I'm not talking about the fringes of either side. I'm talking about people who support the left and are progressive Democrats and people who support the right and were both Bush supporters and have fallen in line with Trump. 1. The left sees mobs like those at Charlottesville who actually murdered someone and injured more in the attempt. They see the leader of the right cheering a violent criminal lawmaker who broke the law and thousands cheering for it. They see the president talking about wanting to see opponents violently attacked and crowds cheering. Yet still they don't believe that everybody on the right is a violent thug mob mentality goon. They believe those folks exist and don't understand why others would tolerate it, but on the whole, they believe the majority are not part of that mob. The right sees clips of a tiny minority of demonstrations acting out in disruptive or violent behavior and attaches that behavior to everyone on the left. Why the difference? 2. The left realizes that there are those that support Trump and actively think supporting Russia is better than being an American liberal but they don't believe that everyone on the right feels that way. They wonder why the right accepts that behavior. The left can't understand why the right accuses the left of wanting to start wars when they advocate holding foreign powers accountable for transgressions against our United States. The right believes that people on the left want open borders and wish to bow down to foreign powers. The right believes that advocating action against foreign adversaries like Russia, China, and others is wishing for war? There are other differences, and I'm sure those on the right will disagree with how I've characterized their beliefs. I can point to people on this board who have posted the exact things I've mentioned. Nobody else on the right tried to challenge that to my knowledge. In a way, I believe the differences are responsible for many Republican victories. The left is more easygoing and doesn't think the differences are a life or death matter. So they don't always show up to vote. The right believes the America they love is under attack and will turn out to vote based on that fear. Whether you agree with my characterizations or not, it seems pretty clear the right demonizes and generalizes everyone on the left whereas the left doesn't do that to the same extent as those on the right.
I respectfully disagree on both points. I do think that the mainstream media would agree with your analysis. The majority of both sides are not lunatics. We know this. I am beginning to believe that there are many liberals who are down with open borders. Not the majority, but quite a few nonetheless. I also believe that the majority of liberals dont agree with the tactics that leaders like pelosi and waters advocate but they understand why they are pushed to it. I think that many of the left thinks that trump and his supporters are racists but it is not true. I also think that those same folks believe that trump does not act in the best interest of the USA. That is also false. I know I will be slammed for these thoughts but I wont hold that against anyone. It is just the world that we live in currently. Everyone wants to argue and put people down. I look forward to the day that we can joke around more rather than insult. I dont agree with everything that the president does but I think we will be fine. I think we could be even better if we just got along more often.
I appreciate your post. I would like to agree with you, and I honestly hope that I am wrong. Trump supporters and conservatives I know that are not Trump supporters and I never have the kinds of dehumanization crap I see on television, hear on the radio, or read about in this bbs, or Facebook. I think not actually interacting with people is part of the problem. It's easy to paint a picture to words or non-personalized image on a screen. It is different when you know the person and other aspects about the person. I don't think all of Trump's supporters are racist. That's the point. I do believe Trump caters to racists and he has supporters that are racists. I don't believe they all are that way. I don't know if Trump is a racist or not. I do know he has said racist things and carried out racist actions. More importantly, Trump could end 80% of the speculation about his racism if he'd simply do a few things. 1. Don't act like the white supremacists and those opposing them are equal. They aren't. 2. Simply say loud and clear that Trump doesn't welcome racist supporters. He should say, "If you support any kind of white nationalism, white supremacy, and racism please don't vote for me, don't come to my rallies, don't wear apparel with my logos. I don't think like you, don't support the ideas that you hold, and don't welcome anyone with those beliefs among my supporters. I'm sorry if you ever felt like anything I've done has led you to believe you'd be welcome as a Trump supporter. You aren't. I don't stand for that. 3. Criticize Republican efforts aimed at limiting the vote of minorities. If he would do those 3 things repeatedly without subsequent contradictory speeches, most of the racism charges would fade. At least some of the supporters that are racist would also fade. I agree that we should get along more often. I think it's harder to do when one side is accusing the other of being a mob, attacking the FBI as a partisan tool simply because it is doing its job etc. I honestly have no problem when people disagree with me on these boards, in real life, or anywhere else regarding the issues. I think it is healthy to have different ideas for what is best for the United States. I do have a problem when people would rather not defend the United States when those taking action against our country are doing things that help their political side. I don't discuss politics on Facebook because the medium isn't one for allowing a real debate. I do see feeds from friends and family on both the left and the right. I rarely discuss politics with people in real life except with family and close friends because we can accept differences and don't demonize each other when we have a political disagreement. Occasionally I will engage someone in policy discussions. But mostly I'd rather have fun, and I do. In agreement with you about getting along and joking around more, the less demonization of one another people do, the better chance we have of succeeding in that goal.
I kind of disagree. I think both sides tend to paint with a broad brush when it comes to portraying the other side as guilty/complicit degenerates.
I guess that's fair. Since I'm firmly on one side I certainly wouldn't be as aware of the attacks against the other. From my perspective, it happens from one side far more than the other. I'm probably happy when people disagree because I would certainly hope it wasn't true.
one side is a bunch of obnoxious misguided college kids who are being disrespectful. The other is old white men with guns and bombs, with rhetoric and phrases that openly say that are going to kill someone. And when its racially motivated you get the Dylan Roofs
I'll say this again for the umpteenth time: 30+ years ago, the right tended to be more logical and the left was more about passion without reason. Liberals would assassinate the character and motives of conservatives and played off resentment more than the other way around. Beginning with right-wing radio, the tide began to turn and it flipped during the W administration after the Iraq invasion. The last 2 years, Trump has made character assassination and ignorant rhetoric something to be proud of. Many conservatives today sound like dumb rocks compared to what they argued in the past. I have no home in this political environment. Seems like both sides become more revolting by the day.
I think both sides are a lot more alike than they want to believe. Both will do whatever it takes to get (or keep) power to the extent they will become hypocrites to do so and yet deny it the entire time as part of the coping process. Call it the "ends justify the means" effect. The rest of the above in this thread is just BS. Well intentioned bs to be sure....but bs.
Oh that's the good uncut bothsideism ****. Yes, 30 years ago, in 1988 Democrats were renowned for having no policy ideas when they tried to install flaming populist demagogue Michael Dukakis as President with a succession of negative ads about Willie Horton and welfare queens, and tried to smear George Bush as a card carrying member of the ACLU. Fortunately, this didn't work and the policy-driven non-sensationalistic stylings of Lee Atwater carred the da.y If ideas that the left is pushing today like "voting rights for all" and "affordable healthcare" and "let's ****ing acknowledge facts and reality" are "more revolting by the day", you do have a home. Get your ass to your local Trump rally. Kevin Mchale is saving you a seat.
The OP opined that the difference between the Left and the Right is that the Right sees people on the Left as a monolithic mob without redeeming qualities, while the Left is more nuanced and charitable with how they view people on the Right. I responded that I don't agree with that, and both your posts in this thread essentially supports my disagreement. There are plenty of people on the Left who are disgusted without qualification with everyone who isn't on "their side". That doesn't say anything about which side has more legitimate grievances; it's just a statement that the anger and mistrust of one side against the other is mutual and not so dissimilar.
Good thoughts. I have seen a trend in those who lean right have been abandoning the party lines for this reason. What I am also finding is the hard core Liberals are becoming very vocal, belligerent and intolerant. There used to be a time when I would avoid the snarky hard line republicans who would b**** and moan about the liberals and ramble on about hypotheticals. It seems these hard core leftist have become unhinged with rage and resentment. And I am not referring to the extremist like Antifa and white supremacist. One mistake that is made is the comparison between general population and politicians. Personally I have more respect for a persons belief over a politician. There are a few good politicians on both sides, regardless of differences of beliefs. However a good bulk of politicians are generally sell outs, especially the more power given to them. I believe as a country, we really need to start taming the unhinged on both sides. These are the ones who are getting really bad candidates into office.
Both of them are funny people, someone called them ignorant. But the far Right group seems to be more dangerous for this country.
