Are American politics turning violent??

[volinbham]

Do you really believe that? I think we are reaching a point where those who actually "believe" in a political ideology in America fall into two, almost mutually exclusive camps. There are degrees on either side but you can't have a country that is both free and controlled. You can't have a country where people have free conscience and one where gov't sees itself as having the decisive role in producing "social justice" and ending "discrimination" of all types.

You cannot have the gov't our Constitution establishes and the one the Progressives have been building for the last century while largely circumventing the Constitution.

I believe we are very, very close to a point of irreconcilable differences.... and in need of a divorce.

I don't see it that way.

I think there are fewer progressives than we are led to believe. We just happen to be at a point in our history where progressives control the WH and the Congress continues to be made up of opportunists.

It's pretty amazing how many of the formerly liberal people I know are now describing themselves as conservative liberals. Big government is showing it's flaws more than ever and I think the majority of the country sees it.

As for reconciliation, the new media model (brought to us by CNN first and now perfected by Fox) is one that presents the public with entrenched views from different sides yelling at each other. Like big govt., I think this news media model is showing it's weakness too.

My sense is that most of the country is fiscally conservative/moderate and socially moderate. Any Republican resurgence we see among the middle (Independents) is a result of big govt. excesses by Dems and Reps keeping quiet about social issues.

I still believe a Rudy Guiliani (without the baggage) or Christie style politician could appeal to a wide (60+%) swath of the population and the extremists on either end could go F-themselves

 

[sjt18]

I wouldn't vote for Guiliani. He likes and firmly believes in the power of gov't. I do not believe either he or Romney would govern as a fiscal conservative. Most GOP Presidents in my lifetime have moved to the left in office. Reagan is the lone exception.

PS- I edited some things after your response. I'd be interested in your ideas.

 

[volinbham]

Note: Somewhere around 10-25% will go where the political winds blow them but really don't have a firm political ideal that they have thought through. We would all be better off if they chose not to vote. In one election they will vote against the Republicans for "cutting" social programs and then in the next they'll vote against Dems for running up deficits and growing gov't. This is why every kid needs a whole year on the US Constitution in HS to include studying the debates and issues in their contexts... which of course the leftist in control of the education establishment will never allow. They preach tolerance and understanding for Hamas but demonize our Founders.

I don't disagree with the fickleness of some voters.

I do think civics and understanding our Constitution is a good idea. Not sure the best time to present it though. I had Civics in 9th grade but I don't recall much real depth to the course on the issues you mentioned.

 

[sjt18]

There probably wasn't any. If we added this as mandatory to the curriculum then the left would want to concentrate on the USC as defined by Court decisions since the Civil War. That would be counterproductive. Kids need to know that the fundamental issues 230 years ago weren't all that different from today.

What constitutes a person? Then they erroneously counted women and minorities as something "less" than a legal person. Today the left refuses to recognize an unborn child as a person with the extremists holding that up to the moment of birth.

They discussed the role of gov't in shaping public morality, charity, education, and a host of other things we debate today.

 

[BeecherVol]

I don't disagree with the fickleness of some voters.

I do think civics and understanding our Constitution is a good idea. Not sure the best time to present it though. I had Civics in 9th grade but I don't recall much real depth to the course on the issues you mentioned.

If you had a football coach like I did for Civics class, you didn't very deep into much.

 

[volinbham]

If you had a football coach like I did for Civics class, you didn't very deep into much.

Track coach IIRC. I did learn some Robert's Rules of Order and was briefly Speaker of the House. I was brutal with a Point of Parliamentary Procedure

 

[BeecherVol]

We knew if we were goin spread, or I formation that week.

 

[IPorange]

I had an old lady. We watched "Double Jeopardy" with Ashley Judd while learning about constitutional double jeopardy.

Awesome.