why bother caring?

[© tweed]

honest question...  we spend so much time on all of this.  and we're headed towards Clinton and McCain...  I can't find a sliver of difference between the two on anything that matters...  not that there's more than a sliver of difference between any of the major candidates, but some of them have that aura...

people will be happy so long as their cable tv pumps through and gas is in their car, and the McDonalds drive-thru is open... but hopefully, one day in my lifetime, more Nixon and more Humphrey and more Clinton and more Bush and More McCain will land people with no gasoline and no television and no police and no telephone and chaos...  and then they can do some real thinking...

[Speed of Sound]

That, my friend, is why Im looking at Canadian colleges ONLY.

[© tweed]

That, my friend, is why Im looking at Canadian colleges ONLY.

there's no ing difference...  you're missing the point entirely...  Stephen Harper and Paul Martin and Jean Chretien aren't your saviours either...

[Keystone Phil]

That, my friend, is why Im looking at Canadian colleges ONLY.

I don't understand how the Presidency can affect you that much. It's either it has an outrageous impact on your day to day life or you really don't want to be here anyway.

[NDN]

I wouldn't jump to that conclusion just yet. Obama actually won more delegates than Clinton, though she had better state turn out. That means the race is still being decided. The real question is who will win CA. But you're right about Hillary vs McCain, that would be depressing. I guess I'd vote for the hackish sellout (McCain) over the two faced control freak (Hillary).

[Reluctant Republican]

Well that's a bit pessimistic. Think optimistically, I always say. Alot can change in just a few years. I mean, would anyone think we'd be in this mess today back in 2000? Not really. So who knows how much better off we will be in 2016? Then again, the world could always end in 2012 or whatever, but why bother thinking of that? Glass half full, glass half full.

[© tweed]

you people don't get it...  it's not about Obama or delegates or 2016...  but I'm alone, I realize that, until one day when I'm not

[Person Man]

Well, Canada may be a place where we could live a few more decades in peace. I may want to live in a country where medical attention is easier to get (despite the rumors) and where my opinion matters a little more.

you people don't get it...  it's not about Obama or delegates or 2016...  but I'm alone, I realize that, until one day when I'm not

I know you are anxious. I am anxious, too. I am waiting for the present to become the past and the present to become the future. This regime is aging and yet, nothing has happened yet. 

[Hash]

That, my friend, is why Im looking at Canadian colleges ONLY.

We'll try to get rid of Stephen Harper's looney government before you come study here.

[JSojourner]

Well, everytime some Democrat like me suggests a candidate who really IS different, what happens?  They call you a hack or a Socialist or an "America-hater" or whatever.

Paul Wellstone would've been different than the status quo.  But even before his death, when asked if he would ever run for President, he said, "When pigs fly."  Why?  Because he knew this country was just too damned conservative.  FDR couldn't get elected today.  Bobby Kennedy?  Forget about it.

So we're left with Obama singing Ronald Reagan's praises and Hillary, with her NAFTA/CAFTA, welfare "reform" baggage.  

When we DO get a candidate who sounds the right theme for us, we worry that it's just all talk (Edwards) or he's a loose nut (Kucinich).

I share your sentiment -- I feel very much like the choice is between center-right and right.  It has been pretty much thus all my life and it will probably be that way after I am food for worms.

[Reluctant Republican]

you people don't get it...  it's not about Obama or delegates or 2016...  but I'm alone, I realize that, until one day when I'm not

Well look, personally, this last year and a half have been the worst time of my life, by far. It used to really get me down, and seeing the world going to hell and watching America seem to be a declining power was not helping me feel any better. But you know, I keep getting up every morning because I believe, as Ronald Reagan, a man I will admit had flaws, said, I believe our best days are still ahead of us.  You just have to believe that the world will turn out alright. Remember, if it’s not alright, it’s not the end. And the good that is in most people's hearts will win out in the end, I firmly believe that.

[John Dibble]

I get where you're coming from - when it comes down to it, my life would probably be almost exactly the same had Al Gore or some other schmuck had been president these last few years. Further, politics are f**king tiring. I think all I really hope to get out of this year's race is a President who isn't an idiot and who won't be too divisive so that people stop bitching so damn much.

[NDN]

people will be happy so long as their cable tv pumps through and gas is in their car, and the McDonalds drive-thru is open... but hopefully, one day in my lifetime, more Nixon and more Humphrey and more Clinton and more Bush and More McCain will land people with no gasoline and no television and no police and no telephone and chaos...  and then they can do some real thinking...

I've posted similar things here myself, actually. The bottom line is that under Bush we've gotten less free, less solvent and bogged down in places we shouldn't have even entered. But he just sort of accelerated the slow rot that's been developing in this country ever since the 1960's ended. I wouldn't completely lose hope just yet though. People just need some motivation to start caring, and if anything the emerging recession and other problems may do just that.

[© tweed]

the choice isn't between "center-right" and "right" not is it about "left" and "socialism" and "taxes" and "Nazis"...  there is no choice because of chronic apathy...

think about this...  a majority (MAJORITY) MAJORITY  of Republican primary voters in SC (also known as, Americans) support the deportation of undocumented immigrants.  they get off on the fantasy of police barging into ghettos, shoving Mexicans onto boats at gunpoint, and dumping them on a hill back in their Old Country...  I suppose we could be sympathetic and say, they don't think it through in their minds that way, or are too dumb...  but as much as it may be true, they don't care enough to think about it...  I share the title of American with millions of these people, and, their presence is the reason why I'm not proud to be an American, and can't foresee ever holding to the cliche, nor should anyone who can think...  or cares too...

"destroy first, and construction will take care of itself"

[Person Man]

you people don't get it...  it's not about Obama or delegates or 2016...  but I'm alone, I realize that, until one day when I'm not

Well look, personally, this last year and a half have been the worst time of my life, by far. It used to really get me down, and seeing the world going to hell and watching America seem to be a declining power was not helping me feel any better. But you know, I keep getting up every morning because I believe, as Ronald Reagan, a man I will admit had flaws, said, I believe our best days are still ahead of us.  You just have to believe that the world will turn out alright. Remember, if it’s not alright, it’s not the end. And the good that is in most people's hearts will win out in the end, I firmly believe that.

Perhaps if things got much worse they would get better quicker.  Maybe the date December 21, 2012 is significant. Maybe there will be a great tribulation that will give us a new life. I am hoping for it. I am hoping if things don't start to change come 2008 and McCain wins, I can find a place where I can hang on in comfort until the savior arrives (whether devine or not)

[Reluctant Republican]

the choice isn't between "center-right" and "right" not is it about "left" and "socialism" and "taxes" and "Nazis"...  there is no choice because of chronic apathy...

think about this...  a majority (MAJORITY) MAJORITY  of Republican primary voters in SC (also known as, Americans) support the deportation of undocumented immigrants.  they get off on the fantasy of police barging into ghettos, shoving Mexicans onto boats at gunpoint, and dumping them on a hill back in their Old Country...  I suppose we could be sympathetic and say, they don't think it through in their minds that way, or are too dumb...  but as much as it may be true, they don't care enough to think about it...  I share the title of American with millions of these people, and, their presence is the reason why I'm not proud to be an American, and can't foresee ever holding to the cliche, nor should anyone who can think...  or cares too...

"destroy first, and construction will take care of itself"

Well, in the past a majority of SC residences hated Catholics, and wanted none of them in the country. Then of course a majority of SC residences supported Jim crow laws and keeping African Americans down, and I don’t honestly think most of them feel that way now. Anti immigrant rhetoric is pretty popular in parts of America at the moment, but if we as a nation were able to overcome our past problems and prejudices, I say we can overcome this one. Look at the young people, they don’t share this illegal immigrant backlash nearly as much as older folks do, so that’s one area to be hopeful in, right?

I don't believe everything's rosy in America, by far, but I believe we've come along way, and while we still have a ways to go, the progress we have already made gives me hope that we can continue to move forward.

[Saxwsylvania]

Come on.  You guys are acting like this is the apocalypse or something.  It won't be the end of the world if Clinton and McCain are the nominees.  Seriously, how much does this stuff really affect you?

What would the world be like if you had no knowledge of government, politics, or anything at all?  Would it really change that much (besides not spending so much time on this forum)?  Think about it.

[Gabu]

I think all I really hope to get out of this year's race is a President who isn't an idiot and who won't be too divisive so that people stop bitching so damn much.

Don't bet on it.  Idiocy and divisiveness tends to be precisely the way elections are won.

[© tweed]

Vander Blubb, it won't be the end of the world, until it is.

[JSojourner]

the choice isn't between "center-right" and "right" not is it about "left" and "socialism" and "taxes" and "Nazis"...  there is no choice because of chronic apathy...

think about this...  a majority (MAJORITY) MAJORITY  of Republican primary voters in SC (also known as, Americans) support the deportation of undocumented immigrants.  they get off on the fantasy of police barging into ghettos, shoving Mexicans onto boats at gunpoint, and dumping them on a hill back in their Old Country...  I suppose we could be sympathetic and say, they don't think it through in their minds that way, or are too dumb...  but as much as it may be true, they don't care enough to think about it...  I share the title of American with millions of these people, and, their presence is the reason why I'm not proud to be an American, and can't foresee ever holding to the cliche, nor should anyone who can think...  or cares too...

"destroy first, and construction will take care of itself"

I'd like to argue with this and help you out of the funk you're in.  

But you're right.  I can't disagree.  Oh, I'm very proud to be an American.  But that pride has to do with our Constitution and Bill of Rights...it has to do with the ideals we used to espouse...and it has to do with leaders, even from our recent past, who really stood for something.

Some days, I just wonder if there was some sort of great, unseen struggle going on in the 1960's.  We were given three chances to get it right, and we struck out each time...Kennedy, Kennedy and King.  But that's probably too jaded, and it's certainly much too emotional and esoteric.

For me, I guess it's going to have to come down to me.  What can I do?  And when, where and how?  I'll never make much of a difference in Washington.  But maybe right here in my neighborhood, I can.  But believe me -- I do understand your frustration and I often feel it.

[John Dibble]

I think all I really hope to get out of this year's race is a President who isn't an idiot and who won't be too divisive so that people stop bitching so damn much.

Don't bet on it.  Idiocy and divisiveness tends to be precisely the way elections are won.

Hopefully we'll declare an advance AI our benevolent dictator before I die so we can do away with this election nonsense.

[Padfoot]

Hooray for positive thinking. 

Seriously dude, if you're going to let politics dominate your worldview like that you're going to be one sad person for the rest of your life.  I'd love to see some major change happen in politics so that we get back to politicians serving the people instead of the people serving the politicians.  But even if nothing changes in my lifetime I won't be lying on my deathbed lamenting the decline of the country; I'll be telling my children and grandchildren that if they want to make a difference they can never let go of their hope.

[Keystone Phil]

the choice isn't between "center-right" and "right" not is it about "left" and "socialism" and "taxes" and "Nazis"...  there is no choice because of chronic apathy...

think about this...  a majority (MAJORITY) MAJORITY  of Republican primary voters in SC (also known as, Americans) support the deportation of undocumented immigrants.  they get off on the fantasy of police barging into ghettos, shoving Mexicans onto boats at gunpoint, and dumping them on a hill back in their Old Country...  I suppose we could be sympathetic and say, they don't think it through in their minds that way, or are too dumb...  but as much as it may be true, they don't care enough to think about it...  I share the title of American with millions of these people, and, their presence is the reason why I'm not proud to be an American, and can't foresee ever holding to the cliche, nor should anyone who can think...  or cares too...

"destroy first, and construction will take care of itself"

But once those people elect the people you want, you'd love being an American! Suddenly, America is great!

[JSojourner]

Come on.  You guys are acting like this is the apocalypse or something.  It won't be the end of the world if Clinton and McCain are the nominees.  Seriously, how much does this stuff really affect you?

What would the world be like if you had no knowledge of government, politics, or anything at all?  Would it really change that much (besides not spending so much time on this forum)?  Think about it.

On a much lighter note, Vander Blubb...

It will be the end of the world....





When you change your sig.

[Person Man]

the choice isn't between "center-right" and "right" not is it about "left" and "socialism" and "taxes" and "Nazis"...  there is no choice because of chronic apathy...

think about this...  a majority (MAJORITY) MAJORITY  of Republican primary voters in SC (also known as, Americans) support the deportation of undocumented immigrants.  they get off on the fantasy of police barging into ghettos, shoving Mexicans onto boats at gunpoint, and dumping them on a hill back in their Old Country...  I suppose we could be sympathetic and say, they don't think it through in their minds that way, or are too dumb...  but as much as it may be true, they don't care enough to think about it...  I share the title of American with millions of these people, and, their presence is the reason why I'm not proud to be an American, and can't foresee ever holding to the cliche, nor should anyone who can think...  or cares too...

"destroy first, and construction will take care of itself"

Well, in the past a majority of SC residences hated Catholics, and wanted none of them in the country. Then of course a majority of SC residences supported Jim crow laws and keeping African Americans down, and I don’t honestly think most of them feel that way now. Anti immigrant rhetoric is pretty popular in parts of America at the moment, but if we as a nation were able to overcome our past problems and prejudices, I say we can overcome this one. Look at the young people, they don’t share this illegal immigrant backlash nearly as much as older folks do, so that’s one area to be hopeful in, right?

I don't believe everything's rosy in America, by far, but I believe we've come along way, and while we still have a ways to go, the progress we have already made gives me hope that we can continue to move forward.

I am just worried that our country has lost its will to be strong as all countries eventually do. I feel that our country has grown aged and weak. I desire to rejuvenate our country, but how....and when?