicans hold the crown for despicability. The Republicans are, by and large, the party of wealth. It seems that the Republican philosophy can be expressed as "A government of the wealthy, by the wealthy and for the wealthy". It may be that the Dems simply don't have the same opportunities for the sheer scale of depradation. That is changing. The Dems are by and large growing more and more Republicanlike. But they are not the same at this point in time.
The military-industrial complex we were warned about so long ago hasn't gone away. They have vast influence on our government. They outright own many politicians. Still though, more Rebubs than Dems are beholden to the monied crowd.
"If you run Windows and read Email, You Have the Klez!"
-Andrew Grygus
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Post #42,792
6/18/02 3:00:50 PM
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Chitown 68 Democratic convention
Every southern state before 1970, Abscam, talk about selective friggin memory!!! Both sides are scammin schills for the bigs, niether give a rats ass about ordinary people. HUD a method to scam poor people out of their homes. Medicare, a way to scam millions of tax dollars for services never provided. You show me a government program to help the needy and I will show you a Jesse Jackson Scamathon sucking 90 cents out of every dollar. The only program worth a crap is headstart and I am sure there is some scammin going on there.
phfaa!
thanx,
bill
TAM ARIS QUAM ARMIPOTENS
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Post #42,794
6/18/02 3:06:42 PM
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Evidence, please.
Hi,
The Republicans are, by and large, the party of wealth. It seems that the Republican philosophy can be expressed as "A government of the wealthy, by the wealthy and for the wealthy". It may be that the Dems simply don't have the same opportunities for the sheer scale of depradation. That is changing. The Dems are by and large growing more and more Republicanlike. But they are not the same at this point in time.
It's easy to make generalizations like this, but hard to back them up. IMO.
Consider, for instance, [link|http://216.239.37.100/search?q=cache:vtixNI3cDNgC:vcepolitics.com/01usa/congress/1996/1996-top-50-richest-members-of-congress.htm+wealthiest+politicians+senate+house+congress+Heinz&hl=en&ie=utf-8|this] list from Google's cache of the 50 weathiest people in Congress (from 1996):
26 Republicans and 24 Democrats. In the top 10, I count 7 Democrats.
On the whole, I think there's very little difference between the two parties when it comes to supporting the interests of those with money.
Cheers,
Scott.
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Post #42,799
6/18/02 3:45:11 PM
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Okay
[link|http://www.realchange.org/|Skeletons] in or out of the closet. Let me be clear, many members of both parties are unprincipled scoundrels. Perhaps I'm wrong, but it seems that the level of corruption is and has been higher for Repubs. Does this mean I am a fan of the Dems? Not so. I do lean more toward the espoused philosophy of the Dems, but most of them are scum I wouldn't let buy me a drink. I am a registered independant and I vote. Sometimes Dem, sometimes Rep and sometimes (on the rare occasions one is running) independant.
"If you run Windows and read Email, You Have the Klez!"
-Andrew Grygus
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