RE: Which political party do you support and why?
January 17, 2012 at 10:27 pm
(This post was last modified: January 17, 2012 at 10:30 pm by Whateverist.)
(January 17, 2012 at 7:05 pm)JohnDG Wrote: None, I vote third party always because both Republicans and Democrats are greedy corrupt soul-less cowards who spend all their time trying to bring their opposition down and completely ignore all the problems we have.
There is much wrong with the US political system which is institutional. I agree that not looking past the next election cycle is a big part of the problem. The way each one tries to hamstring the other when they're in power makes accountability nearly impossible. The two big parties have lots in common but they are different in at least three important ways.
Most importantly the republicans are the whores of the 1%. Like W told his audience at a big fundraiser: "Some people call you the financial elite. I call you my base." If you're not part of Bush's base then the repubs don't give a damn about you. Their message to you is "pull a little harder on those bootstraps and you just might pull yourself up by them".
The republicans are also the party of backward conservative social values. No gay marriage or other rights. Bring the church back into the schools and government. Squelch planned parenthood and block safe abortion access.
They are also the more hawkish party. Lots of military spending and unfunded international police work. They're the party of american exceptionalism and going it alone. They don't want to get bogged down in international treaties though they want other countries to abide by such agreements.
These are some pretty important differences. That doesn't mean a democrat can deliver the opposite of these things across the board. Obama realized that but his supporters don't all seem to have.
The american system is structurally built to preserve the status quo to the extent that there is very little that the president or anyone else can do 'fix it'. But what can be done, needs to be done. Incremental change is the only kind I can believe in given what I know about how our system works. I trust Obama to pull whatever slack is available in this dysfunctional system to the benifit of the 99%. I know that a republican president will do the opposite.
Incremental change in the other direction can get you ass shipped off to war. A republican in power can leave you without health insurance or public assistance when the economy goes in the tank. A supreme court packed by republicans could overturn Roe v Wade, block marriage equality, block affordable health care and further erode election finance reform.
Frankly I fear the harm a republican led government can do more than I am disappointed by how little a well motivated democratic government has been able to do. It really does make a difference and if you have your eyes open you should try to avoid this happening. Vote Democratic because we need an adult in office who isn't a fundie.
