Is there any common ground?

I remember a time when people of different backgrounds could come together and do some mutual backscratching for the better good. Now we are in gridlock.

Hard-liners on the right will rail against that idea. They will say that they won, and that it's their time. And they will win some battles, and lose others, until the inevitable backlash.

Hard-liners on the left will say that the election was decided by a few thousand voters in a few key states. They will continue to point to the popular vote vs. the electoral college vote. They will continue to march and protest, just as the Tea Party marched and protested. These are, after all, our fundamental human rights, and I believe that they should be respected, regardless of the context.

The reality is that "now" is a moving target. It tends to move in cycles, and the current cycle tends to move us in a certain direction, whether or not that's what we intended. Time will tell, not bellicose voices from either extreme.

I believe that we are on a course to our destiny. We can choose to move things toward the left or toward the right. The left has lost its way, and tends to move things toward the middle. The right has also lost its way, and tends to just shut down the engines. And so we've lost our steering linkages and our forward thrust.

I believe in progress, because it's the only thing that can keep us from stalling out and going into a downward spiral. I don't particularly care where it comes from. But I do care that both sides participate.

I tend to dislike the Donald for various reasons. But I will give him the benefit of the doubt. America is more diverse than it took for him to get elected.

I wonder if it might be possible for us to find ways to disagree while maintaining mutual respect, and to listen and learn. There is no one right and wrong.

We all want to improve on the current circumstances, and if we wish to accomplish this, maybe it would help to listen as much as we talk.

Please refrain from attacking others in this thread. Ad hominem attacks are the lowest of the low. But if you've done this in other threads, you are still welcome here. I would just prefer that it not occur here, if you would be so kind.

A common ground? Yew best axsk an 'lectrishun 'bout that.

A common ground? Yew best axsk an 'lectrishun 'bout that. Originally Posted by David.Douchehurst

ROFLMAO!!! I'm honored to get a reply from the Douche. Thank you for weighing in on these weighty matters.

Peace follows victory. The left has been severely defeated. Common ground is sought when there are stalemates.

Peace follows victory. The left has been severely defeated. Common ground is sought when there are stalemates. Originally Posted by Zhivago52

As was the right 8 years ago. And pride and hubris brought down the Dems control of the levers of power as they governed, and it is almost inevitable that it will happen to the GOP. The current victors have 2 years to fully govern and if they don't successfully govern they will be punished by an electorate that mainly just wants the country's problems to be solved.

The extremes of both parties need to realize that neither party has a commanding majority of Americans on their side. Also, neither party has a monopoly on good ideas nor has each party's actions not royally fucked up the country in one way or another.

At this point, I trust neither party, as they both have some very negative tendencies in various policy areas so as to appeal to their hard core base. IMO, if every House seat was no longer so gerrymandered as to be either a permanently safe red or blue seat, we would get more pragmatic centrists (whether center-right or center-left).

Finally, I did not vote for Trump (nor Hillary), but I wish him success, as I have done with all of his predecessors since I started voting (way back in the 1980 elections). If our President, whomever that may be at the time, is successful, then there is a good chance our country is moving forward in solving its challenges. It may take protests by citizenry or push back from congressional leaders and COMPROMISE to assist in making successful policy, but that's what a democracy does.

I know the GOP is focused on immigration/refugees, what bathrooms people should go to, eliminating sanctuary cities and exploding crime rates, but I'd REALLY like to see their proposals to fix:
- Social Security and Medicare solvency
- Healthcare << rumors are they are working on this
- Income inequality / wage stagnation
- Un(der)funded pension liabilities in corporations, state and local gov't
- Gerrymanderying of Congressional districts (fix this, and you probably don't need to impose federal term limits)

I'm waiting, eagerly, if not a bit impatiently.

Those who talk about the GOP losing congress in 2018 maay not understand what they're up against.

The house was so heavily redistricted by the GOP state legislatures that there's little chance it flips so it's not even worth discussing.

That moves us to the senate. The GOP pulled off a miracle of miracle and retained the senate this year. It was almost as shocking as Trump winning. And now the democrats will be defending 25 seats in 2018 as opposed to 8 for the GOP. Even under years where democrats have momentum these odds are terrible. And it gets worse. 10 of the 25 democrats up for election are in states that Trump won. Only 1 republican is up for election in a state Hillary won.

So the math is terrible. And the democrats think they are going to overcome the math in states like West Virginia, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, etc. by running on a campaign of more rights for refugees, black lives matter, denying energy deregulation, and others?

We all know math is hard. But it's also black and white.

Those who talk about the GOP losing congress in 2018 maay not understand what they're up against. Originally Posted by Zhivago52

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?

And pride and hubris brought down the Dems control of the levers of power as they governed, and it is almost inevitable that it will happen to the GOP. Originally Posted by EagleEye

Very true. Obama was tapped for the presidency because he didn't have a lengthy voting record in Congress to defend. The other side of that coin was his inexperience making deals in Congress, compared to say LBJ who knew where all the bodies were buried.

Obama might have found common ground with the opposition if he hadn't burned too many bridges. Yes, elections have consequences, but so does every other decision on every other day of the year.

Trump has even less experience getting things done in Washington, and that was one of his selling points. It could also be his downfall, just as it was for Obama.

Time will tell. Maybe he'll learn to tone down his bull in the china shop approach.

Emotions are still too high but eventually common ground will get sought. Very few politicians will want to deal with seeking reelection running on a platform of "Look.. We stopped anything from happening".

For 8 years many people ripped Obama apart on every decision, or non-decision made. Trump gets elected and those same people are saying "It's time to come together." Like the OP, I tend to dislike Trump for several reasons, but I am going to not criticize him at this point in time. Let's sit back and see what kind of job he does while in office. He is different. Sometimes different is good, sometimes bad. Trump has made many promises to the American people and now is the time for action to fulfill those promises:

Balance the budget
Income tax reform
Defeat ISIS
Repeal ObamaCare (although I am not totally in favor of this; rewrite, yes)
Build the wall at no cost to the citizens of this country
Deport illegal immigrants who are criminals
Term limits
Make trade agreements more in the favor of the U.S.
Create new jobs
Indict Hillary Clinton

The list goes on and on. I think everyone should give Trump a fair chance of fulfilling those promises. I personally do not expect him to be 100% successful since his own party disagrees with him on some of his goals, but he should be able to have quite a bit of success.

And one suggestion for President Trump -- STOP TWEETING. It really belittles the position of POTUS.

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

Agreed. However, in today's alternative facts environment, it MUST be a zero-sum game.

There is no good or bad. No common ground. Only winning and losing.

Just like President Bannon wants it.

The two biggest winner are SNL and Alec Baldwin. Funny stuff.

Peace follows victory. The left has been severely defeated. Common ground is sought when there are stalemates. Originally Posted by Zhivago52

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.

Pick Elizabeth Warren,Rider---you know you want too--don't be shy now--Bwahahahahaha--Elizabeth Warren will be why there probably will not be any middle ground. Elizabeth is eyeing that 2020 race - oh boy - I hope she runs. Can you see the south or rural America voting for her?? Oh hell no - they can't stand her. But that is the face of the democratic party - oh boy- can't wait till 2020. And you will lose again Rider, bwahahahahaha.

Agreed. However, in today's alternative facts environment, it MUST be a zero-sum game.

There is no good or bad. No common ground. Only winning and losing.

Just like President Bannon wants it. Originally Posted by Yssup Rider

Pick Elizabeth Warren,Rider---you know you want too--don't be shy now--Bwahahahahaha--Elizabeth Warren will be why there probably will not be any middle ground. Elizabeth is eyeing that 2020 race - oh boy - I hope she runs. Can you see the south or rural America voting for her?? Oh hell no - they can't stand her. But that is the face of the democratic party - oh boy- can't wait till 2020. And you will lose again Rider, bwahahahahaha. Originally Posted by Austin Ellen

You still don't get it, do you, granny?

Twitler and his destructive Turd Reich may not last the first 100 days.

Flynn is just the beginning.

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.

Twitler will not survive.

In fact, his deer in the headlights ass should do us all a favor and step down before it gets REALLY ugly.