It seems to me alot of people here are......well, you know how alot of people here are. There are a few things people should think about before posting and there are few things people should not say to avoid looking like a complete dumbass in a debate. I will go over a few of these here.
Political Sides
Democrat and Republican. Most people today will tell you that Republicans are the conservative and "patriotic" ones and Democrats are the liberal and "commie" or "hippy" ones. While this is a rough generalization of the two party's it is not an all defining and flawless way to describe the people who belong to either party.
You view these party's like this because that is where they stand at this point in time. These parties shift their focus groups and how they want to be viewed over time depending on the current status of things in the world. If one party is heavily conservative the other party will undoubtedly be liberal. What would be the point of having two heavily conservative party's in government? If one party has a stronghold on conservative voters, the other party will have a target audience of liberals to pick up votes and to balance the political consciousness of the nation. This is a direct reflection on the events taking place during that specific period in time.
For someone to say that Democrats are all a bunch of liberals and Republicans are all a bunch of conservatives is highly uneducated in the least. Abraham Lincoln was a Republican and he freed the slaves and there was nothing "conservative" about that at the time. Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman were both Democrats, one took us into WWII and the other dropped the only atomic warhead during wartime in history. Nothing liberal about that. Even in todays times there are members of the Democratic party that are conservative and members of the Republican party that are liberal, and not all members of either party want the same thing as the majority of their party want.
In essence, all political parties are, in the most basic sense, are groups of people that fund money to find opponents to run against other people (who belong to another party) who are in office, so that they have a chance of being elected so that they may represent members of the public who did not share the same views as the incumbent officials. This keeps are government and the officials in it, fluid.
Mindsets
This is one that really pisses me off. Iraq for example, it's is a well known fact that there were no WMD's there, it is also a fact that we lied in order to invade. Now if someone is making the argument that we shouldn't have gone and that we need to leave and the best thing you can offer into the argument is a bunch of video's showing the faces of dead soldiers while Alan Jackson sings in the background, followed by the message "You don't remember 9/11 do you hippy?", then you effectively fail at life and should immediately take yourself out of the conversation. Because you're a fucking idiot.
Also, supporting the troops and supporting the government are two entirely different things. If you don't agree with something Bush did, that DOES NOT mean that you don't support the troops. If someone opposes the Patriot Act, they are not communists, quite the contrary, they are actually practicing democracy the way it was meant to be practiced. In the end, all decisions will be made by the people, so if you want something to be done, you must rally for it, if not, you must rally against it. People either and or, are the true patriots, whilst people who sit around and do nothing are mere "subjects". So when someone opposes something you support, instead of calling them hippies or Nazi's, you should rather debate over why your view or act is better than theirs and why it would be most beneficial to our country.
And last but not least, people who use personal loss to push their views on others. For instance, if you had family members that died in Sept 11th and you support the war, telling someone that they don't know anything because they didn't lose anyone and should believe in what you believe is fucking pompous at best. It is what it is, someone you loved died. It happens every day. If you knew someone that died in a drunk driving accident, you wouldn't scream at someone who was drinking beer in their house because "alcohol" killed you beloved. You could however, tell them why they shouldn't drive and then tell them how someone else that was drinking and driving affected you and your family. Just because you have personal loss due to an event, doesn't mean that you are right when it comes to political events that become of it. Rally for your cause but don't push it on others as truth or fact.
Mistakes
Mistakes. If you follow the guide above and use common sense, instead of blind loyalty to a political party, member or ideal, you will be fine. Make decisions for yourself instead of what a president or a party tells you. Look at all sides and angles at a situation before you decide what side you're going to take in the argument. Think about using the D&ST section like you would think about talking to friends at a restaurant or bar about this kind of stuff. Most of you can't, because if you said the kind of rebuttals I've seen here to someone in a bar, they'd smash a barstool across your face. Personally, I stab a few of you in the face with fork.
Use your head. Use common sense. Think for yourself. Don't be a dumbass.
Political Sides
Democrat and Republican. Most people today will tell you that Republicans are the conservative and "patriotic" ones and Democrats are the liberal and "commie" or "hippy" ones. While this is a rough generalization of the two party's it is not an all defining and flawless way to describe the people who belong to either party.
You view these party's like this because that is where they stand at this point in time. These parties shift their focus groups and how they want to be viewed over time depending on the current status of things in the world. If one party is heavily conservative the other party will undoubtedly be liberal. What would be the point of having two heavily conservative party's in government? If one party has a stronghold on conservative voters, the other party will have a target audience of liberals to pick up votes and to balance the political consciousness of the nation. This is a direct reflection on the events taking place during that specific period in time.
For someone to say that Democrats are all a bunch of liberals and Republicans are all a bunch of conservatives is highly uneducated in the least. Abraham Lincoln was a Republican and he freed the slaves and there was nothing "conservative" about that at the time. Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman were both Democrats, one took us into WWII and the other dropped the only atomic warhead during wartime in history. Nothing liberal about that. Even in todays times there are members of the Democratic party that are conservative and members of the Republican party that are liberal, and not all members of either party want the same thing as the majority of their party want.
In essence, all political parties are, in the most basic sense, are groups of people that fund money to find opponents to run against other people (who belong to another party) who are in office, so that they have a chance of being elected so that they may represent members of the public who did not share the same views as the incumbent officials. This keeps are government and the officials in it, fluid.
Mindsets
This is one that really pisses me off. Iraq for example, it's is a well known fact that there were no WMD's there, it is also a fact that we lied in order to invade. Now if someone is making the argument that we shouldn't have gone and that we need to leave and the best thing you can offer into the argument is a bunch of video's showing the faces of dead soldiers while Alan Jackson sings in the background, followed by the message "You don't remember 9/11 do you hippy?", then you effectively fail at life and should immediately take yourself out of the conversation. Because you're a fucking idiot.
Also, supporting the troops and supporting the government are two entirely different things. If you don't agree with something Bush did, that DOES NOT mean that you don't support the troops. If someone opposes the Patriot Act, they are not communists, quite the contrary, they are actually practicing democracy the way it was meant to be practiced. In the end, all decisions will be made by the people, so if you want something to be done, you must rally for it, if not, you must rally against it. People either and or, are the true patriots, whilst people who sit around and do nothing are mere "subjects". So when someone opposes something you support, instead of calling them hippies or Nazi's, you should rather debate over why your view or act is better than theirs and why it would be most beneficial to our country.
And last but not least, people who use personal loss to push their views on others. For instance, if you had family members that died in Sept 11th and you support the war, telling someone that they don't know anything because they didn't lose anyone and should believe in what you believe is fucking pompous at best. It is what it is, someone you loved died. It happens every day. If you knew someone that died in a drunk driving accident, you wouldn't scream at someone who was drinking beer in their house because "alcohol" killed you beloved. You could however, tell them why they shouldn't drive and then tell them how someone else that was drinking and driving affected you and your family. Just because you have personal loss due to an event, doesn't mean that you are right when it comes to political events that become of it. Rally for your cause but don't push it on others as truth or fact.
Mistakes
Mistakes. If you follow the guide above and use common sense, instead of blind loyalty to a political party, member or ideal, you will be fine. Make decisions for yourself instead of what a president or a party tells you. Look at all sides and angles at a situation before you decide what side you're going to take in the argument. Think about using the D&ST section like you would think about talking to friends at a restaurant or bar about this kind of stuff. Most of you can't, because if you said the kind of rebuttals I've seen here to someone in a bar, they'd smash a barstool across your face. Personally, I stab a few of you in the face with fork.
Use your head. Use common sense. Think for yourself. Don't be a dumbass.
