Gramps
Mayor
I read between them quite often. Sometimes what people don't say is more indicative of their feelings than what they say.
There are some rightwingers still on board who, I believe, really would like to make peace with at least some leftwingers. I do not believe losing is something anyone just takes in stride. It's tough. You hitch your star to a wagon you think is equivilent to the brass ring and suddenly discover it might, or might not, be what you really thought it was to begin with.
One poster even admitted (or said, at least) they weren't sure they'd even continue to be party oriented as they had been but might move on expressing her personal thoughts to suit her fancy. So, that set me to thinking. Perhaps it might do lots of us well to toot our own whistle rather than be a voice in the choir that merely adds sometime but isn't actually heard.
There was mention about becoming Independents as one example. And then the topic of not being able to participate in candidate selection got in their way. But, again, that stirred my curiosity. Do we REALLY participate or is that just an old saw to keep us on board? Are the actual candidates really picked by people in high places who, without their endorsement, couldn't make the ballot for a dog catcher?
Going back in the recent contest a few months I recall there were GOPers who wouldn't have given Mitt the time of day but who, when he made the ballot, changed their tone. AND I also recall Dems who wanted Mitt to challenge Obama because they thought he was the most likely candidate who couldn't beat him. In the end, who was right? And if you go back to the primaries was Mitt really the chosen one or did it just work out that way? As for the Dems, well Obama was theeeee man and there were no options.
I am a Democrat. I made that decision back when FDR was president. I am a liberal. Maybe the dems have strayed away from many goals FDR sought but they still are the liberal choice between the two parties. Back then the GOP was the conservative party and I dare say that had FDR not managed to enact many programs at a time when conservative's agenda had played itself out after years of conservative leadership on capitol hill. But, let's suppose for a minute that FDR didn't get the help he needed from the house and senate what would've happened to his dreams. Today, however, the conservative party of yesteryear has victimized themselves by compromising their original platforms because programs such as SS and Medicare were now a built-in part of the overall picture and should they have taken stands against continuing them would have amounted to cutting their own throats. Maybe they had no choice but in the process they strayed alot further from their reputations of being conservative than the Dems did from theirs of being liberals. STILL, I don't always like what the Dems have to offer and have gotten verbal enough at assemblies to piss-off a few old heads who are indocrinated to the mistaken belief that the Dems are always right. No one is always right or wrong for that matter.
What this boils down to is we all need to research our beliefs to see where they do fit in and possibly the best thing that could happen would be for both parties to tone down their rhetoric and re-establish their identity. If anyone actually believes their philosophy fits right into that of their party they are possibly mistaken anymore. Being a registered Dem or Rep only indicates what those personal philosopies are not whether or not somone agrees with the whole enchilada. But its a good barameter with which to gage who does and who does not vote. In the final moment it is they who decide who wins even though they might've preferred someone else headed the ticket.
Maybe the lessons learned from this election will be a lot more profound than anyone thought.
Gramps
There are some rightwingers still on board who, I believe, really would like to make peace with at least some leftwingers. I do not believe losing is something anyone just takes in stride. It's tough. You hitch your star to a wagon you think is equivilent to the brass ring and suddenly discover it might, or might not, be what you really thought it was to begin with.
One poster even admitted (or said, at least) they weren't sure they'd even continue to be party oriented as they had been but might move on expressing her personal thoughts to suit her fancy. So, that set me to thinking. Perhaps it might do lots of us well to toot our own whistle rather than be a voice in the choir that merely adds sometime but isn't actually heard.
There was mention about becoming Independents as one example. And then the topic of not being able to participate in candidate selection got in their way. But, again, that stirred my curiosity. Do we REALLY participate or is that just an old saw to keep us on board? Are the actual candidates really picked by people in high places who, without their endorsement, couldn't make the ballot for a dog catcher?
Going back in the recent contest a few months I recall there were GOPers who wouldn't have given Mitt the time of day but who, when he made the ballot, changed their tone. AND I also recall Dems who wanted Mitt to challenge Obama because they thought he was the most likely candidate who couldn't beat him. In the end, who was right? And if you go back to the primaries was Mitt really the chosen one or did it just work out that way? As for the Dems, well Obama was theeeee man and there were no options.
I am a Democrat. I made that decision back when FDR was president. I am a liberal. Maybe the dems have strayed away from many goals FDR sought but they still are the liberal choice between the two parties. Back then the GOP was the conservative party and I dare say that had FDR not managed to enact many programs at a time when conservative's agenda had played itself out after years of conservative leadership on capitol hill. But, let's suppose for a minute that FDR didn't get the help he needed from the house and senate what would've happened to his dreams. Today, however, the conservative party of yesteryear has victimized themselves by compromising their original platforms because programs such as SS and Medicare were now a built-in part of the overall picture and should they have taken stands against continuing them would have amounted to cutting their own throats. Maybe they had no choice but in the process they strayed alot further from their reputations of being conservative than the Dems did from theirs of being liberals. STILL, I don't always like what the Dems have to offer and have gotten verbal enough at assemblies to piss-off a few old heads who are indocrinated to the mistaken belief that the Dems are always right. No one is always right or wrong for that matter.
What this boils down to is we all need to research our beliefs to see where they do fit in and possibly the best thing that could happen would be for both parties to tone down their rhetoric and re-establish their identity. If anyone actually believes their philosophy fits right into that of their party they are possibly mistaken anymore. Being a registered Dem or Rep only indicates what those personal philosopies are not whether or not somone agrees with the whole enchilada. But its a good barameter with which to gage who does and who does not vote. In the final moment it is they who decide who wins even though they might've preferred someone else headed the ticket.
Maybe the lessons learned from this election will be a lot more profound than anyone thought.
Gramps
