Quote:IMO, that's when the polarization we have now began.  He was a master triangulator.

 

I think operators on both sides have since committed to such hyperbole, etc. in an effort to paint one another as extreme.

 

Remember when it was cool to call everything "extreme" in the 90s?  Didn't matter what the product was, that's how it was merchandised.  Culture began to shift.

 

Any rational thought from either side is now annihilated by those seeking to destroy the other.  There's no debate any longer.  There are no winners or losers in public discourse.  Any salient point is completely ignored, misrepresented, or flat out lied about.  After all, you tell a lie enough, it becomes "true."

 

Once upon a time, we had leaders who believed and were able to articulate that yes, indeed there were truths that were self evident.

 

Now, all that's left is lawyeresque spin.  Depends on what the definition of "is", is.... etc...

 

I'd encourage anyone who cares, to study how this nation's government was founded.  They were very, very bright people who searched every corner of earth and it's history to develop the best system before or since based on what did/didn't work in the past.

 

They also warned of keeping this once great nation from becoming what it has by trying to limit government.  But unfortunately, even they knew that a government run out of control would be it's own undoing, and they also knew it was likely to happen again over time.  History repeating itself.

 

But just like the people had the power to form it when the nation was founded, the foundation remains there to do the same again if necessary.  Should in the course of human events it becomes once again necessary.

Well, say what you want about Clinton/Gingrich, but things still got done back then.  Sure, we had a government shutdown when the Speaker of the House was put on the back of the plane, but they eventually got together, hammered things out, and had the US on track continuing through 8 years of peace and prosperity.  Perhaps when you're having an affair while accusing the president of the same, you build a kinship.

 

As for our founding fathers, I've read up on some of the things they used to say about each other while trying to get elected, and it's easily on par with the ridiculous things their progeny accuses each other of these days. All the while building a unique Republic and molding it on the fly.

 

The dude on the 20 dollar bill once completely ignored a Supreme court decision - try doing that these days.

 

I think Eric's onto something with things changing after 9/11.  But it might not be the event that did it, just the point in time when social media created an environment where we could all get into our own echo chambers and convince ourselves that everyone else was so, very, very, wrong.  They must be, since I have an entire network of people who think EXACTLY like me. 

 

Or, should I say, that I think exactly like them - there is a difference.

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