America Is So Polarized

[ABM]

I wonder why that is?

Me? While I voted for Romney, I am now ready to give President Obama my full support and will be praying for him, our elected leaders, and our country.

I've been hearing and reading such stark reactions to last night's events all day long. It's kind of concerning.

You'd think there was a Civil War brewing. (Hey, there's even talk again about Texas seceding: http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2012/11/texas_nationalist_movement_wou.php) Everyone just needs to lay down their respective weapons and unite as a country.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

The echo chamber effect where you only talk to people who agree with you and the internet's propensity for exaggeration make for some insane things. From another thread:

http://www.libertarianrepublican.net/2012/11/the-end-of-liberty-in-america-only.html

Yes, Jim. Yes, Jim.

Seccession or leave. I say we've got two to three years left before they start rounding up dissenters and sending us off to Nazi-style concentration camps. I've got a little more time, cause I live in Texas.

Arizona is a good place to be for now. But New York, Iowa, Michigan, Massachusetts, PA beware. You're vastly on the road to complete authoritarianism and statism. Grab your guns, protect what few things you have left. You're living in Nazi Germany circa 1933-34.

Inevitably, the conversation among a group that generally agrees stratifies into more and less extreme versions of that original agreement, then splitting again, because similar people want to differentiate themselves. It's why there's such a huge war between fans of Norwegian Black Metal and Swedish Death Metal...

 

[Natebishop3]

You know it's funny... I really wouldn't be comparing the current administration to Hitler or the Nazis if I was the GOP.

Pretty sure it was the GOP that got us into Iraq and Afghanistan, while Obama hasn't invaded anyone.

Pretty sure it's been the GOP that has tried to persecute the gays, while I don't think I've ever heard Obama say anything hateful about anyone.

I'm not an Obama supporter, but it's the hateful and bigoted shit that has gotten the GOP into hot water, which sounds a lot more like Nazi Germany to me.

 

[julius]

we're divided because TV tells us we are.

 

[ABM]

http://news.yahoo.com/50-50-nation-151916925--election.html

 

[3RA1N1AC]

nazi germany was awesome for the germans

and we are all americans, amirite?

aka this shit is gonna be awesome

 

[Natebishop3]

nazi germany was awesome for the germans

and we are all americans, amirite?

aka this shit is gonna be awesome

Awesome for the blonde haired and blue eyed Germans.... not so awesome of the Jewish, Gypsy, or mentally disabled Germans.

 

[3RA1N1AC]

Awesome for the blonde haired and blue eyed Germans.... not so awesome of the Jewish, Gypsy, or mentally disabled Germans.

who are we gassing in this analogy? rich people?

 

[Natebishop3]

who are we gassing in this analogy? rich people?

Why don't you read my post about four posts up.

 

[MARIS61]

If everyone would just agree with me we'd have no problem.

 

[Eastoff]

It is clearly the echo chamber effect. I think when the right started getting more "purified" for lack of better terms, the left felt it needed to counter that and also become more hard on it's stances. This is a main reason you see so many more "independents." They are still generally republicans or democrats, but they just don't agree on ALL of the issues.

More importantly than arguing, is the looming fiscal cliff. This will not be overcome, unless both sides can make big concessions. I think Denny and (I forget who, maybe julius?) made a good point in another thread. It should be something like, the republicans say "We want government spending cut to X dollars, and democrats say okay we want to raise funding through taxes and loophole closures by Y dollars."

 

[magnifier661]

If everyone would just agree with me we'd have no problem.

Last time the world followed radical thinking; millions were exterminated.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Last time the world followed radical thinking; millions were exterminated.

I think that's the agenda.

 

[magnifier661]

The echo chamber effect where you only talk to people who agree with you and the internet's propensity for exaggeration make for some insane things. From another thread:

http://www.libertarianrepublican.net/2012/11/the-end-of-liberty-in-america-only.html



Inevitably, the conversation among a group that generally agrees stratifies into more and less extreme versions of that original agreement, then splitting again, because similar people want to differentiate themselves. It's why there's such a huge war between fans of Norwegian Black Metal and Swedish Death Metal...

Wouldn't the right analogy be communist Russia? Nazis were more far right wing fascists. If you go far left; that's communism.

 

[mobes23]

Cripes almighty is this thread right where I am now. I knew the campaign was pretty hard fought on both sides, but in my mind, the most ugly election recently was Bush/Kerry and it was quite a bit worse. Last night, I got a very different take. Two close family members, who are generally pretty straight forward and reasonable said that Obama is evil (and they meant truly evil in a Satanic kind of way, not just a bad person) and also funded by Muslims to destroy the United States. It was an awful, disheartening conversation. I knew both sides slung mud and pushed the envelope as far as being truthful, but they seemed to think Obama was far worse and that Romney was clean. Just curious from the right leaning crowd here, are you guys as disenfranchised as that? I fully understand being severely disappointed, but their response was so extreme that it was actually kind of scary.

Pretty sure my family members have been listening to Rush Limbaugh and similar a lot lately. I'm mainly about NPR, the NY Times and the Seattle Times (with a strong nod to this forum as well). Rather than just the usual differing Republican/Democrat opinions, I'm wondering if that is part of the reason we are in such different places.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Cripes almighty is this thread right where I am now. I knew the campaign was pretty hard fought on both sides, but in my mind, the most ugly election recently was Bush/Kerry and it was quite a bit worse. Last night, I got a very different take. Two close family members, who are generally pretty straight forward and reasonable said that Obama is evil (and they meant truly evil in a Satanic kind of way, not just a bad person) and also funded by Muslims to destroy the United States. It was an awful, disheartening conversation. I knew both sides slung mud and pushed the envelope as far as being truthful, but they seemed to think Obama was far worse and that Romney was clean. Just curious from the right leaning crowd here, are you guys as disenfranchised as that? I fully understand being severely disappointed, but their response was so extreme that it was actually kind of scary.

Pretty sure my family members have been listening to Rush Limbaugh and similar a lot lately. I'm mainly about NPR, the NY Times and the Seattle Times (with a strong nod to this forum as well). Rather than just the usual differing Republican/Democrat opinions, I'm wondering if that is part of the reason we are in such different places.

And, as a counterpoint, some people I know really beleive that republicans are wanting to actually murder women and so forth based on what the left has been telling people...

We have become a dark society.

 

[mobes23]

Really? Murder women? Just curious, are your friends that think that pretty ordinary or are they a little on the edge anyway? I know people that are pretty out there and believe in all sorts of crazy conspiracy theories and that sort of thing wouldn't be an absolute shock. The thing that surprised me is that my family members are usually pretty middle of the road about things/not crazy at all.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Really? Murder women? Just curious, are your friends that think that pretty ordinary or are they a little on the edge anyway? I know people that are pretty out there and believe in all sorts of crazy conspiracy theories and that sort of thing wouldn't be an absolute shock. The thing that surprised me is that my family members are usually pretty middle of the road about things/not crazy at all.

Yep, the war on women from the left was so shockingly untrue and hateful, as well as extreme. Now, that said, I wonder how many votes it actually changed. I mean, I have never for a moment bought the garbage about Obama and I think those people who made it up or believe it were never close to voting left to start with.

 

[DaLincolnJones]

Really? Murder women? Just curious, are your friends that think that pretty ordinary or are they a little on the edge anyway? I know people that are pretty out there and believe in all sorts of crazy conspiracy theories and that sort of thing wouldn't be an absolute shock. The thing that surprised me is that my family members are usually pretty middle of the road about things/not crazy at all.

I hear some of the same from the left in corvallis. These are the same guys on kboo that call taliban killers, "freedom fighters" yeah, this country is divided

 

[mobes23]

It definitely was not the war on women that sparked my family -- guess that just shows how broad the problem is right now. Although, I wonder if the hard feelings will soften with a little time because the shock of losing is pretty strong right now. A lot of people probably bought the idea that polls were wrong and that election day would be all Romney. Maybe they feel like it got snatched away from them wrongly, is all I can think.

Whatever it is, I don't like it at all. I fully understand disagreement, but I don't understand the hate that seems to come with it. Shoot, I probably go back and forth with Denny more than anyone else, but I really like Denny. Denny, I like you. I really, really like you. No hard feelings, in fact, I've learned a lot from you in our exchanges. Now how hard was that?

 

[mobes23]

Seriously, radio talk show people in the U.S. are calling the Taliban freedom fighters? Yeesh. There's a reason I stick to NPR (and sports talk) when it comes to the radio.

In fact, npr had a quick bit this morning that part of the reason for the strong polarization in congress is all the redistricting that both parties are doing to keep their incumbents locked into position. The redistricting makes districts strongholds that are much less likely to elect moderates. I have no idea how true it is, but it makes sense instinctively.

 

[Denny Crane]

Imagine if....

Republicans had nominated Condoleeza Rice.

Not one shred of the hate filled venom used against Romney could possibly stick. You going to paint her as having some war on women? A racist? A religious kook?

As an aside, the race for mayor here was nothing but a stream of negative ads. The problem is the negative stuff was all true. Neither guy was worthy of voting for. And I think that's probably true of most, if not all, elections lately.

 

[porkchopexpress]

Imagine if....

Republicans had nominated Condoleeza Rice.

Not one shred of the hate filled venom used against Romney could possibly stick. You going to paint her as having some war on women? A racist? A religious kook?

As an aside, the race for mayor here was nothing but a stream of negative ads. The problem is the negative stuff was all true. Neither guy was worthy of voting for. And I think that's probably true of most, if not all, elections lately.

Talk about a race with 2 horrible candidates. Neither one seems trustworthy at all.

 

[DaLincolnJones]

Seriously, radio talk show people in the U.S. are calling the Taliban freedom fighters? Yeesh. There's a reason I stick to NPR (and sports talk) when it comes to the radio.

In fact, npr had a quick bit this morning that part of the reason for the strong polarization in congress is all the redistricting that both parties are doing to keep their incumbents locked into position. The redistricting makes districts strongholds that are much less likely to elect moderates. I have no idea how true it is, but it makes sense instinctively.

kboo is npr..
corvallis re elected a guy to the city council that displays a cuban flag on his city owned lap top, and turns his back to the flag when the pledge of allegience i spoken...

just when I think that there is so little difference between the center and the left.

 

[barfo]

And, as a counterpoint, some people I know really beleive that republicans are wanting to actually murder women and so forth based on what the left has been telling people...

We have become a dork society.

FTFY.

barfo

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

FTFY.

barfo

Hmmmmmmmmm, that may not be such a bad fix.

 

[3RA1N1AC]

Wouldn't the right analogy be communist Russia? Nazis were more far right wing fascists. If you go far left; that's communism.

seeing as how our prison system is the largest in the history of the world, i would say that russia parallels quite nicely