What will it take for America to come together?

[linazelle]

For years dems ruled and republicans seethed and plotted for what has materialized as their takeover.

Now we seethe and plot.

If we "win" they lose--again and they will only re-emerge later having morphed into some uglier form.

I don't see how America can survive with this type of ongoing opposition.

What is the real cause of the opposition? I believe the basic conflict is between the people and those who think the people and our rights are for sale. Between these two poles lie the majority of Americans. I think the "far left" is considered socialist in many ways while the "far right" is purely capitalist. I think that most Americans believe in our Bill of Rights and the Constitution and that many who follow the far right know not what they do.

There has to be some happy medium, some win-win that will appease everybody. Otherwise, we are all screwed.

What do you think can be done? What you see as the root cause of this turmoil?

[Deja Q]

1. The arrogance of the persona.

Nobody wants to sit and talk. It's "Everything my way and I'll lie if I have to."

Fuckin' INFANTS. x(

Too many people I know are like that personally, I'm not even conbjecturing about elected officials, who knows what they think these days...

If it's about oil, well we need the energy but why we can't find other means I dunno...

And that's just it. I dunno.

Unless it's the dominant/submissive issue; the weak enslave themselves and those who stand up in defiance dare risk extermination. :shrug:

[linazelle]

4. Yes I think the far right has a my-way-or-the-highway mentality

They aim to control by any means necessary. But, I still think their real numbers are very low. It's just that they control everything with money. I just wonder what we have in common under the bell curve--the far right are outliers IMHO.

[Deja Q]

7. It's not as much money as attitude and having a silver tongue;

able to conartist everyone around them into thinking they're able to do anything. Then leech off of people who know something about the subject lied about.

Why can't these vermin end up to rot, instead of the rest of us?

[indypaul]

16. It's the money

take a look at Cheney's tax return. $8.8 million
most of which is "deferred compensation" from a
contractor that received millions of dollars from
the government in no-bid contracts. Seems pretty
clear to me.

[0007]

21. 'Tis all about Big corporations, lobbyist, the control of the media

The constitution is almost meaningless anymore. We the people for the people and by the people only means that we have been hijacked by the Big Corporations that hate Unions and love high paying CEOs and big tax cuts.

We're so screwed!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. The root cause is partisanship

that is, caring more about winning than in doing what is right and good for the nation as a whole. LBJ did this when he pushed through the Civil Rights Act in 1964-he knew it would cause some in his own party, some his fellow Southerners, to bolt. But he did what he felt was right for the nation. TR did the same sort of thing when he pushed through progressive legislation like the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1904-it led many in his party to despise him.

We need more people doing acts like these now.

[napi21]

3. I think across America, people are becoming a little less partisan.

In DC, I don't know what can change THAT! I think the Dems had control of congress for sooo long, and the Pubs did a good job at convincing a slim majority that "if you give us a chance, we'll make a difference". Well, THEY DID, but not for the better! I get the feeling that the people gave them their chance and they blew it!

[Va Lefty]

5. A return of "The Fairness Doctrine" would be a good start

The FCC used to require equal time for all political viewpoints. This was known as The Fairness Doctrine and was eliminated in the early 80's under Reagan. The Media would be forced to give us four hours if they carried Limbaugh's bullshit. Ditto with O'Reilly and his ilk. It would be a start.

[linazelle]

6. Yes this is extremely important--at least we could get back to letting

people make up their own minds. Right now, we are dealing with pure propoganda.

[Bluzmann57]

8. Partially it's "Urban" vs. "Rural"

I really truly believe that. There seems to be a divide, whether real or imagined, between people in NYC, Chicago, Boston, etc., and those of us who live in smaller towns across America. There have been, and will continue to be jokes from the big city folk about "hicks and hillbillies", those of us who live out here in rural America.
An example of what I mean is the gun control issue. Now there is no doubt that big city people think differently about guns than small towners. There is no real use for guns in urban areas, but in rural areas, a lot of people hunt. Not to say that urbanites don't hunt as well, not to mention skeet shooting and target shooting, but by and large, the guns in larger cities are used in commission of crimes. So that is one issue that we as Americans need to come together on. There must be compromise on both sides of not only this, but other issues. And as long as there are power hungry people out there, Dems as well as repubs, there will never be bipartisan cooperation. Sorry about straying a bit, but as I said in the subject line, there are some rural people who just do not trust urbanites, and vice-versa. I admit to some stereotyping as well, I think we are all guilty of it to some extent. Maybe the solution is to quit being so thin skinned and try to get the fact that we are all Americans and all in this thing together. Just my two cents worth.

[twenty2strings]

9. Hard times...Hard times...Very hard times.

And thats all right. It ALWAYS happens this way. But hey,what are we living for. I want to say goodbye to artificial America. Jeez, we're all gonna die anyway. Gonna be all right.

[McCamy Taylor]

10. Hard times is about right. Depression did it. Nationalism will never do it

Americans do not goosestep. We are the rebel children of other countries who would not toe the line THERE, which is why we came HERE. We tend to side with the underdog, as long as the underdog is fighting back and doesn't give up. The tighter W. tries to clamp down on America, the more America will regress to its hillbilly/wild west roots.

If Karl Rove had the brains he claims to have, Katrina would have been 9-11 Part 2 for Bush. A fresh start. Any Democrat could have parlayed that disaster into a ratings boost. The reconstruction would be on the news everyday, filling Americans with hope for the future. But Bush and Co. saw 9-11 as Us vs. Them while the American people saw it as US Coming Together in a Time of Adversity. Big difference.

Instead of NOLA being US Coming Together (including an opportunity for W. to attone for the sins of Iraq), Bush Co. played it as Us vs. Them---and Bush ended up in the role of Them.

[linazelle]

18. They don't care about America coming together, but I think most

people do. Bush has had a million opportunities to display his greatness. Too bad he's just not up to it.

[longship]

11. Somebody like him

[McCamy Taylor]

12. Bill Clinton could do it too, in a Depression.

[Brigid]

13. Coming Together

Historically, we Americans are not very good at maintaining a sense of community -- until a major crisis comes along. Will cleaning up Bush's mess once he's gone be seen by most Americans as a crisis? I don't know.

[linazelle]

20. Yes. Maybe the hard times ahead will be the answer. nt

[H2O Man]

14. In the mechanical sense,

nation-states grow and then decline, following the same basic pattern throughout the past 5,000 years of human history. There are two competing forces in each society: the urge to produce and expand, versus the urge to acquire and hoard. When the first force is more powerful, the society grows; when the second takes over, the society decays.

In the mechanical sense, without much chance of significant error, we can predict the course any society is taking. That is because "today" is a direct consequence of "yesterday," just as that "yesterday" is of the day, week, month, year, decade, and century that came before it.

The only thing that can change is people: you, me, our family and friends, our neighbors, our enemies. Thus, if "tomorrow" is going to be any different than today, or last year, that change can only be effected by our changing. And when one thing changes, the consequence is that everything around it must change .... though it can be so subtle that we may not notice it. One has to step outside of the frame to get an object view of the picture.

One way to do this is to read. The wonderful speech that Robert Kennedy gave in South Africa four decades ago comes to mind: where he spoke of the actions of individuals creating ripples that join to make a current .... that was the definition of what creates change.

At some point, we need to wake up to our humanity, and put foolish divisions behind us .... and not think of ourselves in restrictive terms such as democrat or republican; Christian or Jew or atheist; American, Chinese, French; black, brown, red, yellow or white. We need to wake up to our common humanity. It is sad that it can take a tragic incident to make people think. But it doesn't have to be that way. We can decide for ourselves. We have a power within us that is largely untapped.

[linazelle]

17. Very well said--that we really must be the change we want to see.

I think that most of us here are enlightened--we have all changed as a result of the changes happening in government. Maybe the changes in opinions of the leadership, are the result of the small but effective efforts from those like us who have helped to support and educate others. Maybe we just have to keep at it. Still, I have the nagging feeling that doing so will only raise the ire of the unenlightened. Back to win-lose again.

[The2ndWheel]

15. "There has to be some happy medium"

"some win-win that will appease everybody. Otherwise, we are all screwed."

If there was such a thing as enough, America never would've gotten off the ground. There will always be someone willing to take what you have, by the pen, or the gun. At least the gun is quicker.

[kentuck]

19. That is an excellent question !

We need a "real" uniter - not a fake one.