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1freethinker 1freethinker is offline
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1freethinker Love truth, pardon error. ~ Voltaire

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WOS, I like your spirit and your attitude. You express thoughts that most citizens should have in a healthy democracy.

There is no question that Obama "inherited a mess", as you put it. In my opinion, this country hasn't been in a tougher spot since 1932.

Although I agree with much of what you say, I don't think Clinton is completely blameless. His administration did some very good things. However, they also continued some policies, particularly monetary and financial policies, that have, in my opinion, caused a good deal of the problems we face. Elected leaders from both parties are responsible. The Clinton people were closely tied to powerful interests on Wall Street.

What concerns me a little is that the Obama people are also closely tied to powerful interests in the financial sector. To their credit, they have instituted some long needed policies to curtail the "false growth" and uncontrolled gambling that has occurred in that sector since the 1980's. Time will tell whether those policies are effective and whether this administration backs those policies by providing the resources to fully implement them.

In an ideal world, those running for high office would win or lose on the strength of their ideas and plans and not on the strength of their financial backing and ability to create catchy sound bites. I think the underlying problem is that the political system in this country is flawed, as it is too beholden to "big money". Until we divorce "big money" from the political system, we run a serious risk of every major election resulting in "meet the new boss, same as the old boss".
Last edited by 1freethinker; July 29th, 2009 at 08:40 am.
- July 29th, 2009, 08:37 am
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chapgirl chapgirl is offline
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1FreeThinker, I agree wholeheartedly, that we need campaign finance reform, and we need to do something about ridding the country of lobbyists, or at least limit their powers considerably. I have been a democrat since Reagan's term. He converted me to the Democrats, but there are days that I would say there is very little difference between the two parties, and it is in large part due to the fact that they have all sold their souls to the special interests and it has very little to do anymore with what is the National interest, but has become who is going to pad whose pockets the deepest. Very discouraging.
- August 3rd, 2009, 09:46 pm
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1freethinker 1freethinker is offline
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Amen, chapgirl. My thoughts, exactly.

"...and the slogans are replaced, by the by. And the party on the left is now the party on the right and their beards have all grown longer overnight." ~ Pete Townshend

:-)
- August 4th, 2009, 09:36 am
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Xman Xman is offline
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It's always interesting (and sometimes shocking) to listen to Americans talk about their politics.
- August 8th, 2009, 06:51 pm
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1freethinker 1freethinker is offline
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Xman, I'm curious. How are Canadian political discussions different than American political discussions? Do you think Canadians are better or less well-informed about issues than Americans? Why?
- August 8th, 2009, 10:18 pm
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Xman Xman is offline
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I think the average person, no matter where they are from, knows far too little about their politics - just how the governments and corporations like it. ;-) I've met folks from other countries that know more about our collective politics than we domestics do. It is a part of our culture to remain uninformed, or simply myopic choosing our own brands of prejudice and throwing mud at the other guy. If we knew the truth, I believe, we would be shocked, outraged, and dejected.

Certainly, the Canadian media and the media from Europe are more informative. I believe that media corporations have the purpose of their existences at the forefront of their functionings (i.e. PROFITS). Truth and transparency become secondary issues. That's why public broadcasting is far more reliable. I know that this goes against the (almost religious) philosophy of some, but we must remain opened minded to see beyond the prejudices handed to us by our parents and our society. Unfortunately, the time we make changes is when catastrophe strikes - usually striking the wealthy.
Last edited by Xman; August 9th, 2009 at 02:54 pm.
- August 9th, 2009, 02:49 pm
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1freethinker 1freethinker is offline
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Nice answer Xman. I agree with you. Comparing some European and Canadian news to U.S. news can certainly be enlightening. We get so much "fluff and spin" here in the US that, should you routinely watch Fox or CNN or "fill in the blank", you will be rather confused, after a while, and have a very difficult time determining what is fact and what is opinion and which facts are important. I also think that public television is worthwhile and does a better job of reporting news without "fluff and spin" than "for profit" media
- August 10th, 2009, 10:58 am
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1freethinker wrote :
Nice answer Xman. I agree with you. Comparing some European and Canadian news to U.S. news can certainly be enlightening. We get so much "fluff and spin" here in the US that, should you routinely watch Fox or CNN or "fill in the blank", you will be rather confused, after a while, and have a very difficult time determining what is fact and what is opinion and which facts are important. I also think that public television is worthwhile and does a better job of reporting news without "fluff and spin" than "for profit" media
Now apply that to health care!
- August 11th, 2009, 07:24 pm
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1freethinker wrote :
Ok. Yes. LOL. ;-)

Seriously, most of what you say is true, I think. However, in my humble opinion, the Republican Party "lost the handle" on reality when they began to pay too much attention to certain narrow and monied interests under their "political tent" and not enough attention to the broader national interest and the exigencies of world affairs. However, that is not new in politics. The Democrat Party made the exact same mistakes during the 1970's. It is, unfortunately, a well-trodden path.
Thank you for given your opinion, that's the very thing that I'm talking about we the people need to speak up more and not just let things be. And by the way I agree with you.
- August 12th, 2009, 04:41 am
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chapgirl wrote :
1FreeThinker, I agree wholeheartedly, that we need campaign finance reform, and we need to do something about ridding the country of lobbyists, or at least limit their powers considerably. I have been a democrat since Reagan's term. He converted me to the Democrats, but there are days that I would say there is very little difference between the two parties, and it is in large part due to the fact that they have all sold their souls to the special interests and it has very little to do anymore with what is the National interest, but has become who is going to pad whose pockets the deepest. Very discouraging.
I most definitely agree with getting rid of the lobbyists it's a disgrace that they even exist. I also agree with you sometimes the parties look no different and it can be very discouraging but the more we the people speak up as you're doing now and they hear what we will and will not tolerate I think things will be different. We have power in the vote.
- August 12th, 2009, 04:46 am
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