A Political Rant

I posted on my profile at Fan Fiction.net that I am a Moderate, which means I am neither Liberal or Conservative. Somehow, this guy found out my E-Mail adress and sent me this message:

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Yes hello I just wanted to ask you a question. If you did chose a political side
what would it be for me I'm republican I hate liberals and such because as you
said they are idiots. they should learn to take care themselves anyway I await
your reply to this message.
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Okay, what is this dude's problem? Did he not understand that I am a MODERATE?

THAT MEANS I REFUSE TO CHOSE A SIDE! WERE YOU NOT LISTENING? HELLO?! IS ANYONE HOME?!

Both Liberals AND Conservatives are nuts.

People who are too Liberal are Communists, and people who are too Conservative are Nazis.

Both sides have a lot of major problems. Liberals are all "oh no! rules are fascism!" and conservatives are all "Let's go to war without real reasons!"

And both sides hate each other so much it's not funny anymore! Both sides, blaming each other for every single problem that happens!!!

Liberals: "The republicans want to take over the world!"
Conservatives: "The democrats are turning us all into wild animals!"

I am seriously peeved that this guy can't grasp the simple concept that the system is messed up either way you go.

This is why I chose to be a moderate- I take what good there is from both sides and put them together into my own way of thinking-I take the conservative view of being Pro Life (Do not argue with me about it. If you want to discuss it, start a topic and leave me alone.) and I take the Liberal stance that the Death Penalty is wrong.

I am a moderate. It's futile to make me choose a side because chosing a side either way would force me to abandon my beliefs.

Don't even try to make me change my mind. No one has that power.

Moderates don't exist. Basically any group of opinions will, in some manner or another, be extreme - this is not a bad thing.

Originally Posted by Blue Knight

Liberals are all "oh no! rules are fascism!" and conservatives are all "Let's go to war without real reasons!"
Liberals: "The republicans want to take over the world!"
Conservatives: "The democrats are turning us all into wild animals!"

That sounds alot like Bush Bashing to me. You imply that we had no reason to go to Iraq. I tell you we did. The media just does not cover the discoveries. CBS news reported trace amounts of nerve gas in a war head buried in the sand but since it was an election year when it was discovered, and CBS supported John Kerry, they down played the discovery.

Anyway, I am a conservative but I do agree sometimes with the liberals on a very few issues. My best friend is a liberal and as you can imagine, our talks are rather...spirited.

Communism?

American Goverment?

Government?

People?

Stone tools?

Originally Posted by Blue Knight

Both Liberals AND Conservatives are nuts.

That's not a reason to be a moderate.

I am 100% certain that you take a conservative stance on at least a few issues, and a liberal stance on others. Either that, or you take no stance at all.

Originally Posted by Ninboy

Communism?

American Goverment?

Government?

People?

Stone tools?

<3 Ninboy.

Originally Posted by William Shatner

Moderates don't exist. Basically any group of opinions will, in some manner or another, be extreme - this is not a bad thing.

If Moderates don't exist, then what am I?

Originally Posted by Strong Hammer

That sounds alot like Bush Bashing to me. You imply that we had no reason to go to Iraq. I tell you we did. The media just does not cover the discoveries. CBS news reported trace amounts of nerve gas in a war head buried in the sand but since it was an election year when it was discovered, and CBS supported John Kerry, they down played the discovery.

Anyway, I am a conservative but I do agree sometimes with the liberals on a very few issues. My best friend is a liberal and as you can imagine, our talks are rather...spirited.

What I'm talking about is the fact that the Iraq war and 9/11 have absolutley nothing to do with each other. In fact, did you know that Bin Laden actually wanted us to go to war with Iraq? Why is all the emphasis on Iraq hen we're supposed to be looking for Bin Laden, anyways?

Originally Posted by Blue Knight

If Moderates don't exist, then what am I?

You're a person who doesn't find himself agreeing wholly with either one of the political factions currently vying for power in the US today. Very few of us do, but a two-party system is a direct consequence of the way our government is structured, and it isn't going away any time soon.

It is easy to see how you can view yourself as "neutral", since you seem to catagorize all political ideology into a spectrum from "conservative" to "liberal". In truth, in the world of catchphrases and tagwords that we live in today, these labels are just as superficial and meaningless as the political parties that they adhere to. However, a lack of party identity does not make you a "moderate". Whether you know it or not yet, you have a political agenda. We all do.

When this person asks you which "political side" you would choose, he is wrongly attempting to make you conform to a simplified political view. But you're making the same mistake. If politics really were so simple that the "solution" lay in taking the "middle road" between two polarized extremes, our country would probably not have as many problems as it does today.

Whatever you believe, never allow yourself to think in a polarized manner. Polarization is not just a division of ideology into two camps, it is the very notion that all concepts fall under one or another category, such as "liberal" or "conservative", "communist" or "fascist". The great radicals of history, be they Marxes, Friedmans, or Lockes, were all great, brilliant men, far more rational and intelligent than probably any of us here, and it is a grave mistake for us to dismiss their ideas so lightly.

Nobody is ever truly a moderate. However, nobody is ever going to agree with 100% of whatever their party says either, but the notion stands clear, we all have something to which we take different stands on. You would think that I was liberal, becasue I hate Bush, but then you would think I was conservative becasue I'm aginst gun control and illegal immigration, things that many people would classify as being conservative. Thie doesn't even make me conservative, nor am I liberal. I just like to say I'm more of a libertarian.

Originally Posted by Strong Hammer

That sounds alot like Bush Bashing to me.

I suspect a lot of things sound like Bush Bashing to you. Like, words, in sentences.

You imply that we had no reason to go to Iraq. I tell you we did.

Oh, thank god. Now I can tell everyone that Strong Hammer has the answer. Thank god for you.

The media just does not cover the discoveries. CBS news reported trace amounts of nerve gas in a war head buried in the sand but since it was an election year when it was discovered, and CBS supported John Kerry, they down played the discovery.

I'm Moderately disgusted.

I suggest we give everyone guns and let them shoot it out. Problem solved. No more Liberals or Conservatives or Moderates - just people with guns and bullets and the ability to silence any opinion they don't like. Permanently.

I think I'll have to agree with Blue Knight. Moderates do exist, in fact I'd consider myself a more Republican-leaning moderate because most of the time I find myself thinking that a conservative is... well, too conservative. Like those Christians that say video games cause violence. No, lack of self control does. Or those liberals that say... well I'm not very familiar with things liberals say. Anyway, get the point?

Moderates exist, we just don't talk to you party animals(joke, humor, don't yell).

EDIT: To the above. Pipking, don't wish for stuff like that. We may have had a reason(for instance, an evil dictator oppressing millions) and we may not(oil hulubalu), but telling everyone to shoot each other is a bit unfair. Some people can't aim, and most of those people are the peace advocates-- we need a lot of those or those freak Republicans will go crazy with wars.(another joke, more humor, don't yell)

Originally Posted by pipking

I'm Moderately disgusted.

Hence, why I look at politics as a humorous game, and not as being actually important.

Moderates exist, we just don't talk to you party animals(joke, humor, don't yell).

"Moderates" would have to take neither a conservative or liberal stance on issue to be truly "moderate." Essentially, they'd have to refrain from having opinions, which sort of makes politics just a power game, doesn't it? You can't care about issues and be moderate. Everyone has opinions.

Moderate is just a label people use to disassociate themselves from factions they don't like, since a "moderate", having no inherent political ideals attached to it, cannot be politically attacked for being "moderate", whereas liberals and conservatives are constantly at odds with each other. When it comes to elections, it is impossible to be moderate and cast a vote, since your vote inherently has a bias attached to it.

Hmmn... quite a sticky situation...

Well, here's my two cents on the nature of "moderates".

I suppose that I would consider myself a conservative. However, that's just a hollow adjective. I agree mostly with conservative opinions, in terms of military action, gun control, abortion, and the death penalty. But I agree with liberals in terms of their accusations against the administration about its spending, but not in terms of how they want to solve the problem.

However, just by taking what I say, and not using any prior knowledge of events and terminology, could you actually tell what my opinions are?

That's why I find all political terms as hollow adjectives, and why I think that "moderates" sometimes take things a bit too far when classifying a person when they say they are a Repub or Dem, because it doesn't just mean one thing.

So, in conclusion, I don't care.

Originally Posted by Blue Knight

What I'm talking about is the fact that 1. the Iraq war and 9/11 have absolutley nothing to do with each other. In fact, did you know that 2. Bin Laden actually wanted us to go to war with Iraq? Why is all the emphasis on Iraq hen we're supposed to be looking for Bin Laden, anyways?

1. You do not know that. Unless you are connected to the government agency that has all of this information, how can you make a comment that bold?

2. I would love to see any proof of that.

The emphasis is on Iraq because it is thought to be the worst mistake of the administration. Do not for a moment think that the hunt for Bin Laden is not still going on. Personally, I think the hunt is going very well. Look at how he used videos to deliver his messages at first. Now he is using audio cassets. One could conclude two things from this:

1. Osama is running out of money and has moved to a cheaper method of getting his messages out there without having to sacrifice money for recruitment, bombs, weapons and so on.

2. The back ground on the videos along with background noise has cause several close calls in which our soldiers might have been a day behind him.

Those are the conclusions I have drawn.

Originally Posted by pipking

suggest we give everyone guns and let them shoot it out. Problem solved. No more Liberals or Conservatives or Moderates - just people with guns and bullets and the ability to silence any opinion they don't like. Permanently.

In favor of anarchy are we? That is a bit extream. Why do you mock me for presenting an educated guess?

Originally Posted by pipking

I suggest we give everyone guns and let them shoot it out. Problem solved. No more Liberals or Conservatives or Moderates - just people with guns and bullets and the ability to silence any opinion they don't like. Permanently.

War isn't about who's right. It's about who's left.

I don't know if moderates exist or not, but I don't like to be part of a group. I have my own ideals, and they change from time to time through life experiences. I walk the road of life, choose my paths, and find who I am when I reach the end. Speak to me while I'm on my death bed, and I'll tell you with absolute certainty what I am.

Originally Posted by Strong Hammer

2. I would love to see any proof of that.

The emphasis is on Iraq because it is thought to be the worst mistake of the administration. Do not for a moment think that the hunt for Bin Laden is not still going on. Personally, I think the hunt is going very well. Look at how he used videos to deliver his messages at first. Now he is using audio cassets. One could conclude two things from this:

1. Osama is running out of money and has moved to a cheaper method of getting his messages out there without having to sacrifice money for recruitment, bombs, weapons and so on.

2. The back ground on the videos along with background noise has cause several close calls in which our soldiers might have been a day behind him.

Those are the conclusions I have drawn.

There is proof. Just before the War started, Bin Laden actually made a tape saying he wanted Iraq and the US to go to war with each other. It was on the News, for crying out loud, that he wanted this to happen.

I'm not saying that We're not looking for him at all, and I do think that it's good that they're closing in on him, I just think it's taken too long because too many resources are being put into Iraq and not enough on making sure that Bin Laden is stopped.