Undoubtedly, I went overboard by implying that Liberals have always run things.

Please forgive me; the awe-inspiring accomplishments of Liberals as related in the article overwhelmed my atrophied conservative mind. My only excuse is that the blinding light of Truth revealed by the article caused me to forget myself.

How foolish a reaction to the powerful article that clearly demonstrates the greatness of Liberals and the baseness of conservatives, of course, Liberals haven't always been in control.

If they had, there would be nothing left for them to do because the World would already be a perfect place.

Sorry.

I revised my original comment to reflect the reality that Liberals have only occasionally run the show.

Thanks.

Liberals have controlled both houses of Congress in all but 16 years since WWII and the White House about 50% of the time.

That conservatives were able to destroy our nation, cause global warming, and start every foreign war in the history of our nation in such a short time is evidence of their complete and total incompetence.

I've seen the light! I will henceforth blindly obey… I will cease to think for myself and will swallow even the most obvious piece of propaganda.

HAIL KOS! HAIL KOS!

If this site reflected progressivism expressed as political strategy rather than liberal dogma perhaps we could have intelligent conversations about our POLICY differences and similarities.

However, here I have heard little progressive thought.

Instead, what is called progressive is in actuality the same old mind numbing party rhetoric, “Liberal good, conservative bad” and visa versa, crap that we get on talk radio and the Daily KOS.

If the article linked above was held out as progressive thought, then progressivism is dead. As expressed by our moderator, progressive appears to mean liberal, which means Democrat, which is NOT progressive at all.

True progressives distrust government and are equally disillusioned with BOTH parties as I.

Blindly following party leadership spouting party propaganda along the way (from either side) is NOT progressive.

True progressives such as Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, FDR, LBJ, and Hubert Humphrey would be as put off by the article linked in this thread as I.

If we stopped demonizing the "other" side and actually talked about political policy, strategy and tactics for accomplishing mutually beneficial goals this site would be a great deal more meaningful.

Progressives aren’t afraid to debate ideas on their merits and they wouldn't push drivel like the article cited above.

It seems to me that the most vocal “progressive” on this site is a poser - a democrat party troll.

KL, you should win some sort of award for your earlier post! I have never seen so many adjectives strung together. I am surprised to see the word polarization in your post. You demonstrate your own polarization by describing any view other than yours as disinformation.

I'm glad you enjoyed it. :-) I once had such an award for alliteration, but lost it to Hugo Weaving {V for Vendetta}. I now have to settle for second place.

My own "polarization" is neither "Right" nor "Left", so are you saying I'm polarized to the middle? Hmmm. I am the "Radical Middle"? I like that. It's almost oxymoronic, a paradoxical pragmatic approach. Cool, a label I wouldn't mind wearing.

Randmart, both sides have pluses, and both sides have minuses. What both sides share, in equal measure, is a gravitation toward tyranny; it is simply the nature of government. "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." It is no secret that the "Left" tends to expand the power of government, and the "Right" tends to consolidate the power of government. This is the political history of this country, not to mention the entire history of politics and government regardless of country.

Let us assume that WC is solidly "Left Wing", and Brant is just as solidly "Right Wing", and both are honest and honorable men. One thing both would have to admit is that no policy, from either side, can account for all probabilities, let alone all possibilities. The best either can hope for is to cover the widest range of probabilities, and hope for the possibilities that may or may not occur.

The greater the power that government acquires the more invasive it becomes, and the greater the tyranny it exerts. This isn't theory, this is fact. The present economic "crisis" was partially caused by exerting governmental "power" to induce a greater degree of home ownership {for reasons that are not without merit} but no equal counter-balancing "power" to regulate the results. This provided an open door to those at the top of the credit and finance industry to gain even greater control over the market and the smaller financial corporations, so that when the inevitable crash came they would be in a position to expand and consolidate their own influence, holdings, and "Power".

When the "Bail Out" came along, both sides, realizing they had screwed up, sought to compensate and ended up handing even more power to those at the top of the financial industry. They panicked because they didn't/don't understand the dynamics of the Federal Reserve System, the economy, or even the results of what they've done. They didn't even read the "Bail Out" bills, they just passed them because the financial top dogs {"experts"} told them that if they didn't the US economy would crash and burn. Bear in mind that this was both parties, both wings, and the Bird they are supposed to support fell.

This is my view from the middle; the disinformation is all the information I'm not going into. Is this where I am trying to polarize people to? You bet your bottom dollar {for what it's worth} it is!!!! Yes!!! Guilty as charged!!!! The court may now throw itself upon my mercy. LOL

Liberals have their tenets as do conservatives. Trouble is, the extremists of both dogmas treat each other as stupid, wrongheaded or dangerous to our way of life; all the the while chanting their own mantra. Each time the leadership of the country leans one way or the other, the winner promises better days to come and the loser predicts armageddon......yet little ever changes outside the Beltway. Politicians don't keep promises, government gets bigger, spending gets bigger, and "Joe Six Pack" keeps taking it in the shorts.

You are absolutely correct, and so are both sides. Considering how long this is getting I tried to shorten this paragraph, but just couldn't bring myself to do it. You're right on every point you make, and oddly enough so are both wings.

All conservative thought is no more flawed than all liberal thought is, but until the best and brightest from both sides of the fence can sit down, forget their labels, and brainstorm to find real solutions we are destined for more of the same.

If "both sides" means "We the People", I'm with you 100%; if "both sides" means government, I really have to part ways on this point. We, the people, need a new American Revolution; not one of guns and bloodshed, but of education. We've allowed the government to run our schools, rather than doing it ourselves. There have been issues that seemed to require governmental control, but that's because We, the people, failed in our responsibilities to the schools and our children. It is, however, to the results of governmental control that I take issue now.

Our children are not being educated. I've seen the education my three children got in school, seen the result of the school system in the generations that have come after mine, and taken note of the education of the generation that came before me. I can say that the education my Granddaughters are receiving is vastly reduced even from the one I received. This, coupled with the decreased discipline in the homes, is leading us toward a generation that will no longer be capable of living in any kind of free society.

1.favoring or advocating progress, change, improvement, or reform, as opposed to wishing to maintain things as they are, esp. in political matters: a progressive mayor.

I think anyone with a grain of intelligence would find it easy to become that type of progressive.

Very true, but the "Left/Right" polarization tends to steer clear of definitions for their doctrines; whether in government, churches, or society at large. Wisdom is called for, but government has shown it is incapable of that quality, so it is left to We, the people. This is the very heart of my point of view, my polarization if you will. This is why my Pole is the only correct Pole to gather at; care to join me?