[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

See, my dad is retired military, which skews how he sees the world. He still is mad at Clinton for ruining the military. He's a very intelligent man, just sees the world a lot differently than I do.

[Cerberus Maw]

Optimus Prime;365737 said:

Seriously, you mention Bush's name and my dad has a near apoplectic fit.

Not being from America (Irish) I would have assumed that every person is like this, and not just your Dad?

[Shinrei]

I just wish it were more widely possible to elect someone OTHER than a republican or a democrat. More parties would keep the big 2 in line a little more. I think it'd be great if the libertarian and green parties had a greater presence in congress.

With Reps and Dems it's all "he said she said", and that just gets so old. I'm one of those "fatigued" by this election season which has largely been talking point vs. talking point for months on end.

[Cerberus Maw]

Shinrei no Shintai;365974 said:

I just wish it were more widely possible to elect someone OTHER than a republican or a democrat. More parties would keep the big 2 in line a little more. I think it'd be great if the libertarian and green parties had a greater presence in congress.

With Reps and Dems it's all "he said she said", and that just gets so old. I'm one of those "fatigued" by this election season which has largely been talking point vs. talking point for months on end.

Unfortunately, regardless of the number of parties involved in a Political debate, it will always break down to the lowest common denominator of "he said, she said"

We have Labour, Green, Sinn Fein, Conservative, Progressive Democrats, Liberal, in our Dail (kinda like Congress over there) and it always turns into a slug feast when it comes to voting time. The only difference being is that there's more of it generally pointed at the main runners.

[Shinrei]

Well, I realize that the he said she said continues, but the difference would be there would be another party to point out the hypocrisy of BOTH republicans and democrats.

I listen to a lot of talk radio from the liberal side (Ed Schultz, Stephanie Miller, Tom Hartman) to the conservative side (Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity etc.) to know that BOTH sides leave things out, utter half truths, muddle context, and generally act in a disingenuous fashion to further villify the other side. A third party could mock both sides by pointing this out.

If you only listen to liberal or only listen to conservative talk, it's easy to see how you can become brainwashed and incensed at the other side.

[Obdigore]

That is why I like the Daily Show. Although they obviously have liberal leanings, they will take a shot at the Dem's if they say something stupid.

It is jsut SO easy to take shots at the repubs, especially because of who they have in the Oval Office right now.

[Morgoth]

It strikes me as incredibly unhealthy for a democracy to have such an extreme polarization within politics

[Obdigore]

It is unhealthy, if it was any kind of extreme polarization.

The only difference between the two are in HOW they want to tax you, and regarding the influence of chuch on the state.

[Morgoth]

Obdigore;366036 said:

It is unhealthy, if it was any kind of extreme polarization.

The only difference between the two are in HOW they want to tax you, and regarding the influence of chuch on the state.

the politics might not be that different, but relationships between the two "camps" are very much polarized, at least thats how it seems to me. Just a walk through Barns and Noble's political section proves that clear enough I think

[HoosierDaddy]

Morgoth;366190 said:

the politics might not be that different, but relationships between the two "camps" are very much polarized, at least thats how it seems to me. Just a walk through Barns and Noble's political section proves that clear enough I think

Yes. I don't get into political debates with friends unless I know from experience they can be respectful. Otherwise it just turns into (from my end): Sean Hannity says this, Orally says that, Limbaugh ate a fetus just to prove how wrong abortion is blah blah blah.

Conservative authors thrive on demonizing the left.

[Optimus Prime]

A couple of points.

Shin...you listen to Rush Limbaugh?!?!?!?! I just died a little inside.

Obdi, yes the Daily Show is pure Gold.

Morgy, how many major parties does the UK have?

[HoosierDaddy]

Optimus Prime;366202 said:

A couple of points.

Shin...you listen to Rush Limbaugh?!?!?!?! I just died a little inside.

Obdi, yes the Daily Show is pure Gold.

Morgy, how many major parties does the UK have?

The U.K. has 2 major parties (Labour & Conservative), the Lib Dem's are just posers (imo), and stand no chance to actually win an outright election to control the parliament & therefore, the cabinent. They could theoretically be part of an alliance, but the L's and C's generally control enough votes to not need one.

[Morgoth]

Optimus Prime;366202 said:

A couple of points.

Shin...you listen to Rush Limbaugh?!?!?!?! I just died a little inside.

Obdi, yes the Daily Show is pure Gold.

Morgy, how many major parties does the UK have?

That's a good question, you should ask someone who's from the UK ..

In norway there's about.. erm.. 7 in parliament at this time. They all squable like crazy, but at least there's a variety of choices

[Dolorous Menhir]

HoosierDaddy;366209 said:

The U.K. has 2 major parties (Labour & Conservative), the Lib Dem's are just posers (imo), and stand no chance to actually win an outright election to control the parliament & therefore, the cabinent. They could theoretically be part of an alliance, but the L's and C's generally control enough votes to not need one.

There are several minor, largely regional, parties also. The current make up of the parliament (646 MP's):

Labour (350)
Conservative (193)
Liberal Democrat (63)
Democratic Unionist (9)
Scottish National (7)
Sinn Fein (5)
Independent (3)
Plaid Cymru (3)
Social Democratic & Labour Party (3)
Independent Conservative (2)
Independent Labour (1)
Respect (1)
UK Independence (1)
Ulster Unionist (1)
Speaker and Deputies (4)

For comparison, the composition of the US Senate is

49 Democrat
49 Republican
2 Independent (functionally Democrats, giving them a majority of 51)

[HoosierDaddy]

Dolorous Menhir;366244 said:

There are several minor, largely regional, parties also. The current make up of the parliament (646 MP's):

Labour (350)
Conservative (193)
Liberal Democrat (63)
Democratic Unionist (9)
Scottish National (7)
Sinn Fein (5)
Independent (3)
Plaid Cymru (3)
Social Democratic & Labour Party (3)
Independent Conservative (2)
Independent Labour (1)
Respect (1)
UK Independence (1)
Ulster Unionist (1)
Speaker and Deputies (4)

Is this the Ali G. Party?

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Plaid Cymru, mortal enemies of the Striped Cymru. Both parties look fine on their own, but the clash horribly with each other.

[Adjutant Stormy~]

Americans are more likely to change their sex than change party affiliation.

[Optimus Prime]

Morgoth;366212 said:

That's a good question, you should ask someone who's from the UK ..

In norway there's about.. erm.. 7 in parliament at this time. They all squable like crazy, but at least there's a variety of choices

LMAO.

You guys have 7 parties? I mean...how different are they...truthfully?

[HoosierDaddy]

Optimus Prime;366299 said:

LMAO.

You guys have 7 parties? I mean...how different are they...truthfully?

If my grasp on Euro politics is still somewhat functional, vastly different OP.

@Stormy: I might be a die-hard liberal, but if you said you either lose your important brain or you become right wing, you are looking at the founder of a new fascist party in the U.S.

[Dolorous Menhir]

HoosierDaddy;366258 said:

Is this the Ali G. Party?

646 MP's and you go straight to Gorgeous George. You might remember him from the news, he's the guy who gave some US Senators a tongue-lashing at a hearing a few years ago.