What is the cause of polarization in American politics today!

        Polarization in politics refers to the divergence of political attitudes ideological extremes. Most discussions about polarization refer to political parties and Democratic systems of government. Typically polarization results in moderate voices being silenced. The extremes in both parties take the lead, which ultimately causes the same in the population. In our political climate the Right Wing extremists have demonized compromise, referring to it as weakness. the polarization in our current political climate has ground our Democracy to a halt. This in turn has hurt the middle and lower class Americans. It has damaged any attempt to fix our infrastructure or deal with anything of political significance. Hopefully i can succinctly describe the cause of polarization today.

       Gerrymandering, also known as redistricting has had a bit to do with it. when a sitting representative feels safe from the other side they tend to double down on more extremist views. This is a way to pander to a base. Gerrymandering is illegal in the United States. instead of drawing districts in lines that make sense, the districts are drawn to keep Republican districts safe by splitting up strong Democrat sectors. This has been on full display in states where Republicans are sitting in the majority or as Governors. In several states despite a Democrat winning the majority of the votes they lost the states because of the redistricting. As i said this was found to illegal many, many years ago, yet still happens.

           Lobbying is another humongous cause.  The Sunshine Rules which came into being after Watergate created more transparency in committee meetings and recorded votes, also opened them up to special interest groups and lobb
yist. Which made it easier to figure out which Congressman were on the fence and needed a little push. This truly opened our Democracy up to the oligarchy our government has become. A perfect example of this phenomenon is when President Obama and Congress (Democrats) started working on the ACA. In the first week about 300 lobbyist from the health insurance industry descended on D.C. Look at who received these donations, it is public record, and you will understand the incredible disinformation about the ACA. Then throw the Citizen’s United decision into the mix and everything spins completely out of control. If anyone tells you that decision didn’t effect our Democracy is either lying or lives in a box. The candidate who raises  the most money wins 94% of the time. Obviously money has a very large effect on our Democracy.

          Last but not least, the Media has pushed our representatives farther left or right. As a Liberal I wholeheartedly believe it is more Conservative media then Liberal media pushing the extremism. I watch both  sides and identify with little, if any thing the Conservative media says or believes. Republican Darrell Issa, who I personally believe is a disgrace to his

When did radio and T.V. personalities begin to be political players?

           In my area we do not have a progressive radio station. Everything talk radio is conservative. So I listen just to see what the other side thinks and why they think it. Usually it takes me about 2 minutes before I begin talking to the radio. Many people look at these shows as the news, they are NOT. They are opinion shows with an agenda. Same fact is portrayed 9 different ways on each show.

Rush Limbaugh is convinced that he is the most important player in Republican politics. Yes, he is probably the most widely listened to talk host on radio, but 96% of what he says are outright lies or twisted into his version of the truth. He even said he banned all MSNBC from his show. He is a known bigot, a known misogynist and yet people take his word as gospel. Howard Dean made the mistake of mentioning him in his presidential campaign, playing right into Limbaugh’s narcissistic ego. Why do members if the Republican party let him effect their decisions? He is an entertainer.

Then you have Hannity, Beck, Ingrahm, O’Reilly and all the other conspiracy nuts. They preach hate of President Obama about things that aren’t true. He is not an American citizens, patently untrue. In fact Ted Cruz was born in Canada, but because he is Republican it is ok. They attack the President on Benghazi, while failing to mention that the GOP falsified documents. They lie about the ACA, his agenda, his budget, how Food Stamps are killing America, but never mention that Corporate Welfare dwarfs traditional welfare.

Many people cannot put into words why they hate President Obama. I will do it for you. You dislike him because he is not white. People hate the ACA, but under another name they like everything the ACA provides, but hate it again when they find out it is Obamacare. The middle class and poor should at least respect him, but there is outright hate. Radio personalities give lies to inflame that hate. When presented with the truth, they blow it off and move on to the next lie. It is a machine of hate created to enforce a system of Corporate Feudalism.

I am sure Republicans look at Maddow, Shultz and Mathews the same way. But the lies are not there in most cases and they are not inflaming hate. They are not perfect and do a lot of things I don’t agree with, but they are different monsters than the GOP machine. These hosts do not effect the actions of the Democrat party. These people are entertainers putting their own spin on the news. They are not political players.

Rand Paul’s blatant lie about stance on Civil Rights Act.

            During a recent appearence at Howard huiUniversity, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky) made misleading claims about his past support for the 1964 Civil Rights Act. He said, ” I’very never wavered in my support for civil rights or the Civil Rights Act. The dispute, if there is one, has always been about how much of a remedy should come under federal or state or private purview.” But that is completely untrue. During a 2010 interview with Rachel Narrow, then Senate candidate Paul came under fire for a series of comments he made criticizing the Civil Eights Act.

                When asked if he would have voted for the Civil Rights Act, Paul responded ” I like the Civil Rights Act in the sense in ended discrimination in all public domains. I am in favor of that.” The interviewer said But? Paul responded ” You had to ask but. I don’t like the idea of telling private business owners- I abhor racism l. I think its bad business to ever exclude anybody from your resturant, but at the same time, u do believe in private ownership. But I think there should be absolutely no discrimination in anything that gets public funding. That’s what most of the Civil Rights Act was about to my mind.”

                   When Maddow pressed Paul on the issue, he said he agreed with most parts of the Civil Rights Act. But that get opposed Title II, the section that made it a crime for private businesses to discriminate against customers on the basis of race. Paul said he would have tried to change the bill if he was in office at the time. Senator Paul has never reappeared on the Rachel Maddow Show, saying it was a political mistake.

                 Paul devoted almost none of his speech at the historically black college to explaining the GOPs on again, off again relationship with African American voters over the last 50 years. He spent most of the speech arguing that Republicans have always been the party of civil rights. His lecture focused mostly on the period before 1964. This is when the GOP began championing the States rights arguements of the southern whites. Paul repeatedly reminded the audience that Democrats passed Jim Crow laws in the south and that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican. Also illustrating that the first black legislators and the founders of the NAACP were Republicans.

          Paul also had a bit of an awkward time reaching out to Latino voters in a speech at the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce last month. This was only a day after the GOP released it s “autopsy report” recommending that they need to do better with minorities. He had a moment like this at Howard Uniblversity as well. When hectried to call out the crowd for not knowing enough about black history.

              I believe that you either support something or you dont. I don’t know if abortion would very right for me, but I am a man and it is their right to choose, so I support their right. But Senator Paul’s issue is emblamatic of the Republican partys problem. They say what they mean and then hope people forget they said it. They seem to forget about Google and Binge. Your comments are only a few keystrokes away.

                 

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When I hear you speak……… 2

             When I hear Elizabeth Warren speak I am elated to know we have an intelkegent passionate Senator who will attack the banks. I think she will attack any wrong doer with facts and intellegent solutions. She asks for answers and is not satisfied until she gets them. But at the same time she does not treat a person telling the truth, good or bad like an idiot.

            When I hear Mike Lee speak it makes me question how he got into government. He obviously only believes in the parts of the Constitution that work with his agenda. He believes in nullification which is unconstitutional yet says he is a protector of the document. I wonder which psych ward opened its doors and let him out.

             When I hear Bill Clinton speak I immeadiatly think of Monica Lewinsky. I realize he is a good man and an excelkent president but this is what I think of. I also think that he seems like a good egg I would like to share a couple beers with.

             When I hear Michelle Bachman speak I shake my head. This is another case of who let the loon out of her cage. She says some awfully outlandish things. It scares me to think that she was in the running for president. Seriously what assclowns supported that terrible idea.

             When I hear Mitt Romney speak I am glad I dont have to hear him very often. He may have been a good governor, but he was a hortible presidential candidate. It really doesnt say much for a party when this robot is your candidate. Sorry Mitt, but enjoy your lifetime siesta.

              When I hear Sarah Palin speak I stop listening. She is very hard on the ears.

              When I hear Rush Limbaugh speak I cant decide exactly how he makes me feel. It is a mixture of rage, sickness and pity. Rage because truth does not have a place on his show. Sick because some of the things he says are incredibly offensive, even to me. Pity because he has so many fools believing his crap.

                When I hear Rachel Maddow speak I am impressed. She has her staff on point doing the research and always has a factual answer. She is very sensible and sides with the intellegent and correct side of the debate. She seems unflappable, but of course she is a host and not in government. She is universally hated by conservatives, Tea Party member and Republicans. You go girl.

              This the second one if these. I enjoy this and encourage anyone who reads this to please give your input. If you have anyone you want here, let me know. Thank you.

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91% of people support background checks, why arent they passed?

             Today a committee on congress voted on universal background checks to buy guns. There were 18 votes, 10 for Democrats and 8 Republicans. The vote was 10 to 8 down party lines. Not 1 Republican voted for an issue that 91% of Americans support. To quote Rachel Maddow “How does this end for Republucans?”

             This is another case of the people speaking and the Republican party not listening. Again they side with the minority of voters. Again they tell the American people that they, the Republicans, have a better idea and the people should just let them do it. Again they insult the intellegence of the American people. Will they tell us down the line that they supported background checks like they supported VAWA, although none of them voted for it.

            The American people speak the GOP says no, we know better. Then they complain that President Obama doesnt work with them. Get over yourselves! You ignore our voices, try to rob us of our Democratic right to vote, tell us it us good for us when it hurts a good many of us and roll out the same things with different names, how do you expect us to support you. I am a liberal, but I will support a good idea that is for the people not a small portion of the people. Remember the NRA may give you money, but only votes can give you a government office.

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Tweet from Tomthunkit (@Tomthunkit)

Tomthunkit (@Tomthunkit) tweeted at 8:50 PM on Thu, Mar 07, 2013:
Watch Maddow On GOP Sequester Trick To Reverse Defense Cuts: http://t.co/5vLLKCsFFA #UniteBlue
(https://twitter.com/Tomthunkit/status/309843434758340608)

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