Quote:
Originally Posted by kane
Both parties know that they benefit during election years if there is a strong culture war and it seems like they finally got what they want.
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I don't believe it's a culture war or a race war or any other specific demographic. Go back through the history of our nation and you will always find politicians trying to divide people to make it easier to get 51% of their support. Look up Gerrymandering if you aren't familiar with it, it's a very interesting lesson in how politics works and it remains as true today as it was when it first started. They don't care which issue divides us, they only care that it defines 51% of us as their built-in support.
What has changed is that we used to have Statesmen in our government, in our news media, in our classrooms and in our social circles who were able to show scumbag politicians for what they really were. When that failed we had terrible times like McCarthyism, when it worked we had periods of prosperity thanks in no small part to people like Walter Cronkite, Dwight Eisenhower and FDR. People have always disagreed on the best way to solve a problem but now they disagree on 'whether or not it benefits our party to solve a problem.'
You can look at someone like Bill Moyers on the left as a living statesman. Some would argue Jon Stewart and Colbert fit the bill. On the right people like George Will or Pat Buchanan might be included (I agreed with Buchanan about once every 30 years but I don't doubt he honestly wants what he truly believes is best for the nation). Jim Baker probably also fits the label. Those kinds of people with national prominence are very few and far between these days... which is why the Glenn Becks, Bachmans, Pelosis and Keith Olbermans of the world are getting way too much attention while the issues get almost none.
I don't dislike people I disagree with, in fact many of my best friends have very different points of view from my own. None of us doubt the other's intentions... that is what matters most, and it is what is lacking almost completely in our national discourse today.