Maybe It's Time We Communicate Amongst Ourselves. Career Politicians Can't Stand Informed Voters. Let's Talk.

For me it’s not so much Democrat vs Republican it’s Liberal vs Conservative. I have several good Dem and/or Lib friends though so I don’t lump them all into one category. So that said, what bothers me about Dems in general (in general mind you) they pursue legislation that sounds good for the general populace in theory but that harms more people in practice.

Danged Small screened phone. Didn’t finish my thought. It used to bother me a lot that libs will say anything they oppose is racist and sexist but that mantra is played out. Jesse Jackson hailed Trump as a true friend of blacks and gave him an award for it. Trump becomes (Republican) President and suddenly he’s the most vile racist imaginable. Wrong. Just plain wrong. He’s not racist. Just conservative. Jack Kemp was the same way. So I’ve accepted that some libs will say any conservative is a racist sexist demon no matter who that conservative is. We want a wall to help keep Gangs out not keep Mexicans out but some libs just will not accept that our opinions are not driven by racism or sexism. I would have voted for Condi as President in a heartbeat had she wanted to run. We asked and asked and asked and she refused. So no, I’m not sexist or racist. I am Conservative however. Try convincing some libs of that though and cognitive dissonance prevents acceptance of the truth. What would I change about how outmr government is run? Tough to say. Maybe less power in the hands of the Executive branch to create government boards and offices. Unelected govt employees should not be able to draft so many laws ... oops I meant regulations. That’s the official term.

Thank you so much for responding.

I've been saying for years that it's a communication issue. My entire family is republican. I've always been an independent and vote for whomever has the best resume, in my opinion, of the two. So far, honestly, I've never seen anyone run for any office that I believed deserved to run. The best of us should be in government. Not career politicians. We all want the same things and it seems like we're even saying the same things but we see people differently. Personally, I've never liked Donald trump. He got on my nerves decades ago. To me, he comes across as if he believes he's got God given dna like the Rockefellers believed. I don't agree with that.

If you don't mind I'd love to pick your brain a little more. What do you think about the families being separated from their children? What do you think about Trump making alliances with Kim, Vladimir and now the prince of Saudi Arabia? Does it bother you when Donald makes fun of people? Do you think the republicans were fair with the Kavanaugh hearings? (I know what the Dems did at the hearing and I'm not defending them. I'm just curious, if repubs were ok with what the repubs did).) And, do you think Donald has done anything he shouldn't have? Has he done or said anything that bothers you at all?

It seems democrats take "isms" literally. I will disagree with you on whether Donald is sexist. He brags about and has been rather proud of his "abilities" with women. I think that's why I've never liked him. I haven't heard him enough to say he's racist but, to me, it seems like everyone except rich white Christian men have been attacked in one way or another by him since he announced he was running again. There's just no way to write this conversation without sounding argumentative. I'm not the least bit upset and am thrilled you replied but I fear that I sound like I'm arguing with you. I am honestly trying to understand both sides. We all have so much more in common than not and we're all effected by the people in government. It makes no sense to me to keep everything the same as it's always been if, at any given point, half of the country is afraid of what the president will do. Everyone seems to think those that disagree are their enemy. We aren't enemies. I'd fight beside you to save our country if need be.

Any call for calm non/confrontational dialog is good, which is why I responded (I very seldom post comments online due to not wanting to feed the drama lama). I don’t personally see our problems being communication. Both side communicate their messages perfectly well. It’s simply a matter of the other side filtering the messages through their own viewpoints and disagreeing on the utility of them. Both sides want a secure America for instance. Their methods differ though, and the extremists on both side feed the fire of anger towards those different methods. To clarify my own viewpoints, I’m a Fiscal Conservative, National Defense Conservative, Capitalist and Libertarian Conservative. I’m not a Social Conservative. I don’t care if someone is gay or trans ( though I only support trans acceptance because they invalidate second wave feminist anti-male misandry). I know some trans women and they are nice people, though I personally think Gender Dismorphia is better handled by trying to help the mind accept the biological reality than make the body conform to the mental image.

It does not feel like you are arguing with me, no. It’s not a heated vilification discussion thankfully.

As for Trumps sexual boasting being sexist, to my mind normal healthy heterosexual male mentality includes sexual boasting so I don’t view it as sexist. That’s where in my opinion some feminists (especially second wave feminists) go askew. Healthy hetero male behaviors get lumped in with rape and misogyny and called Toxic Masculinity.

What do I think of separating immigrant children from families? When Obama did it Libs didn’t squawk. They’re only squawking now because a Conservative is doing it. Obama made fun of people and Libs didn’t squawk. Hillary, Michael Moore, Nancy Pelosi,etc make fun of people and Libs don’t squawk. It’s a party of adult life in the jungle of society.

The Kavanaugh hearings were to me (once it became clear the allegations were politically motivated lies with no evidence or corroboration) an example of some Lib leaders attempting to thwart Conservative ascendancy by throwing out “Innocent until proven guilty” jurisprudence or get Kavanaugh to be so toxic that he voluntarily or involuntarily was removed from consideration.

As for anything Trump has done that he should not have ... hmmmm. The braggadocio that irritates Libs I find delightful. I think he should not have said in the primaries that he could shoot someone in Times Square and still get elected. That was a bit beyond the pale to me.

So to ask you some questions in return, in a curious-to-know, non-confrontational manner. Was there anything Obama did that you thought he should not have done? What did you think of his giving civil-rights abusing Saudi Arabia millions in cash? What do you think of antifa’s attacking people physically? How do you feel about Google helping repressive China make a browser that enables censorship and dissident suppression?

I haven't ever liked what any of them have done. It seems like they say whatever they think will get the most votes until they get there. After they're sworn in they do what they're told by the ones really running things. I think they all sell out the moment they're elected. No I don't like that every president we've had has ignored all the atrocious things going on in Saudi Arabia. The video of Trump doing cost analysis on a man's life vs oil upset a lot of people but every president has done it. Clinton, both Papa bush and baby Bush, Reagan, Carter...etc. I think the Prince of Saudi Arabia knows no one will stop him because he has what everyone wants and needs. If they don't kiss up we won't get anymore of their oil. They can't allow that to happen. I liked Obama because he represented change. I'm sick to death of old white guys telling the entire country how to live. China. I feel that if the Chinese people disagree with the government they should do something about it. If Google helps them that's a business decision and none of my business. I don't think America should waste resources policing the planet. I'm pro military and helping people that ask for help but I think we should take care of us first. I think the wall was a stupid waste of money. I've been around illegals before and they, like every other human being on earth, will do whatever it takes to survive. If they believe they have to risk their lives by crossing a desert and scaling a wall, or tunneling under it, they will. And there are thousands of tunnels. Gaurd the border yes. Waste money on an ego induced project that was never going to help, no.

Since I'm an independent I have this amazing ability to piss off republicans and democrats. Lol. Help those that can't, not won't, help themselves. Help programs that carry us into the future. Educate as many as possible and medical care for everyone. I'm a live and let live kind of person as long as someone else's living doesn't get forced down my throat I'm good. People want to feel useful and want to work for the most part. Those that don't just need motivation. Not being able to eat is pretty good motivation. I think everyone should get what they work for. I'm old school. Your pay should reflect your personal effort. Raises respect are earned.

I'm kind of rushing around today so my focus is off. I am MADE of questions so I really appreciate this conversation. I'll never like Trump, I never did so I'm not

Going to start now. Why him? Why not a different, less embarrassing, republican? Why Kavanaugh? You didn't tell me what you thought about the republicans behavior during the confirmation. Do you think they did anything wrong? Gotta run but I'll check back later.

I had not heard til now that Trump did a cost analysis of a man’s life vs oil. Interesting. A google search turned up nothing on it so I’m curious to know what you are referring to.

That highlights another thing to mention. Echo chambers and news bias. I get my news from Fox and Breitbart. I assume you get yours from CNN and MSNBC. Each resource has its own political viewpoint. Just like Simon and Garfunkel sang “a person hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest. News outlets are the same way. When you asked if I thought Trump should not have done some of the things he’s done I imagine you have a list in your head of evil or wrong things Trump has done that you’ve gleaned from the news sources you use. The news sources I use have not reported him doing anything evil or bad. So it comes down to spin really and political bias from news sources.

I have to take my partisan hat off for this next bit in order to be completely balanced and fair. The same thing holds true for Republicans and Kavenaugh. My news outlets reported that a great nominee was being lynched by politically motivated lies and that he’s never been a rapist so let’s get him nominated fast so he can participate in the upcoming docket, the Democrats are not interested in keeping our “innocent until proven guilty” laws anyway their horrible people blah blah blah. From what I gather the liberal news outlets reported that the Republicans nominated a proven serial rapist so he should have been disqualified and sent to prison and the Republicans are woman hating bad guys anyway blah blah blah.

Our news outlets are very partisan (both the left wing ones and the right wing ones) and 1.) dont report much on the bad things their preferred candidate do and 2.) believe that what their preferred candidates are doing is good anyways so they portray them as such. Obama used Executive Orders to do various things. Thus the Lib media didn’t spin Obama’s actions as lawless and political correctness gone amok but the Conservative media did. The Lib media portrays Trumps actions through the lens of “that action is racist” but Conservative media portrays his actions as “that action isn’t racist it’s good for Americans of all races”. Spin. That’s all it is. Neither side is as bad as their media enemies spin them as.

As for why Trump ... my first pick in the primaries was Doctor Ben Carson. When he dropped out I shifted to Ted Cruz. When Trump became the nominee I said ok, not my first choice but it’ll be far better to elect a Conservative than a Liberal so I went with him. Why did it end up being Trump? I’m no analyst but from what I’ve heard the analysts say, he was our version Bernie Sanders; a political outsider who represented change. And the mood of the country after a two term president was for change.

I am not really a Democrat but vote that way out of necessity.

The ONE thing that bothers me most about (most) Conservatives/Republicans is their lack of empathy UNTIL it effects them personally.

If that ONE trait didn't exist in them, I have a feeling we would have a lot of liberal converts.

I don't watch news but I saw a clip of Mitch McConnell speaking at a podium to a crowd of reporters back when Obama was president. He said, "I was proud to shake president Obama's hand and tell him we would never confirm his candidates for supreme court".

Then at Brett's hearing, after they announced Ford and Kavanaugh would both testify he told the press he didn't care what she said, he was going to be confirmed and all the rest was a waste of his time.

The hypocrisy shown by the republicans in office irratates me. The way they violate the Constitution irratates me. If half of the country doesn't care about the Constitution or the laws then why don't we just dump it all and rewrite it. If they have no problem violating the Constitution then they can't cry when democrats do it.