Ben Carson admits fabricating West Point scholarship

[SillyAmerican]

I think the next question is: is Ben Carson really a neurosurgeon?

Yes, right alongside "Dr. Carson, are you really black?" 

[SillyAmerican]

By now, we've reached the point where the positive feedback loop is almost self-sustaining: the ideas that circulate as acceptable and normal in the social-conservative, religious and Tea-Party parts of the GOP are so alien and offensive to people on what used to be the moderate left of the political spectrum that they react as though the Republicans are insane and evil, which just reinforces the Republicans' narrative about Democrats.

Yes, and some of the things that circulate as acceptable and normal in the social-liberal free-for-all, for instance all this transgender nonsense, are so offensive to people on what used to be the moderate right of the political spectrum that they react as though the Democrats are insane and evil, which just reinforces the Democrat's narrative about Republicans.

As someone who considers himself center-right on fiscal issues and center-left on social issues, the rancour, vitriol, and apparent absence of any ability to offer reasonable positions from the center is truly disheartening. Neither of the narratives being offered by the major parties is of much use to those of us who struggle in the center...

[SillyAmerican]

I'm sorry realisticidealist but I fail to see how this is a subjective issue in the slightest. SillyAmerican there literally dismissed an entire group of people, a group with whom I identify, as "offensive nonsense". The notion that Republicans are somehow becoming more extremist on a wide range of issues just because I chose to be open about my gender identity, (let alone the notion that members of the Democratic party are somehow inherently accepting and supportive) is patently ridiculous.

Ok, I'll try to explain it to you in the simplest terms I can. The reason we have bathrooms marked "men" and "women" (oh, and by the way, this is a generally accepted practice throughout the world) is that some people (most specifically women) don't want to have to share their bathroom space with members of the opposite sex. It's a simple matter of their privacy. And it has nothing to do with what gender you wish to be associated with, it has everything to do with what's dangling between your legs. How is it that the women being asked to forgo their privacy, as well as their fathers / brothers / sons, are painted by you and others as bigots? Since when has respect of ones privacy become an outrageous policy? Sorry, but I stand by my initial statement: this is simply nonsense, and is symptomatic of a general breakdown of common sense within our country.

[SillyAmerican]

I'm sorry realisticidealist but I fail to see how this is a subjective issue in the slightest. SillyAmerican there literally dismissed an entire group of people, a group with whom I identify, as "offensive nonsense". The notion that Republicans are somehow becoming more extremist on a wide range of issues just because I chose to be open about my gender identity, (let alone the notion that members of the Democratic party are somehow inherently accepting and supportive) is patently ridiculous.

Ok, I'll try to explain it to you in the simplest terms I can.

You could at least try to not be condescending immediately after complaining about tone repulsing people.

You're absolutely right. I apologize for the slight; it's just that it's more than a little frustrating to be painted as a "bigot", which is a truly ugly, hurtful word.