"Steve Freides" <steve.TakeThisOut@fridayscomputer.com> writes:
> "JMW" <jmwilliams.TakeThisOut@enforcergraphics.f2s.com> wrote in message
> news:sogp42pe0mg6r9apjjnlcct21idp78lj0j@4ax.com...
>> "Larry Hodges" <2larry2.TakeThisOut@2maximizesoftware2.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>First, the Democratic Party will change, but in moving to the Left,
>>>not the
>>>Right. Second, the unions are far too strong for the Democratic Party
>>>to
>>>tell them to take a hike. And I would agree with you about them
>>>having
>>>their place once upon a time. But the militant Left is much too vocal
>>>for
>>>their party to ignore. Any movement to the Center would be met with
>>>loud,
>>>whiny cries, similar to Gollum as he writhes in anguish.
>>
>> Unfortunately, I see the GOP facing the same problem in any attempt to
>> pull away from the Religious Right.
>
> Those two statements summarize the big problem in American politics
> today. We have moved away from one of the most important principles
> of the founding fathers, pluralism, and all the things that go with
> it, like real respect for the opposite side.
If the founding fathers found (ha ha) themselves around today they
would almost certainly be considered ridiculously conservative.
What's more, as anyone from the American West can tell you large
portions of the Western United States was originally colonized by the
Mormons because your so-called "Pluralist" founding fathers didn't
cotton to their religion.
What's more, at least one prominent "founding father" (Alexander
Hamilton) was killed in a duel over what was essentially his slander
campaign directed at Burr during a New York gubernatorial race.
http://www.oldnewspublishing.com/burr.htm
If anything, political contests used to be even dirtier than they are
today.
Jason