America Divided

[OCA]

You know i'm pissed today, but its suddenly starting to transition over to sadness. I, in my lifetime anyway, have never seen America so divided, its sickening. I just don't understand, 9/11 was close to uniting us but there were still some detractors and now we've got this guy who it appears was taking a chance on making a buck for his family(albeit in a dangerous place) and he gets whacked for it. STILL Americans are divided and playing the blame game. I don't know, I don't think this country will ever be united on anything and i'm beginning to think it might've seen its better days.

 

[preemptingyou03]

OCA, have you ever read Sean Hannity's "An End To Evil?"

 

[OCA]

Originally posted by preemptingyou03
OCA, have you ever read Sean Hannity's "An End To Evil?"

No and yes i've seen the tv show hundreds of times but the last political book I tried to read was one of Ann Coulter's and it was like reading the right wing version of "It Takes A Village". So I've shied away from political literature lately.

After my diatribe no, I haven't read the book

 

[NewGuy]

Originally posted by OCA
You know i'm pissed today, but its suddenly starting to transition over to sadness. I, in my lifetime anyway, have never seen America so divided, its sickening. I just don't understand, 9/11 was close to uniting us but there were still some detractors and now we've got this guy who it appears was taking a chance on making a buck for his family(albeit in a dangerous place) and he gets whacked for it. STILL Americans are divided and playing the blame game. I don't know, I don't think this country will ever be united on anything and i'm beginning to think it might've seen its better days.

You are starting to sound like a Constitutionalist. I agree with you, and I see the whole thing as a natural progression of socialism in America.

It started long ago, and now we are beginning to see what happens when you slowly chip away at the American system over decades.

It cannot be fixed with band-aids and bondo.

This bus requires a whole new drive train. -Being based on the same model as the old is fine. We just need to start with a no wear-and-tear situation.

 

[nycflasher]

Originally posted by OCA
You know i'm pissed today, but its suddenly starting to transition over to sadness. I, in my lifetime anyway, have never seen America so divided, its sickening. I just don't understand, 9/11 was close to uniting us but there were still some detractors and now we've got this guy who it appears was taking a chance on making a buck for his family(albeit in a dangerous place) and he gets whacked for it. STILL Americans are divided and playing the blame game. I don't know, I don't think this country will ever be united on anything and i'm beginning to think it might've seen its better days.

I think I first realized how divided our country was after the last Presidential election. I didn't realize that half of the country saw things so differently from me.

It's a shame we don't have more options in terms of leadership.
I'm real sick of the two-party system.

 

[preemptingyou03]

Well OCA...

In this book, Sean Hannity outlines a memo from Democartic leaders he obtained. It is the most cynical memo I've ever read. It was for the SSCI, which is supposed to be a non-political, bipartisan thing...

Dems are playing politics with our national security. They hate Bush more than they hate Hussein.

 

[preemptingyou03]

And Hannity also reveals how it was never like this. Dems and Republicans always worked together on national security. They had a saying, "Politics stops at the water's edge."

To Dems, that doesn't mean anything anymore.

 

[OCA]

Originally posted by nycflasher
I think I first realized how divided our country was after the last Presidential election. I didn't realize that half of the country saw things so differently from me.

It's a shame we don't have more options in terms of leadership.
I'm real sick of the two-party system.

Wait, Greece has a 50 party system and that totally fucks shit up. Often times the leading party will get only 20% of the vote so they have to cut some deals with everybody else and basically you have fucking anarchy in the government. Nothing ever gets done. For example, the power company over there was protesting something or other the last time I was there by the government and for nearly half the day they'd shut off the friggin power to the whole country. Lol what a mess, i'll take ours anyday.

 

[OCA]

Originally posted by preemptingyou03
And Hannity also reveals how it was never like this. Dems and Republicans always worked together on national security. They had a saying, "Politics stops at the water's edge."

To Dems, that doesn't mean anything anymore.

Oh I agree with you there, but if it is revealed that we haven't squashed these bugs because Bush is playing election year politics, not only am I going to be pissed you will see his approval ratings fall into the single digits because Americans are going to be pissed, then guess what? We get president flip flop. You see my point i'm making? Nobody can say that they don't see any telltale signs of that happening either. I'm beginning to agree with the sentiment that ALL politicians are cockroaches regardless of party.

 

[JIHADTHIS]

Sadly I agree in a way. 9/11 changed the world. I remember standing on Broadway watching the fires and then the collapse. I remember walking all the way uptown and the absolute surrealness of the whole day. But you know what I remember most? The absolute anger and rage at what happened. Sadness for the loss of life? Yes. But anger was my first reaction.

This country came together that day, and the moment was there to be seized. But alas, it is gone. The onward march of time makes you foget how you felt in a certain point of your life. It dulls the emotion. So now it is all just a distant memory for some, I guess that's human nature.

We sit here two years later and we fight about all of the little details.

Some advocate compassion and finding a higher ground. They ask: "What can we do to change the big picture? Why do they hate us? What does the rest of the world think?"

Some are stuck on the who's to blame? "It was Bush! It was Clinton! "

We go to war. Rightly or Wrongly we are there.

Some people fail to realize this and in their zeal to bring a swift end to warfare actually prolong it. We spend hours debating why we went. We politicize it. We turn our rage inward. "You're a liberal traitor!" "You're a neocon war monger!" We blame ourselves for every thing that goes wrong.

All the while, the Osamas of the world laugh at us and continue to strengthen. They can see what is going on in the US. They watch CNN, Foxnews, etc.

We are in the middle of an election year. Unfortunatley people are more concerned about Survior and American Idol. We'll be lucky to get a 35% turnout in the general election. You have those that think that Bush walks on water. You have those that think Kerry will save the day. Neither one of them is perfect.
But they are both politicians, remember that. There are those that just don't care.

We as a nation are too self absorbed, while at the same time many of us would give the shirt off of our backs to someone in need.

Sadly, it won't be until we are attacked again that people will re-open their eyes. My only hope is that more people will feel rage then sadness, and turn this rage against those that mean to kill us. Maybe then they will look past the bullshit and finish this war against the jihadists once and for all. Until then, count on more bodybags and flag draped coffins.

 

[nycflasher]

Originally posted by JIHADTHIS
Sadly I agree in a way. 9/11 changed the world. I remember standing on Broadway watching the fires and then the collapse. I remember walking all the way uptown and the absolute surrealness of the whole day. But you know what I remember most? The absolute anger and rage at what happened. Sadness for the loss of life? Yes. But anger was my first reaction.

This country came together that day, and the moment was there to be seized. But alas, it is gone. The onward march of time makes you foget how you felt in a certain point of your life. It dulls the emotion. So now it is all just a distant memory for some, I guess that's human nature.

We sit here two years later and we fight about all of the little details.

Some advocate compassion and finding a higher ground. They ask: "What can we do to change the big picture? Why do they hate us? What does the rest of the world think?"

Some are stuck on the who's to blame? "It was Bush! It was Clinton! "

We go to war. Rightly or Wrongly we are there.

Some people fail to realize this and in their zeal to bring a swift end to warfare actually prolong it. We spend hours debating why we went. We politicize it. We turn our rage inward. "You're a liberal traitor!" "You're a neocon war monger!" We blame ourselves for every thing that goes wrong.

All the while, the Osamas of the world laugh at us and continue to strengthen. They can see what is going on in the US. They watch CNN, Foxnews, etc.

We are in the middle of an election year. Unfortunatley people are more concerned about Survior and American Idol. We'll be lucky to get a 35% turnout in the general election. You have those that think that Bush walks on water. You have those that think Kerry will save the day. Neither one of them is perfect.
But they are both politicians, remember that. There are those that just don't care.

We as a nation are too self absorbed, while at the same time many of us would give the shirt off of our backs to someone in need.

Sadly, it won't be until we are attacked again that people will re-open their eyes. My only hope is that more people will feel rage then sadness, and turn this rage against those that mean to kill us. Maybe then they will look past the bullshit and finish this war against the jihadists once and for all. Until then, count on more bodybags and flag draped coffins.

You make some good points here. However, I feel that sadness is just as good a motivating factor as rage. I lived on 1st St. and 1st Ave. at the time of 9/11, so I too witnessed the whole thing unfold 1st hand. My first reaction was sandness at the fact that things had come to this, then rage.

Rage may be a good motivator for soldiers actually in the field and coming under fire, but for our government who has diplomatic relationships worldwide I think we need to be appealing to the world for support out of rage as well as sadness.

 

[DKSuddeth]

Originally posted by JIHADTHIS
All the while, the Osamas of the world laugh at us and continue to strengthen. They can see what is going on in the US. They watch CNN, Foxnews, etc.

you know, this happens in the arab world also, the only difference being that the osamas and zawaqaris do all the shouting and rallying but instead of denouncing the radicalism, the clerics and muslim scholars keep quiet lending credence to those who pollute Islam for murderous purposes.

 

[JIHADTHIS]

Originally posted by nycflasher
You make some good points here. However, I feel that sadness is just as good a motivating factor as rage. I lived on 1st St. and 1st Ave. at the time of 9/11, so I too witnessed the whole thing unfold 1st hand. My first reaction was sandness at the fact that things had come to this, then rage.

Rage may be a good motivator for soldiers actually in the field and coming under fire, but for our government who has diplomatic relationships worldwide I think we need to be appealing to the world for support out of rage as well as sadness.

Well it seems we're not getting much support. Please don't take offense, this isn't aimed at you. I've been pissed since I watched that video yesterday.

Pissed at people who think they have all the answers.
Pissed at the White House with there "these people will be brought to justice.
Pissed at Iraqi's who won't weed these fuckers out.
Pissed at John Kerry for politicizing the prison scandal
Pissed at the 9/11 commission for grandstanding
Pissed at Bush for telling me islam is a religion of peace
Pissed at the Dod for making excuses for military intelligence and their so called torture.
Pissed at those 5 scumbags that beheaded a fellow human yesterday.
Pissed at the price of gas
Pissed at people who think we can appease these bastards
Pissed at people who tie the military's hands behind its back.
Pissed at the media for only telling the side of the story that suits them
Pissed at politicians that use any excuse to get a leg up

I've had it. Whatever's going to happen is going to happen.

So what, who cares.........

 

[nycflasher]

Originally posted by JIHADTHIS
Well it seems we're not getting much support. Please don't take offense, this isn't aimed at you. I've been pissed since I watched that video yesterday.

Pissed at people who think they have all the answers.
Pissed at the White House with there "these people will be brought to justice.
Pissed at Iraqi's who won't weed these fuckers out.
Pissed at John Kerry for politicizing the prison scandal
Pissed at the 9/11 commission for grandstanding
Pissed at Bush for telling me islam is a religion of peace
Pissed at the Dod for making excuses for military intelligence and their so called torture.
Pissed at those 5 scumbags that beheaded a fellow human yesterday.
Pissed at the price of gas
Pissed at people who think we can appease these bastards
Pissed at people who tie the military's hands behind its back.
Pissed at the media for only telling the side of the story that suits them
Pissed at politicians that use any excuse to get a leg up

I've had it. Whatever's going to happen is going to happen.

So what, who cares.........

Things are a mess.
When I get pissed, I get even...

Just haven't figured out how, yet.

 

[007]

Originally posted by OCA
You know i'm pissed today, but its suddenly starting to transition over to sadness. I, in my lifetime anyway, have never seen America so divided, its sickening. I just don't understand, 9/11 was close to uniting us but there were still some detractors and now we've got this guy who it appears was taking a chance on making a buck for his family(albeit in a dangerous place) and he gets whacked for it. STILL Americans are divided and playing the blame game. I don't know, I don't think this country will ever be united on anything and i'm beginning to think it might've seen its better days.

I know what you're talking about OCA. I'm 48 years old and have seen some shit. I have been listening to the political climate of this country ever since I enlisted in the Air Force in 1979. It's changed over the years. Changed for the worse.

I remember the day President John F Kennedy was shot. Even though Republicans and Democrats alike mourned the death of this President, I believe that's the day a fisher was created between the two parties. It's grown wider and deaper year by year. Partisan politics is no longer about issues, it's about who's got the POWER. Democrats for the largest part of my life have had that power. Now that the House and the Senate are majority controlled by Republicans for the first time in over forty years, the Democrats are in a FRENZY to regain that power. They could give a shit less about the issues pertaining to the people of this country.... it's all about POWER!

I've said it before OCA, almost in jest. But I see it seeming more and more probable. The deep and deepening divide in this country could someday come... "to another Civil War", and for a great number of reasons other than simply politics.

 

[insein]

I havent been this pissed off in my entire life. Not even 9/11 was i this pissed. 9/11 brought us all together and that was a comforting thought in a time of crisis. The thought that Democrats and Republicans for at least a few days all thought of themselves as Americans helped ease my rage because i thought, finally we're going to come together like in WW2 and destroy the enemy. That brought comfort to the rage i felt.

With this brutal decaptitation, I felt the same rage as 9/11. However, it intensified when i heard people say "well we deserved it for that prison." Or "We caused it because of the prison." Or "Well we killed lots of innocents with our bombs." To think that Americans would actual blame America for causing the beheading. They basically, in their eyes, could have replaced our soldiers in that film and wouldnt have seen a difference. This physically has made me ill over the last few days.

It further sickens me when Partisan politics are played even with this. If no can simply speak from the heart about how awful this is without worrying about what people will think, then you don't deserve to be in office! Leading Democrats that were leading the charge for Rumsfield's head the day before were silent when an actually American is slaughtered in a cold calculated manner. They had to wait an entire day just to think of the right thing to say without hurting their partisan positions against the president. It sickens me to no end that these people call themselves leaders. Joe Lieberman was the only leading Democrat to speak from the heart and call this for what it is, appalling.

I'm so sick of teddy Kennedy driving a larger and larger wedge into the population of this country with his down right Slanderous comments towards the president that HE GETS AWAY WITH BECAUSE THE MEDIA WON'T CALL HIM ON IT!!!

We are losing our country people. No longer will i sit back and allow the Appeasers to spout their rhetoric without vehoment retort. They are so in the wrong and we can't afford to be wrong. Our lives are ALL at stake. Some people may be ignorant and may think that well it doesnt affect them. But when its their kids and grandkids that are living in a shell of the America i know, thats when all hope for the earth will be lost.

 

[dilloduck]

Include me in on the sad AND pissed lists

Something a universty gov prof of mine said is beginning to haunt me and it goes something like this---- The way a democracy maintains and sustains power is to promote minority rights. Since there are so many minorities one can place himself in, we all can identify with one somewhere. Minority groups are ultimately checked be the fact that the larger the minority group becomes the more likely it is to split due to argument among themselves about other minority issues.

Basically no one gets ultimate control. I just wonder if 2 groups have made so many minority allies at this point in time that the fissure is particularly large. I now define the two groups as the one who faces reality and one that prefers fantasy. I can see why both sides hate each other for pushing ideologies.

I personally fantasize that someday the news organizations will report everything completely and fairly but understand that the big money people will not allow this to happen and will not allow thier political servants from swaying from the main objective which is to gain more power by gaining more money.

They let the people with more "lofty" ideals argue amongst themselves about who is holier than thou and laugh from thier place of material security.

It really doesn't matter because we all end up in the same place and the Aliens are invading Mexico as I speak.

 

[Gop guy]

Originally posted by OCA
You know i'm pissed today, but its suddenly starting to transition over to sadness. I, in my lifetime anyway, have never seen America so divided, its sickening. I just don't understand, 9/11 was close to uniting us but there were still some detractors and now we've got this guy who it appears was taking a chance on making a buck for his family(albeit in a dangerous place) and he gets whacked for it. STILL Americans are divided and playing the blame game. I don't know, I don't think this country will ever be united on anything and i'm beginning to think it might've seen its better days.

OCA dude, no offense but you're always either pissed or on an ego trip.

 

[nycflasher]

Originally posted by Gop guy
OCA dude, no offense but you're always either pissed or on an ego trip.

:funnyface

 

[NewGuy]

OCA is the heart and soul of the unspoken majority, though.