Is there any common ground?

I don't know about that. Yes the Left is in retreat, but it's still a large force and can spring back if they had the right leaders. If an effective person came forward to lead them they would be back on top again. The margins which give us on the Right our current position are slight. Originally Posted by pussycat

Nope. The "left" is the vast majority of this country.

Give or take 3-5 million illegal voters, heh heh.

Nope. The "left" is the vast majority of this country.

Give or take 3-5 million illegal voters, heh heh. Originally Posted by Yssup Rider

"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." - George Orwell, Animal Farm

Wait until Ben Carson or Betsy DeVos or Rick Perry unwittingly (or wittingly ... naw, impossible) does something on President Bannon's behalf that totally unravels the fabric of our society. Originally Posted by Yssup Rider

Did you just say "something... that totally unravels the fabric of our society"?

George Soros will pay you to do that, oinkboy!

Did you have fun in Berkeley?

Did you have fun in Berkeley? Originally Posted by lustylad

A lot of people malign Berkeley, but it's the home of the Center for Right Wing Studies, has a college Republicans society and some well-regarded conservative poli-sci professors.

The right wing - conveniently discarding information that doesn't fit into their preconceived patterns, from sea to shining sea.

And just across the Bay - which is still pretty darn lefty-ish, although not nearly as much as Berkeley - sits the Hoover Institution at Stanford. One of the handful of places that provides the intellectual underpinnings for many conservative public policy ideas.

Nope. The "left" is the vast majority of this country. Originally Posted by Yssup Rider

Then, why have they lost more than 1000 seats in government over the past 8 years making them the minority in all but 5 states?

A lot of people malign Berkeley, but it's the home of the Center for Right Wing Studies, has a college Republicans society and some well-regarded conservative poli-sci professors.

The right wing - conveniently discarding information that doesn't fit into their preconceived patterns, from sea to shining sea. Originally Posted by Dev Null

I wasn't maligning Berkeley. Great city, beautiful campus. In case you didn't notice, it was also the location of violent street riots two weeks ago by assup's favorite "black bloc" anarchists trying to squelch free speech (ironically, at the birthplace of the free speech movement) and "unravel the fabric of our society".

Then, why have they lost more than 1000 seats in government over the past 8 years making them the minority in all but 5 states? Originally Posted by gfejunkie

That is not an entirely accurate statement. The Donkeys only have full control of both houses in 5 state legislatures. The GOP has full control in 24 of those. The others are split control (each party controlling one house).

Many independent observers attribute much of this to Obama's abysmal approvals in 2010 (a redistricting year), as well as solidifying their near stranglehold on the South.

The GOP has done a very good job of responding when they were booted out in the cold following Dubya's time. However, governing has a way of antagonizing the electorate when they try to make progress.

Net/net: the rightists should savor the victory, but they shouldn't be deluded into thinking this is permanent. They will, like either party in power, lose badly in downstream elections. Whether it is in 2, 4, 6 or 8 years, will depend on how well they govern to the non-hardcore right wingers. They are the voters who swing elections.

I read "why can't we find common ground": as meaning: Why can't we govern for ALL the people regardless of which political party is in power? Why do people view this as if it's a sporting event instead of working collectively to shape our future? Originally Posted by Cap'n Crunch

Look at what's happening in Europe because it's the same thing as here. The agenda of the Left here and there has resulted in exporting jobs and accepting hoards of third world immigrants which have spawned horrific waves of drug dealing, rapes, and property crimes. Overall in America crime has declined in the past thirty years, BUT immigrants from the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Jamaca, Russia, and other THIRD WORLD countries are the communities responsible for the explosion in drug use AND the other crimes resulting thereof.
If it were not for these immigrants and the drug problems they've created our crime rates would be even much lower than they are, DESPITE the fact that overall crime is down.

But in Europe the Far Right is surging, just as BREXIT and Trump are successes also. This is because the agenda of the Left has resulted in these twin harms of crime and unemployment, and common, ordinary people are reacting.

But the basic problem with the rancor of the present time is that the Left, both here and in Europe, doesn't view these differences as disagreements over politics or policy.

To the Left they view those maintaining traditional values or policies as part of a horrendous past of Patriarchy, Oppression of Women, Gays, and all Minorities.

To the Left the past was a horror of tobacco smoking, alcohol drinking, homophobic, racist and sexist white male knuckledraggers who oppressed everyone else and the last years has seen social "progress" in repressing their power and displacing their IMMORAL views and behaviors.

To the Left these are matters of basic moral values, or ultimate right versus ultimate wrong.

So if you disagree with them in their minds you are an evildoer, a fascist who must be silenced. If they don't silence you then you will attract other like minded followers and the next step will be that you will take over the levers of power and reverse all the social gains of the last few years.

And then you'll instigate a "genocide" against everyone else.

This is why they are so passionate.

I disagree with them but I respect their sincerity. I understand that they honestly think they are doing the right thing.

But they will never accept that I also am trying to do the right thing.

And that's where the problem lies.

Look at what's happening in Europe because it's the same thing as here. The agenda of the Left here and there has resulted in exporting jobs and accepting hoards of third world immigrants which have spawned horrific waves of drug dealing, rapes, and property crimes. Overall in America crime has declined in the past thirty years, BUT immigrants from the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Jamaca, Russia, and other THIRD WORLD countries are the communities responsible for the explosion in drug use AND the other crimes resulting thereof.
If it were not for these immigrants and the drug problems they've created our crime rates would be even much lower than they are, DESPITE the fact that overall crime is down. Originally Posted by pussycat

I am not sure the Left can be blamed for exporting jobs. A lot of that has to do with the growth in free trade agreements, as well as "short termism" in executive compensation plans that are tied to short term stock price performance, that led to large scale outsourcing agreements, lean mfg, etc. to pump up financial results to boost share price. These happened with the acquiescence or active support of both parties.

And your drug explosion issue is questionable. Sure coke is flowing via LatAm like it has for 40+ years. The meth and opioid epidemics - which are likely faster growing and causing the greatest recent impact - are largely domestically driven (although the Chinese and other Asian and not LatAm countries are primary sources for illicit opioids).

I am not sure the Left can be blamed for exporting jobs. A lot of that has to do with the growth in free trade agreements, as well as "short termism" in executive compensation plans that are tied to short term stock price performance, that led to large scale outsourcing agreements, lean mfg, etc. to pump up financial results to boost share price. These happened with the acquiescence or active support of both parties.

And your drug explosion issue is questionable. Sure coke is flowing via LatAm like it has for 40+ years. The meth and opioid epidemics - which are likely faster growing and causing the greatest recent impact - are largely domestically driven (although the Chinese and other Asian and not LatAm countries are primary sources for illicit opioids). Originally Posted by EagleEye

Very well said. Pussycat has been known to ramble and this was one of his worst. Simply no FACTS to back up anything he said. But that has not stopped him before.

Did you just say "something... that totally unravels the fabric of our society"?

George Soros will pay you to do that, oinkboy!

Did you have fun in Berkeley?

Originally Posted by lustylad

TROLL

TROLL Originally Posted by Yssup Rider

Faggot!

Name calling, trolling and WKing for the Pissburg bois.

At least he isn't stalking anybody in the review forums... NOT!

Great post, JL!

Nope. The "left" is the vast majority of this country.

Give or take 3-5 million illegal voters, heh heh. Originally Posted by Yssup Rider

I beg to differ. The Left is in retreat on all fronts. The Democrats have lost most state governments as well as the U.S. Congress and Presidency.
It's a full blown rout.

The Left has no leaders. Sanders is an honest man but he's a socialist. Personally I admire Sander's integrity, his opposition to wars and to free trade. But he wants a cradle to grave nanny state and for America to take in millions of third world peasants into our country because he believes their own countries are unfit for any human to live in.

Most Americans don't share his beliefs.