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Old     (sidekicknicholas)      Join Date: Mar 2007       12-07-2012, 6:24 AM Reply   
So I am 25 years old, the only elections I've been able to vote for have involved Obama. I was aware of the world around me enough to know what was going on for a good chunk of Bush's term(s) - but couldn't vote. When I watch news on TV it generally comes from CNN and/or the Daily Show (I like a good laugh).... but when I am in my car going to/from work I listen to conservative/republican stations; I generally try and get some news from both sides and figure out who is lying more.

With that said,
Since I can remember politics there are the two major parties, each party, when they lose an election (at least for Democrats --> Bush and Republicans --> Obama) shift their focus from "Here is how we can help" to "Here is how we can make the guy we didn't want look bad"...... when did this happen?... Has it always been like this?!

*I am just using one example from yesterday afternoon - Democrats did the same stuff like crazy when Bush was in office - I don't want this to be a Donkey vs. Elephant war *

I was listening to Rush / Hannity the other day driving at lunch and they both agreed that Republicans in the house of reps should take a running leap over the "fiscal cliff" to drag Obama down with them; saying something on the order of, "Take Obama down and make everyone suffer to prove a point" ....... seriously?!

When did everyone become so spiteful that they would sacrifice the country to make one guy who happened to beat them look bad?!.....
Maybe it is just me, but no matter who would have won (Romney / Obama / Kerry / Bush / Gore / McCain / Whomever is next), I want them to do well and keep the ship going straight. I am in the minority who feels a successful USA is greater than the "other side" looking bad?

Again, main question was - Has it always been like this?... or just more-so in recent years?

Thanks!
Old     (ttrigo)      Join Date: Dec 2004       12-07-2012, 6:53 AM Reply   
As the media has grown, so has the spiteful talk. I prefer to think that the media doesnt speak for either party, but unfortunately too many people believe otherwise.
Old     (psudy)      Join Date: Dec 2003       12-07-2012, 7:30 AM Reply   
It has become more like this since information has become so much easier to get. You get a lot more political discussions between the two parties on forums like this. Which allows everyone to say what they think without consequence. I agree though. It is too bad.
Old    bigdtx            12-07-2012, 8:07 AM Reply   
It's "fake outrage". These "talk shows" aren't there to inform you, they're there to get you worked up so you'll keep listening to the commercials that fill up 20 minutes of every hour.

If people don't stay tuned in they don't make money. Politics has always been super nasty in this country with sex scandals, etc going all the way back to the beginning. It's just easier to access now.

And FYI, there are a lot of pointless and fruitless things you can do with your time, but bitching about the gov't is probably the biggest waste of time of all (even though I am as guilty as everyone else here).
Old     (sidekicknicholas)      Join Date: Mar 2007       12-07-2012, 8:15 AM Reply   
Quote:
but bitching about the gov't is probably the biggest waste of time of all (even though I am as guilty as everyone else here).
I'm not bitching by any means.... I am just curious, since I haven't really had that much exposure to it given my age. My mom and dad are VERY liberal so I was fed that as a kid.... so I've been trying to make sure I'm getting both sides rather than just doing what they did.

My question was - Is it common, lets say over the last 30 years, to have the opposing side to the sitting president, take actions that could hurt the country as a whole to spite the president they are "against"? Has that always been the case or just in the last 15 or so years?
Old     (psudy)      Join Date: Dec 2003       12-07-2012, 8:19 AM Reply   
"And FYI, there are a lot of pointless and fruitless things you can do with your time, but bitching about the gov't is probably the biggest waste of time of all (even though I am as guilty as everyone else here). "

Post of the year!
Old    bigdtx            12-07-2012, 8:29 AM Reply   
On the Republican side you can trace it back to Bill Clinton's election in 1992. The Republicans felt like Clinton was an illegitimate president because Ross Perot (the original Tea Party candidate) split off 18% of the vote and Clinton won with 43% of the total. They were obstructionist then but not to the point that they are today. The current Tea Party - which is tearing the Republican party apart, is mostly white, high school educated, and over 50. Basically old people who don't like Change at all - especially the Change that happened in 2008. As they age out, the demo will swing back again to a younger more liberal population, but waaay less white than it was 30 years ago.
Old     (jason_ssr)      Join Date: Apr 2001       12-08-2012, 5:38 PM Reply   
I think that back in the day it wasn't as over the top polarized as it is today. Democrats and republicans were all conservative rich white guys trying to steer things the way that benefitted their rich white guy constituents. In fact, many say that modern day republicans are more similar to JFK era democrats than they are to republicans of the same era. Now, it's not so much Rep vs Dem as it is Con vs Lib and capitalist vs socialist. Now, agreeing with a republican is just letting capitalist rich guys run away with all the spoils. Agreeing with dems is ushering in the socialist/communist era in American history. Agreeing with the opposition on any small issue allows them to get the ball rolling in their favor as far as support from the population. Once support is rallied, then each side could unleash their evil capitalist or communist plans on the US right under our nose and we would be too late to stop it.
Old     (shawndoggy)      Join Date: Nov 2009       12-09-2012, 6:41 AM Reply   
The media expansion has given much more of a chance for crazies (sorry, Bachman fans) to "take their case to the American people" by giving "interviews" to cable news outlets than in the olden days. Back in the three network days of Kronkite, the news organizations consisted of journalists, who went out into the world, gathered information, and then sorted it and compiled it in a way that made sense of it. They actually did the work of journalism back then. And in those days, crazies like Bachman wouldn't have been given a stage.

Now the cable news outlets especially are just a conduit for crazies and there is very little journalism being done. It's much easier to "interview" talking heads to fill the time than it is to send reporters into the field to learn about issues themselves.

Because members of congress especially can get themselves on TV at the drop of a hat, they now tend to draw more outrageous lines in the sand than they used to. That's because they used to have to do the job of politics -- negotiation. When non-negotiable lines in the sand are drawn, it becomes very hard to negotiate... as the tea party is now learning.
Old     (fly135)      Join Date: Jun 2004       12-09-2012, 7:33 AM Reply   
We've created an economic system so complicated that people are unable to understand the implications and effects of our policy. So we've just become a bunch of disparate interests that always perceive the problem as whatever is benefiting someone else. We are mislead by appearances. Cheap foriegn made goods are great as long as we look the other way when it comes to depleting our economy of trillions of dollars. And looking the other way from real problems while demonizing others it what we have become best at.
Old     (bftskir)      Join Date: Jan 2004       12-10-2012, 3:24 PM Reply   
The level of spite against President Obama is unprecedented.
Old     (ottog1979)      Join Date: Apr 2007       12-10-2012, 3:34 PM Reply   
^About the same level as the Bush spite. (Not that either of them are that bad or that good.)
Old     (ttrigo)      Join Date: Dec 2004       12-10-2012, 7:14 PM Reply   
"The level of spite against President Obama is unprecedented."

The hypocrisy on both sides is laughable, and pathetic at best.

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