Poll - Democrat or Republican?

[JeninCO 0]

These aren't sweeping generalizations.

Bush and his cronies -- the Republican party in general -- are not sympathetic to the environment, to the working poor, to the elderly on medicare, to civil rights.

• Ann Coulter can call John Edwards a "faggot" and she gets applause and laughs.
  
• The elderly can't pay for their prescriptions because they've reached their max, so they have to choose between pain meds or heart pills.< br />
• We've run out of places to drill, so let's go invade Iraq.
  
• We can't prove the people in Guantanamo are terrorists, so let's just hold them there indefinitely, until they die of old age or confess under torture.

We don't need to say it, they do.

[BJean 16]

LRBloom8: All righty then. I guess that means you and your friends all are interested in some kind of socialized medicine? Great!! Spread the word.

[L8BloomR 1]

LRBloom8: All righty then. I guess that means you and your friends all are interested in some kind of socialized medicine? Great!! Spread the word.

Bjean, you know nothing about me, yet you and others consistently say "Republicans/Conservatives believe this....blah, blah, blah" (fill in the blank). You have no idea what I believe, much less what "Republicans" believe, as if we are a group of robots all walking in lockstep. You have no idea what I do for a living or how much of my time, energy and money I give to help others. You would be surprised especially at the number of my Republican friends who also give and help where ever they are needed. None of us are wealthy, quite the opposite, actually, but we give what we have. So it really offends me to hear how selfish and evil you think "right-wing" people are and all the mean-spirited comments that are made. How on earth can you or anyone else make such rock-solid assumptions about someone else's motives or beliefs? Do you really think that anyone wants to see others go without health care, food, shelter, etc.?? There are many sides to every issue and different, well-intentioned people see solutions differently. Debate the solutions, if you will, but stop pigeon-holing people into slots you invent!

[L8BloomR 1]

These aren't sweeping generalizations.

Bush and his cronies -- the Republican party in general -- are not sympathetic to the environment, to the working poor, to the elderly on medicare, to civil rights.

• Ann Coulter can call John Edwards a "faggot" and she gets applause and laughs.
  
• The elderly can't pay for their prescriptions because they've reached their max, so they have to choose between pain meds or heart pills.< br />
• We've run out of places to drill, so let's go invade Iraq.
  
• We can't prove the people in Guantanamo are terrorists, so let's just hold them there indefinitely, until they die of old age or confess under torture.

We don't need to say it, they do.

1. Ann Coulter didn't get any more laughs than Howard Dean did when he ridiculed Charlton Heston for having Alzheimer's Disease.

2. The elderly have had problems with this long before Bush came into office.... and from what I hear the new drug program put into place last year is finally getting to the ones who need it most. I am in the elder care business, and I have seen it working.

3. Last I heard, we haven't taken any oil from Iraq, it is all going to the Iraqis themselves....

4. The people in Guantanamo are enemy-combatants, the worst of the worse. Yes, maybe we should just shoot them like the insurgents do to their captured enemies, but we don't do that. Were there a few people that didn't belong there? Yes, but they have been released and the remaining people are truly the "bad guys". This is war, ugly as it is.

[BJean 16]

I made no assumptions about YOU. You're the one who decided to pigeon hole yourself through my comments. The political party platforms and goals are open to the public. There's no secret about it. Getting mad at me for writing about it here sure isn't going to change a thing. But if you think that the Republican party is interested in making sure that poor people have medical care, you're living in a dream world. Maybe you're one of those people who thinks that Bush is a really good man with nothing but this country's best interest governing his every decision. I don't have a problem whatsoever with what YOU believe in. I was talking about a known Republican party fact. What they say may not necessarily be what they do (of course), but we have to pay lots of attention to what they DO.

You are accusing me of using the words "selfish" and "evil." I did not. I also did not speak about any specific individual, including YOU, with regard to Republicans. Why are you protesting so much and attacking me personally? I didn't attack you. I didn't even attack the Republican party. I merely said what I believe to be true about the Republican party's lack of interest in helping poor people.

What you do or what your friends do for the well being of others has no absolutely no bearing on the discussion we were having. That Republicans do not support socialized medicine of any kind, and are constantly trying to figure out ways to keep from paying into the welfare system are what I think needed to be pointed out.

If it made you personally uncomfortable, stop ranting and raving at me. It isn't my fault the Republican right wingers behave the way they do. Take your argument up with them.

[BJean 16]

Your second post came in before I posted mine. Geez, I rest my case!

[L8BloomR 1]

BJean, if most of my posts started out with "Democrats do this, and Democrats feel that", you would feel included in that too, and take offense. You don't usually put in the word "Some" or "Many" or even use the term "in my opinion"..... you just come right out and use inclusive terms as if all Republicans feel this way or that. I disagree with you in what you think the Republican platform stands for. So why are YOU right in your definition of the party, and I am wrong? I am not attacking YOU, I am attacking the idea that Democrats can define Republicans; and that we do not know our own party. Not all Republicans are good, just as some Democrats are not good. You and others always seem to leave that out. I would find it refreshing if you could at least allow for the fact that people can feel differently and still have good motives. Does everyone in your life agree with you, or can you adjust to the fact that people come at problems from different angles but want the same good results? I just never hear that from your side. Sorry if the fact I find that offensive upsets you, but I AM entitled to feel differently than you about what I stand for. I don't pretend to speak for Democrats... please don't speak for me.

[JeninCO 0]

1. Ann Coulter didn't get any more laughs than Howard Dean did when he ridiculed Charlton Heston for having Alzheimer's Disease.

2. The elderly have had problems with this long before Bush came into office.... and from what I hear the new drug program put into place last year is finally getting to the ones who need it most. I am in the elder care business, and I have seen it working.

3. Last I heard, we haven't taken any oil from Iraq, it is all going to the Iraqis themselves....

4. The people in Guantanamo are enemy-combatants, the worst of the worse. Yes, maybe we should just shoot them like the insurgents do to their captured enemies, but we don't do that. Were there a few people that didn't belong there? Yes, but they have been released and the remaining people are truly the "bad guys". This is war, ugly as it is.

• I've not heard anything about Dean and his remark, so I can't comment.
  

• The elderly are worse off thanks to Bush and Co. Do you know any elderly patients? I doubt you work with patients directly, but are most likely an administrator who sees nothing of the havoc this new plan has wrought. My mom is on Medicare and this month she has to choose between managing her pain or taking her neuropathy meds because she's reached her quota. Many of her friends are in the same boat.
  

• The only reason no oil has been got, is because Bush and Co. thought we'd be "greeted as liberators", instead we helped start a civil war. No time to drill! As for the Iraqis getting anything, if there are any left after this, we'll see. They're either leaving or being killed by the hundreds weekly.
  

• The "enemy combatants" have received no trials. They're allowed no counsel. How do we know they're innocent or guilty until the evidence against them is presented? How do you know that "the few people who didn't belong there" have been released? No one imprisoned there is even allowed to talk to their families, much less the press or an attorney. No one is even allowed to acknowledge who is imprisoned there.
  

I'm sorry I have to generalize, but I think after all this administration has done, anyone who still supports this president is either willfully ignorant, or corrupt. People villified Clinton for lying about a blowjob (rather than the other myriad mistakes he made), but they refuse to demand that this administration be held accountable for the evil it has committed. Far worse than sexual misconduct.

I used to be a Proud Republican, too. No more.

[Carlene 12]

Bush did not push Medicare Part D thru for the benefit of senior citizens. He did it for big business. Seems too many Baby Boomers were retiring and taking their health insurance plans with them, as they were promised they could. Once Part D became law, those big corporations were allowed to duck out of prescription coverage for all their retirees. Instead, middle America now bears the cost. And the insurance premiums of big business went way down. But not the premiums the retirees pay. They stayed the same. Only now they have a "donut hole", during which there is NO coverage. And most are paying about double now.

In addition, Bush will not permit Medicare to negotiate with drug companies for discounts, although the VA does. He has threatened to veto any bill that would allow said negotiations. Is that for the good of the seniors? No....it's to protect the profits of the drug companies.

Clinton was in bed with Monica, but Bush is in bed with big business. I prefer the former.

[BJean 16]

L8BloomR: Your initial admonition to me was because I generalized about Republicans. You've done exactly the same thing about Democrats. Read what you've written and you'll see that. Not only have you generalized about Democrats, you've gotten personal. I haven't. You seem to think I have, but I have not. You took what I said personally even though I was talking about what the Republican party stands for, not what L8BloomR stands for.

No one here has said that Democrats are saints or that they are without sin. No one is, much less a political party. However there is a big difference in the party platforms (which btw, is as it should be.) We all need choices about how our government is run. But we can't just wish our preferred party stands for certain things when in fact, it doesn't.

I won't bother to go find a source for the last Republican platform that was adopted at their convention, but if you want to know what you're really voting for you might want to. Plus, you could refute anything remark I've made if you discover something that is counter to what I've said. But you're arguing about things I did not say plus you seem to be saying that because you disagree with some of the Republican policies personally, that Republicans are what you say they are, not what they really are.

Idealism is a nice, comfortable mind-set, but just because Republicans or Democrats are personally good people doesn't make the entire party good or right. However, actions spell it out, and if you vote for a party that undermines the poor and middle class in this country, you shouldn't be criticizing someone who disagrees with their actions. You should work at changing it. It won't be the way you want it just because of your criticism of me. In fact, that seems pretty silly.

[L8BloomR 1]

• The elderly are worse off thanks to Bush and Co. Do you know any elderly patients? I doubt you work with patients directly, but are most likely an administrator who sees nothing of the havoc this new plan has wrought. My mom is on Medicare and this month she has to choose between managing her pain or taking her neuropathy meds because she's reached her quota. Many of her friends are in the same boat.
  
• I used to be a Proud Republican, too. No more.

Actually, I work hands-on with the elderly, many of them poor and in need. I have been in the elder care field for over 20 years, under Bush #1, Clinton, and Bush #2. I also spend much of my free time in volunteer work with lonely seniors. In addition, I have very elderly parents, one with lung cancer. So I am very familiar with the needs and trials of the elderly, and the maze that is Medicare and health insurance. I have seen it under 3 presidents, and it is the reason I started a business in the early 1990s, so that I could reach out and do more to help. I understand how confusing, frustrating and awful it can be to worry about how to get much needed meds and services. But I also know that it is not a simple matter to fix...and just throwing more money at the problem won't change it. There is so much fraud, abuse, and incompetence within the system, it is unbelievable. Do we need to change things? Of course! But without getting rid of much bureaucracy and stemming the tide of fraudulent claims, unethical doctors, and corrupt agencies, etc., we will never be able to afford many of the services needed. It is a complicated issue....and one that no president can fix with just a wave of his hand. Neither Presidents Bush nor Clinton could do it, so I am not sure what the answer is. I do know it will not be a simple one nor a painless one.

P.S. We have something in common.... I used to be a Democrat!

[BJean 16]

Bill Clinton moved into the White House with every intention of changing the medical system in this country. He put Hillary in charge of getting all of the requisite studies and people involved. But the Republicans raised holy you-know-what and clearly made the the Clintons political lives miserable until they dropped it like a hot potato. Potatoe for some Republicans. (sorry, cheap shot) The Republicans put a spin on it to make Americans believe that the Clintons wanted socialized medicine. Scared hell out of everyone. Now look where we are. The situation has only worsened. It isn't status quo. And the Republicans continue to tell everyone how horrible socialized medicine is and that the Democrats won't be happy until that's what we have. Politics at its finest.

[L8BloomR 1]

L8BloomR: Your initial admonition to me was because I generalized about Republicans. You've done exactly the same thing about Democrats. Read what you've written and you'll see that. Not only have you generalized about Democrats, you've gotten personal. I haven't. You seem to think I have, but I have not. You took what I said personally even though I was talking about what the Republican party stands for, not what L8BloomR stands for.

BJean, the only generalization I have done is wonder why Democrats (specifically you) would speak for Republicans. Beyond that, I have tried very hard to respect everyone else's viewpoints, even if I don't agree. All I was asking is that instead of dismissing views you don't agree with, why not respect that they could be just as well-intentioned and well-researched as you feel about your own? I believe that seeing people or political parties in black and white terms or as "good" and "bad" is not only unfair but stifles debate.

It appears that every response I post seems like criticism to you, while your posts seem like criticism to me. So let's call it a night and agree to disagree, OK?

Have a nice evening.....

[BJean 16]

L8BloomR: I think we've reached a similar stand off before. I don't believe either of us has a mean bone in our bodies, but we both have strong feelings about politics in this country. I've been told that my emails sound harsh and I do not mean to be harsh. That's a very unattractive quality as far as I'm concerned. But as far as the Republican party is concerned, again I was not talking about all of the people in the Republican party. I was talking about the Republican party's platform and what it stands for.

I am totally willing to give it a rest and my body too. I hope you have a good night! :confused:

[L8BloomR 1]

L8BloomR: I think we've reached a similar stand off before. I don't believe either of us has a mean bone in our bodies, but we both have strong feelings about politics in this country. I've been told that my emails sound harsh and I do not mean to be harsh. That's a very unattractive quality as far as I'm concerned. But as far as the Republican party is concerned, again I was not talking about all of the people in the Republican party. I was talking about the Republican party's platform and what it stands for.

I am totally willing to give it a rest and my body too. I hope you have a good night! :confused:

Thanks, BJean, for a nice way to end the day....:notagree

Karen