Comments on: Good Guy/Bad Guy Politics

By: antifolkhero

antifolkhero — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 16:43:42 +0000

Haha, the line about America not being the greatest country in the world is definitely open to dispute. I say it more because its a solemnly believed fact by Americans than because I believe we somehow are a “greater” than other nations. In fact, we are delusional, self-indulgent and negligent of our responsibilities to the rest of the planet and even to our own citizens. I’m glad you read some of my articles and got something out of them. They were written mainly from my own frustration with partisan politics and the business of money for legislation that dominates our corporate culture. Corruption currently runs down to the very heart and soul of the United States, but I firmly believe that with respectful dialogue we can resolve our differences and work together to make the world a better place. Call me an optimist.

By: Rob Moore

Rob Moore — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 16:33:25 +0000

Thanks for your kind comment on my blog. Curious as to who had left it, I came here and started to read. In another article you wrote, that Newt politico sounds a pretty ugly kind of hypocrite.

Splitting hairs or not, I regret to take issue with the following:

“In the end, we have to remember that we are all Americans before we are Democrats or Republicans, and if we want America to remain the greatest country in the world, we need to take each other seriously and place a higher value on cooperation.”

We are not all American, we are people. And America is not the greatest country in the world. Like every other country, it’s a collection of relatively arbitrary political lines where all kinds of people live. The higher value on co-operation you write about is a global issue because there are people outside America’s borders as well as inside them.

An article about problems of political polarisation needs no narrowing down to two political labels, or even one country. It’s everywhere, and often enough, such polarisation is motivated by non-benevolent, self-interested power hungry individuals.

Thanks for the informative perspective, nonetheless. It got me thinking, and typing. I do not think your article was centrist. Perhaps a little more like (what perhaps ought to be) common sense.

By: antifolkhero

antifolkhero — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 17:52:39 +0000

I completely agree with you. I think that not taking a firm stand is precisely why our politicians are so inefficient right now. They’re surrounded by marketing people who tell them what the most popular opinions to take at a particular moment are. If you think back to Winston Churchill, regarded as one of the greatest leaders of Great Britain, he was the only person in their government who demanded that Hitler be stopped by force. After years of saying this and being ignored, suddenly Britain is being bombed by the Nazis from France. He came back, helped keep Britain strong and they won the war (with a little help from their friends). No more posturing! Stand up for what you believe in.

By: arclightzero

arclightzero — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 17:21:34 +0000

One argument that I will present is that you cannot appease everybody. In my opinion, it’s the centerist movement that has muddled up politics and has created some of our biggest problems. Politicians need to be firm on their issues and stances in order to be taken seriously or regard. This wishy-washy, flip floping thing that politicians on both sides of the line is doing more harm than good. How can you take a poitician seriously when they say one thing and do another? Or say one thing, then say somethign contrary? Both Republicans and Democrats are doing it right now, and it’s weakening the American political structure. I don’t think we need good guy/bad guy views, but we definately need some stricter stances on the part of the politicians. Trying to make everybody happy just dosn’t work. You will always end up pissing off somebody no matter what you do, however backtracking and flip floping ends up pissing off everybody.