Looking at the MTG and Kansas abortion law threads make it abundantly clear why we so badly need a third party in this country.
I see all the rhetoric and venom spitting going back-and-forth between everybody on some of these threads, and the same arguments keep being made over and over. Republicans keep wanting to characterize Democrats by what stupid shit AOC or Bernie Sanders spouts, while Democrats want to characterize Republicans by whatever stupid shit MTG or Boebert say and do. FFS, we actually had a candidate for Railroad Commissioner riding nekkid on a pump jack. I like boobs as much as any guy, but really? I’m really tired of all this crap.
In the two party system we have now, those of us who are in the middle are left with so few good options. I really don’t care what anyone else on here thinks, I really am pretty much in the middle of the road even though I am a registered Republican. I tend to be more fiscally conservative and somewhat more socially moderate than what many of the leftists on this message board like to characterize as the Republican dogma. And no fruitcake like Lauren Boebert or Marjorie Taylor Green reflects my viewpoint. Most those people, probably damn near all of them, at CPAC in Dallas this last weekend don’t represent my views either, what with their silly red white and blue cowboy hats and their Trump sycophancy.
Equally to the point, I know several Democrats, and I don’t know any who are as whacked out as AOC or Omar. Most of them are as embarrassed by Biden‘s doddering incompetence as I was by Trump’s name calling, immaturity and megalomania.
But face it, this is what our two party system gives us. In 2016, I had three options in the Republican primary. I voted for Rubio because I thought he was the most centered and reasonable of the candidates. I never would’ve imagined Trump would get the nomination. When it came time for the general election, I was faced with voting for one of the two worst human beings in the world. I chose to sit that one out, the first presidential election I have not voted in since I began voting in them in 1980. When 2020 came around, I was left for voting for Trump, who I personally could not stand, but whose policies were more digestible to me, than Biden, who I have never had any regard for. Let’s face it, Joe Biden has never been well regarded even within his own party. The man is an ass. Trump is an ass. I had to decide which ass to vote for (or really, against). I voted for Trump but had to hold my nose doing it. Yes, I vote policy more than personality, but I hate being in that position. Can’t I just have a normal human being to vote for?
In my view, a lot of the problem lies with the media. The media has become completely partisan, both ways. There are a lot more leftist media outlets than right wing outlets, but, there are right wing outlets too. These partisan media sources tend to highlight the outlandish, fringe members of both parties, and that ends up driving the narrative and obfuscating the rational, measured discussions the majority of us in the middle should be having, and, what should be driving the policy formation for this country.
In my view, neither of the two existing parties really give a shit about our country. I may tend to think that the Republican policies will be better in the long run than the Democrat policies, but I don’t fool myself for one second into thinking that any Republican lawmaker, or many of them anyway, really give a crap about anything other than attaining or maintaining their position in office. Most of them are clowns. When Tommy Tuberville can become a U.S. Senator, something is really wrong.
A third-party would give a voice to those of us in the middle, both Republican and Democrat, who are not the whacked out loons seeking to drive a far left or far right agenda. I personally think that if such a party could gain traction without getting quashed by the two existing parties, it would actually end up with a much larger membership then either of the two existing parties currently have. It would force compromise with the remaining rational members of the two existing parties. I think we could actually get more things done without the extreme pendulum swings that seem to happen with the two-party system.
Just spouting off.
TL/DR version: politics suck
I see all the rhetoric and venom spitting going back-and-forth between everybody on some of these threads, and the same arguments keep being made over and over. Republicans keep wanting to characterize Democrats by what stupid shit AOC or Bernie Sanders spouts, while Democrats want to characterize Republicans by whatever stupid shit MTG or Boebert say and do. FFS, we actually had a candidate for Railroad Commissioner riding nekkid on a pump jack. I like boobs as much as any guy, but really? I’m really tired of all this crap.
In the two party system we have now, those of us who are in the middle are left with so few good options. I really don’t care what anyone else on here thinks, I really am pretty much in the middle of the road even though I am a registered Republican. I tend to be more fiscally conservative and somewhat more socially moderate than what many of the leftists on this message board like to characterize as the Republican dogma. And no fruitcake like Lauren Boebert or Marjorie Taylor Green reflects my viewpoint. Most those people, probably damn near all of them, at CPAC in Dallas this last weekend don’t represent my views either, what with their silly red white and blue cowboy hats and their Trump sycophancy.
Equally to the point, I know several Democrats, and I don’t know any who are as whacked out as AOC or Omar. Most of them are as embarrassed by Biden‘s doddering incompetence as I was by Trump’s name calling, immaturity and megalomania.
But face it, this is what our two party system gives us. In 2016, I had three options in the Republican primary. I voted for Rubio because I thought he was the most centered and reasonable of the candidates. I never would’ve imagined Trump would get the nomination. When it came time for the general election, I was faced with voting for one of the two worst human beings in the world. I chose to sit that one out, the first presidential election I have not voted in since I began voting in them in 1980. When 2020 came around, I was left for voting for Trump, who I personally could not stand, but whose policies were more digestible to me, than Biden, who I have never had any regard for. Let’s face it, Joe Biden has never been well regarded even within his own party. The man is an ass. Trump is an ass. I had to decide which ass to vote for (or really, against). I voted for Trump but had to hold my nose doing it. Yes, I vote policy more than personality, but I hate being in that position. Can’t I just have a normal human being to vote for?
In my view, a lot of the problem lies with the media. The media has become completely partisan, both ways. There are a lot more leftist media outlets than right wing outlets, but, there are right wing outlets too. These partisan media sources tend to highlight the outlandish, fringe members of both parties, and that ends up driving the narrative and obfuscating the rational, measured discussions the majority of us in the middle should be having, and, what should be driving the policy formation for this country.
In my view, neither of the two existing parties really give a shit about our country. I may tend to think that the Republican policies will be better in the long run than the Democrat policies, but I don’t fool myself for one second into thinking that any Republican lawmaker, or many of them anyway, really give a crap about anything other than attaining or maintaining their position in office. Most of them are clowns. When Tommy Tuberville can become a U.S. Senator, something is really wrong.
A third-party would give a voice to those of us in the middle, both Republican and Democrat, who are not the whacked out loons seeking to drive a far left or far right agenda. I personally think that if such a party could gain traction without getting quashed by the two existing parties, it would actually end up with a much larger membership then either of the two existing parties currently have. It would force compromise with the remaining rational members of the two existing parties. I think we could actually get more things done without the extreme pendulum swings that seem to happen with the two-party system.
Just spouting off.
TL/DR version: politics suck
