No Compromise - Being A Moderate is a Bad Thing

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Too bad all the Tea party bothers to learn about is all the crap and none of the positive useful stuff that helps everyone, not just themselves.

Wouldn't be Tea Baggettes without the "me first, devil take the hindmost" attitude, now would they?

[Robert_S]

Yeah, out with the rhinos!

Either that "h" doesn't belong in there or someone's in danger of getting poached for teh horney horn!

[Robert_S]

An oldie, but apropos:

[Thumpalumpacus]

The inability to compromise will ruin this nation.

Left wing, right wing ... same goddamned turkey.

[maiforpeace]

The inability to compromise will ruin this nation.

Left wing, right wing ... same goddamned turkey.

Gobble, gobble is exactly what is happening too.

[Animavore]

I never did understand this seeming yawning chasm between left and right (through the filter of the media at least) in America. In Ireland the parties are all so close around the centre I have to look up who's left and who's right on Wiki.

[Drewish]

Yeah, out with the rhinos!

Either that "h" doesn't belong in there or someone's in danger of getting poached for teh horney horn!

Those cocky horned mammals. They're endangered for a reason, bastards!

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I never did understand this seeming yawning chasm between left and right (through the filter of the media at least) in America. In Ireland the parties are all so close around the centre I have to look up who's left and who's right on Wiki.

Remember, we fought a civil war over things like this. We're rather bloody-minded that way, no figuring it out. We even resist multi-party systems because the two-party system makes it easier to figure out who to hate.

[Robert_S]

I never did understand this seeming yawning chasm between left and right (through the filter of the media at least) in America. In Ireland the parties are all so close around the centre I have to look up who's left and who's right on Wiki.

Remember, we fought a civil war over things like this. We're rather bloody-minded that way, no figuring it out. We even resist multi-party systems because the two-party system makes it easier to figure out who to hate.

Now they're hating the ones who don't hate the baddies hard enough.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I never did understand this seeming yawning chasm between left and right (through the filter of the media at least) in America. In Ireland the parties are all so close around the centre I have to look up who's left and who's right on Wiki.

Remember, we fought a civil war over things like this. We're rather bloody-minded that way, no figuring it out. We even resist multi-party systems because the two-party system makes it easier to figure out who to hate.

Now they're hating the ones who don't hate the baddies hard enough.

Yep, but we're getting more and more of the fringe and less of the center. I think the Internet is a force-multiplier for insanity.

[Hermit]

we're getting more and more of the fringe and less of the center.

Don't know about that. When was it the last time that a political force with real clout maintained that the private ownership of the means of production is a crime and set about actually doing something to fix it? At the other end, has there ever been a party with enough electoral appeal to enact the principle of "taxation is theft"? Given the breadth of this political spectrum, the ideological differences between the Demogocical and the Repugnicant parties is minuscule. If anything can be said about political drifts, it is that both have been slowly sliding to the right, just like two-party systems in other countries have.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

we're getting more and more of the fringe and less of the center.

Don't know about that. When was it the last time that a political force with real clout maintained that the private ownership of the means of production is a crime and set about actually doing something to fix it? At the other end, has there ever been a party with enough electoral appeal to enact the principle of "taxation is theft"? Given the breadth of this political spectrum, the ideological differences between the Demogocical and the Repugnicant parties is minuscule. If anything can be said about political drifts, it is that both have been slowly sliding to the right, just like two-party systems in other countries have.

I meant "on the Internet".

[Ian]

The inability to compromise will ruin this nation.

Left wing, right wing ... same goddamned turkey.

There are plenty of turkeys to be found in DC, but this sort of statement might imply an inherently equal balance on both sides in terms of their unwillingness to compromise. That would be incorrect; it's known as false balance. Truth is, while both parties have been drifting apart for more than 30 years, but the Republicans are the ones for whom moderation and compromising is now anathema, distinctly more so than it is for the Democrats.

Nevermind my opinion though, read some quantifiable data on the subject:
http://www.voteview.com/political_polarization.asp
http://www.voteview.com/
http://www.voteview.com/polarizedamerica.asp

[Thumpalumpacus]

The inability to compromise will ruin this nation.

Left wing, right wing ... same goddamned turkey.

There are plenty of turkeys to be found in DC, but this sort of statement might imply an inherently equal balance on both sides in terms of their unwillingness to compromise. That would be incorrect; it's known as false balance. Truth is, while both parties have been drifting apart for more than 30 years, but the Republicans are the ones for whom moderation and compromising is now anathema, distinctly more so than it is for the Democrats.

Nevermind my opinion though, read some quantifiable data on the subject:
http://www.voteview.com/political_polarization.asp
http://www.voteview.com/
http://www.voteview.com/polarizedamerica.asp

Those first two links show that polarization is increasing, but not that one party owns a greater share of intolerance for the other.

The last seems to indicate that among the wealthy, a Libertarian leaning is associated with less tolerance for other views, althoughit doesn't strike me as definitive. I also notice that while the abstract takes pains to address the position on tolerance held by the upperclass, it is silent about that of the lower class. The information about party means is interesting, but when looked at from a historical perspective, the differences seem to blur.

Do you have any data more directly pertinent?

Looking at it from a layman's view, the greater body of the polity seems equally intolerant to me. If we take "willingness to march publicly in support of one's views" as a measure of intensity of feeling, the two sides seem to be fairly drawn: Tea Party rallies on one side, Occupy rallies on the other. There seems to be more violence accompanying the demonstrations of the left ... which strikes me as a form of intolerance, too.

Those are some interesting links, but not really conclusive, given that my complaint was not where they lie on the political spectrum, but how willing they are to compromise in order to achieve a functional government. You seem to be confusing where they lie in their views with their willingness to bend on those views ... and those are two disparate things. I know to-the-bone racists who work with minorities daily.

[maiforpeace]

The inability to compromise will ruin this nation.

Left wing, right wing ... same goddamned turkey.

There are plenty of turkeys to be found in DC, but this sort of statement might imply an inherently equal balance on both sides in terms of their unwillingness to compromise. That would be incorrect; it's known as false balance. Truth is, while both parties have been drifting apart for more than 30 years, but the Republicans are the ones for whom moderation and compromising is now anathema, distinctly more so than it is for the Democrats.

Nevermind my opinion though, read some quantifiable data on the subject:
http://www.voteview.com/political_polarization.asp
http://www.voteview.com/
http://www.voteview.com/polarizedamerica.asp

Even if the evidence shows that Democrats are unwilling to compromise in lesser degree than Republicans, those that choose this route are basically throwing in the towel and saying, if you can't beat them, join them. Or, that is a position that is respectable in Washington.