CDZ I'm angry, most of us are - how do we bridge the divide and become one nation again?

[Wyatt earp]

is it even possible anymore?

Thomas Jefferson said that the tree of liberty must be refreshed with the blood of Patriots and tyrants from time to time

If I'm being honest, I'm almost there. Except I don't think we have a tyrant in charge, in fact, I'm THRILLED with our president.

There are many people, some whom I respect immensely, that are 180 degrees from where I am politically, that feel the same way.

14 years ago I won custody of a 13 month old baby girl & I was a small business owner starting out. Message boards became my social life & outlet - things are different now, I still have the girl and I still like message boards, but I'm in a better place.

But I have NEVER been this angry and ready for a fight.

Many of my friends on the left feel the same way.

So, how do we fix this?

OR are we at the point of no return?

Easy

The moderates need to take back America

America is being run from the extremes. There is no longer a political middle. Compromise is a crime

America was built on political compromise. The moderates of both parties need to abandon the extremists and form a coalition to make America great again

And what are YOU willing to compromise on?

I have always been willing to negotiate I have never voted a straight ticket in my life and have voted for both Republican and Democratic Presidents

I am willing to compromise spending cuts and tax rates
I am willing to compromise on gun control
I am willing to compromise on healthcare
I am willing to compromise on immigration

Your turn

What would you compromise about on gun control? (Federal government gun control is UNCONSTITUTIONAL). I am not willing to "compromise" my rights.

What would compromise about on immigration?

^^
Gotta love girls ...

 

[dcbl]

The "right" on the other hand are sometimes "preppers" or people living off the grid out in the middle of nowhere with their guns. Lol. Come on libs, follow your own memes, will ya?

Scroll to the bottom of the page and check out the links

Not sure if management is friendly to preppers if they just pay to promote here...

I have ad blocker on.

It's an embedded link, you can see it with ad blocker...

I don't have anything at the bottom of my page. Are you talking about links in a post?

go the the home page

scroll down to the bottom - you will see white text with a black background

in the middle, there is a hot link to "Prepper Forums"

eta - viewable on every page, not just home page

cannot be seen on a phone I don't think

 

[Disir]

is it even possible anymore?

Thomas Jefferson said that the tree of liberty must be refreshed with the blood of Patriots and tyrants from time to time

If I'm being honest, I'm almost there. Except I don't think we have a tyrant in charge, in fact, I'm THRILLED with our president.

There are many people, some whom I respect immensely, that are 180 degrees from where I am politically, that feel the same way.

14 years ago I won custody of a 13 month old baby girl & I was a small business owner starting out. Message boards became my social life & outlet - things are different now, I still have the girl and I still like message boards, but I'm in a better place.

But I have NEVER been this angry and ready for a fight.

Many of my friends on the left feel the same way.

So, how do we fix this?

OR are we at the point of no return?

Easy

The moderates need to take back America

America is being run from the extremes. There is no longer a political middle. Compromise is a crime

America was built on political compromise. The moderates of both parties need to abandon the extremists and form a coalition to make America great again

And what are YOU willing to compromise on?

I have always been willing to negotiate I have never voted a straight ticket in my life and have voted for both Republican and Democratic Presidents

I am willing to compromise spending cuts and tax rates
I am willing to compromise on gun control
I am willing to compromise on healthcare
I am willing to compromise on immigration

Your turn

You say you are willing to compromise but you give no specifics.

The devil is in the details.

It's an awful lot like that mythical center we are supposed to get back to.

 

[ChrisL]

The "right" on the other hand are sometimes "preppers" or people living off the grid out in the middle of nowhere with their guns. Lol. Come on libs, follow your own memes, will ya?

Scroll to the bottom of the page and check out the links

Not sure if management is friendly to preppers if they just pay to promote here...

I have ad blocker on.

It's an embedded link, you can see it with ad blocker...

I don't have anything at the bottom of my page. Are you talking about links in a post?

go the the home page

scroll down to the bottom - you will see white text with a black background

in the middle, there is a hot link to "Prepper Forums"

eta - viewable on every page, not just home page

cannot be seen on a phone I don't think

Oh, I can see it now. I don't have any idea what that is about. TBH, I never even noticed it before you pointed it out.

 

[Unkotare]

is it even possible anymore?

Thomas Jefferson said that the tree of liberty must be refreshed with the blood of Patriots and tyrants from time to time

If I'm being honest, I'm almost there. Except I don't think we have a tyrant in charge, in fact, I'm THRILLED with our president.

There are many people, some whom I respect immensely, that are 180 degrees from where I am politically, that feel the same way.

14 years ago I won custody of a 13 month old baby girl & I was a small business owner starting out. Message boards became my social life & outlet - things are different now, I still have the girl and I still like message boards, but I'm in a better place.

But I have NEVER been this angry and ready for a fight.

Many of my friends on the left feel the same way.

So, how do we fix this?

OR are we at the point of no return?

Stop the widening gap between the rich and poor. A big strong happy middle class will do it.

You can't have free market unregulated capitalism. It has to be regulated. And some things like healthcare need to be regulated. Maybe even socialized.

If your way is going to work people need to stop having kids. A major population decrease. I'm all for that. Too many people now

That, of course, makes no sense. Even a cursory understanding of demographics shows the exact opposite.

 

[Dogmaphobe]

My answer is for people to start seeing themselves as individuals rather than as members of a political tribe and to apply the same standards to all.

At its heart, the problem here is one of utter conformity and lack of an inquiring mind. People simply replicate talking points instead of analyzing an event according to any sort of rational belief system.

 

[dcbl]

So, how do you stop people being manipulated? You don't. It's impossible. So it depends all on the manipulators, and those are either red or blue, partisan politics and they'll rip the country open to remain in charge.

I think we are in agreement here

the general public does not trust the government, especially "the other side"

but it seems that cries of "uniparty" have some merit

this helped Trump, as he was able to brand himself as "an outsider fighting BOTH parties" (not interested in addressing the veracity of that ITT, just pointing out that he was able to claim that role in the minds of many)

 

[rightwinger]

is it even possible anymore?

Thomas Jefferson said that the tree of liberty must be refreshed with the blood of Patriots and tyrants from time to time

If I'm being honest, I'm almost there. Except I don't think we have a tyrant in charge, in fact, I'm THRILLED with our president.

There are many people, some whom I respect immensely, that are 180 degrees from where I am politically, that feel the same way.

14 years ago I won custody of a 13 month old baby girl & I was a small business owner starting out. Message boards became my social life & outlet - things are different now, I still have the girl and I still like message boards, but I'm in a better place.

But I have NEVER been this angry and ready for a fight.

Many of my friends on the left feel the same way.

So, how do we fix this?

OR are we at the point of no return?

Easy

The moderates need to take back America

America is being run from the extremes. There is no longer a political middle. Compromise is a crime

America was built on political compromise. The moderates of both parties need to abandon the extremists and form a coalition to make America great again

And what are YOU willing to compromise on?

I have always been willing to negotiate I have never voted a straight ticket in my life and have voted for both Republican and Democratic Presidents

I am willing to compromise spending cuts and tax rates
I am willing to compromise on gun control
I am willing to compromise on healthcare
I am willing to compromise on immigration

Your turn

What would you compromise about on gun control? (Federal government gun control is UNCONSTITUTIONAL). I am not willing to "compromise" my rights.

What would compromise about on immigration?

Not playing that game

List your compromises and then we can discuss from there. That is the way compromise works. It takes TWO sides

 

[rightwinger]

is it even possible anymore?

Thomas Jefferson said that the tree of liberty must be refreshed with the blood of Patriots and tyrants from time to time

If I'm being honest, I'm almost there. Except I don't think we have a tyrant in charge, in fact, I'm THRILLED with our president.

There are many people, some whom I respect immensely, that are 180 degrees from where I am politically, that feel the same way.

14 years ago I won custody of a 13 month old baby girl & I was a small business owner starting out. Message boards became my social life & outlet - things are different now, I still have the girl and I still like message boards, but I'm in a better place.

But I have NEVER been this angry and ready for a fight.

Many of my friends on the left feel the same way.

So, how do we fix this?

OR are we at the point of no return?

Easy

The moderates need to take back America

America is being run from the extremes. There is no longer a political middle. Compromise is a crime

America was built on political compromise. The moderates of both parties need to abandon the extremists and form a coalition to make America great again

And what are YOU willing to compromise on?

I have always been willing to negotiate I have never voted a straight ticket in my life and have voted for both Republican and Democratic Presidents

I am willing to compromise spending cuts and tax rates
I am willing to compromise on gun control
I am willing to compromise on healthcare
I am willing to compromise on immigration

Your turn

You say you are willing to compromise but you give no specifics.

The devil is in the details.

It's an awful lot like that mythical center we are supposed to get back to.

America has always had a political center
Politicians willing to cross the aisle

We used to have a word for it

Bipartisanship

 

[ChrisL]

is it even possible anymore?

Thomas Jefferson said that the tree of liberty must be refreshed with the blood of Patriots and tyrants from time to time

If I'm being honest, I'm almost there. Except I don't think we have a tyrant in charge, in fact, I'm THRILLED with our president.

There are many people, some whom I respect immensely, that are 180 degrees from where I am politically, that feel the same way.

14 years ago I won custody of a 13 month old baby girl & I was a small business owner starting out. Message boards became my social life & outlet - things are different now, I still have the girl and I still like message boards, but I'm in a better place.

But I have NEVER been this angry and ready for a fight.

Many of my friends on the left feel the same way.

So, how do we fix this?

OR are we at the point of no return?

Easy

The moderates need to take back America

America is being run from the extremes. There is no longer a political middle. Compromise is a crime

America was built on political compromise. The moderates of both parties need to abandon the extremists and form a coalition to make America great again

And what are YOU willing to compromise on?

I have always been willing to negotiate I have never voted a straight ticket in my life and have voted for both Republican and Democratic Presidents

I am willing to compromise spending cuts and tax rates
I am willing to compromise on gun control
I am willing to compromise on healthcare
I am willing to compromise on immigration

Your turn

What would you compromise about on gun control? (Federal government gun control is UNCONSTITUTIONAL). I am not willing to "compromise" my rights.

What would compromise about on immigration?

Not playing that game

List your compromises and then we can discuss from there. That is the way compromise works. It takes TWO sides

You haven't given any examples of a compromise you would make though. I don't believe you. I don't trust you. You are dishonest in your tactics and your motives. That is part of the reason for the divide.

 

[rightwinger]

Easy

The moderates need to take back America

America is being run from the extremes. There is no longer a political middle. Compromise is a crime

America was built on political compromise. The moderates of both parties need to abandon the extremists and form a coalition to make America great again

And what are YOU willing to compromise on?

I have always been willing to negotiate I have never voted a straight ticket in my life and have voted for both Republican and Democratic Presidents

I am willing to compromise spending cuts and tax rates
I am willing to compromise on gun control
I am willing to compromise on healthcare
I am willing to compromise on immigration

Your turn

What would you compromise about on gun control? (Federal government gun control is UNCONSTITUTIONAL). I am not willing to "compromise" my rights.

What would compromise about on immigration?

Not playing that game

List your compromises and then we can discuss from there. That is the way compromise works. It takes TWO sides

You haven't given any examples of a compromise you would make though. I don't believe you. I don't trust you. You are dishonest in your tactics and your motives. That is part of the reason for the divide.

I've provided the areas I am willing to compromise on
I will provide more details once I see where your position is

Your turn

 

[Dogmaphobe]

is it even possible anymore?

Thomas Jefferson said that the tree of liberty must be refreshed with the blood of Patriots and tyrants from time to time

If I'm being honest, I'm almost there. Except I don't think we have a tyrant in charge, in fact, I'm THRILLED with our president.

There are many people, some whom I respect immensely, that are 180 degrees from where I am politically, that feel the same way.

14 years ago I won custody of a 13 month old baby girl & I was a small business owner starting out. Message boards became my social life & outlet - things are different now, I still have the girl and I still like message boards, but I'm in a better place.

But I have NEVER been this angry and ready for a fight.

Many of my friends on the left feel the same way.

So, how do we fix this?

OR are we at the point of no return?

Stop the widening gap between the rich and poor. A big strong happy middle class will do it.

You can't have free market unregulated capitalism. It has to be regulated. And some things like healthcare need to be regulated. Maybe even socialized.

If your way is going to work people need to stop having kids. A major population decrease. I'm all for that. Too many people now

Who is going to pay for that healthcare with a rapidly declining population?

 

[ChrisL]

And what are YOU willing to compromise on?

I have always been willing to negotiate I have never voted a straight ticket in my life and have voted for both Republican and Democratic Presidents

I am willing to compromise spending cuts and tax rates
I am willing to compromise on gun control
I am willing to compromise on healthcare
I am willing to compromise on immigration

Your turn

What would you compromise about on gun control? (Federal government gun control is UNCONSTITUTIONAL). I am not willing to "compromise" my rights.

What would compromise about on immigration?

Not playing that game

List your compromises and then we can discuss from there. That is the way compromise works. It takes TWO sides

You haven't given any examples of a compromise you would make though. I don't believe you. I don't trust you. You are dishonest in your tactics and your motives. That is part of the reason for the divide.

I've provided the areas I am willing to compromise on
I will provide more details once I see where your position is

Your turn

And I asked you what compromises specifically would you be willing to make. If you can't or won't answer the question, then just say so. I'm not going to play silly games with you.

 

[rightwinger]

I have always been willing to negotiate I have never voted a straight ticket in my life and have voted for both Republican and Democratic Presidents

I am willing to compromise spending cuts and tax rates
I am willing to compromise on gun control
I am willing to compromise on healthcare
I am willing to compromise on immigration

Your turn

What would you compromise about on gun control? (Federal government gun control is UNCONSTITUTIONAL). I am not willing to "compromise" my rights.

What would compromise about on immigration?

Not playing that game

List your compromises and then we can discuss from there. That is the way compromise works. It takes TWO sides

You haven't given any examples of a compromise you would make though. I don't believe you. I don't trust you. You are dishonest in your tactics and your motives. That is part of the reason for the divide.

I've provided the areas I am willing to compromise on
I will provide more details once I see where your position is

Your turn

And I asked you what compromises specifically would you be willing to make. If you can't or won't answer the question, then just say so. I'm not going to play silly games with you.

You are showing your true colors in being unwilling to even identify what areas you will compromise on

I showed you mine...now you are moving the bar and demanding more

Your turn

 

[ChrisL]

What would you compromise about on gun control? (Federal government gun control is UNCONSTITUTIONAL). I am not willing to "compromise" my rights.

What would compromise about on immigration?

Not playing that game

List your compromises and then we can discuss from there. That is the way compromise works. It takes TWO sides

You haven't given any examples of a compromise you would make though. I don't believe you. I don't trust you. You are dishonest in your tactics and your motives. That is part of the reason for the divide.

I've provided the areas I am willing to compromise on
I will provide more details once I see where your position is

Your turn

And I asked you what compromises specifically would you be willing to make. If you can't or won't answer the question, then just say so. I'm not going to play silly games with you.

You are showing your true colors in being unwilling to even identify what areas you will compromise on

And you are showing yours by asking me to compromise without telling me WHAT I would be compromising.

 

[Disir]

Easy

The moderates need to take back America

America is being run from the extremes. There is no longer a political middle. Compromise is a crime

America was built on political compromise. The moderates of both parties need to abandon the extremists and form a coalition to make America great again

And what are YOU willing to compromise on?

I have always been willing to negotiate I have never voted a straight ticket in my life and have voted for both Republican and Democratic Presidents

I am willing to compromise spending cuts and tax rates
I am willing to compromise on gun control
I am willing to compromise on healthcare
I am willing to compromise on immigration

Your turn

You say you are willing to compromise but you give no specifics.

The devil is in the details.

It's an awful lot like that mythical center we are supposed to get back to.

America has always had a political center
Politicians willing to cross the aisle

We used to have a word for it

Bipartisanship

The center is the intersection of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

 

[Wyatt earp]

is it even possible anymore?

Thomas Jefferson said that the tree of liberty must be refreshed with the blood of Patriots and tyrants from time to time

If I'm being honest, I'm almost there. Except I don't think we have a tyrant in charge, in fact, I'm THRILLED with our president.

There are many people, some whom I respect immensely, that are 180 degrees from where I am politically, that feel the same way.

14 years ago I won custody of a 13 month old baby girl & I was a small business owner starting out. Message boards became my social life & outlet - things are different now, I still have the girl and I still like message boards, but I'm in a better place.

But I have NEVER been this angry and ready for a fight.

Many of my friends on the left feel the same way.

So, how do we fix this?

OR are we at the point of no return?

Easy

The moderates need to take back America

America is being run from the extremes. There is no longer a political middle. Compromise is a crime

America was built on political compromise. The moderates of both parties need to abandon the extremists and form a coalition to make America great again

And what are YOU willing to compromise on?

I have always been willing to negotiate I have never voted a straight ticket in my life and have voted for both Republican and Democratic Presidents

I am willing to compromise spending cuts and tax rates
I am willing to compromise on gun control
I am willing to compromise on healthcare
I am willing to compromise on immigration

Your turn

What would you compromise about on gun control? (Federal government gun control is UNCONSTITUTIONAL). I am not willing to "compromise" my rights.

What would compromise about on immigration?

Not playing that game

List your compromises and then we can discuss from there. That is the way compromise works. It takes TWO sides

Obama went around Congress...

 

[rightwinger]

Not playing that game

List your compromises and then we can discuss from there. That is the way compromise works. It takes TWO sides

You haven't given any examples of a compromise you would make though. I don't believe you. I don't trust you. You are dishonest in your tactics and your motives. That is part of the reason for the divide.

I've provided the areas I am willing to compromise on
I will provide more details once I see where your position is

Your turn

And I asked you what compromises specifically would you be willing to make. If you can't or won't answer the question, then just say so. I'm not going to play silly games with you.

You are showing your true colors in being unwilling to even identify what areas you will compromise on

And you are showing yours by asking me to compromise without telling me WHAT I would be compromising.

I quickly accommodated your demand to show what I would compromise on

So let's play

I will compromise on spending for social programs and the military in return for higher tax rates on the wealthy

You game?

 

[ChrisL]

You haven't given any examples of a compromise you would make though. I don't believe you. I don't trust you. You are dishonest in your tactics and your motives. That is part of the reason for the divide.

I've provided the areas I am willing to compromise on
I will provide more details once I see where your position is

Your turn

And I asked you what compromises specifically would you be willing to make. If you can't or won't answer the question, then just say so. I'm not going to play silly games with you.

You are showing your true colors in being unwilling to even identify what areas you will compromise on

And you are showing yours by asking me to compromise without telling me WHAT I would be compromising.

I quickly accommodated your demand to show what I would compromise on

So let's play

I will compromise on spending for social programs and the military in return for higher tax rates on the wealthy

You game?

No. I think the government does TOO much wasteful spending, and I want them to cut down on their spending programs that are wasteful and stupid and redundant. How much money does the fed bring in in one week's time? Guess.

We fought against oppressive taxation during the Revolutionary war!

 

[dcbl]

Pot met kettle.

I am happy to engage in serious and polite conversation with folks that demonstrate they are worth having a conversation with

there are several left leaning members of this forum that will attest to that

my thing is, I hate stupid people - I'd rather argue with an intelligent leftist that makes me think than have a "circle jerk" conversation with a stupid conservative

FWIW - there are a few conservatives on this forum that I just ignore, not with the "ignore" feature, but by simply not paying attention to them

stupid liberals? I enjoy pushing their buttons, won't even lie about it

and YES, I participate in my fair share of partisan bickering (that is the fun of a forum like this); but I always open the door to anyone that wants to have an intelligent conversation

An informed electorate would be a good start. Having a President that doesn't declare he is using "alternative facts" or anything derogatory is "fake news" would be a good start too; the informed electorate would take care of the former come to think about it.

The only major change is the tenor of the discussion. Try to have a conversation about HRC with someone on the right wing and see how long it takes before the word "bitch" is brought up. Have your stopwatch handy.

see, I would submit to you that a statement like this is unhelpful in a conversation like this

I am asking how to come together & find common ground, telling me what you don't like about "my side" is a bad place to START - having said that, I do understand that you cannot work on a problem without addressing the problem

but getting started needs to be about what we can agree on; then we build trust with thoughtful communication, THEN we address our "laundry list" of complaints and see if there is a way to constructively address them...

And I'm assuring you that no such uncrossable gap exist; anymore than it did during the 1960's or especially 1860 for that matter.

It's funny you would say this because I have been thinking that we are more divided than we have been at any point since the War Between the States

the 1960's had some heated moments & divisiveness, but were really nowhere near as bad as what we see today (or in the 1860's)

I really do fear for my country right now - I am not sure we would survive a "shooting war" & every day that passes seems to make that type of conflict more & more plausible...

Lastly, it's worth noting that MANY of the responses ITT center around why the other side is "bad" & laying the blame with everyone who does not agree with them

not that surprising, but disappointing nevertheless; esp in the "clean" debate zone...