How do we heal the political divisions in America?

Freedom, won in revolution, decreases thereafter.

The USA has been free for 230 years. Leftists like Obama and Hillary say that things will be better if the government does more for the citizens. Naive Americans hear this and believe it.

Political divisions can only be healed when the naive become educated about the benefits of liberty. Unfortunately, when more Americans embrace the idea of socialism, liberty suffers. Having the government do more equals less freedom for the citizens.

 

There are so many, but I will have to use historical examples.

It used to be gospel on the left that the Rosenbergs were innocent.

It was unquestioned in liberal circles that Russia in the 1930s was a workers paradise and much false news was published in liberal newspapers to reinforce this idea.

 

Good points!

While this thread about healing divisions is going on, two threads have been created about outrage over calling Trump's daughter a naughty word. The aim of these threads: To use one bad example to make ALL of the other side of the political divide look subhuman.

We don't actually have to look far about what is creating the political division, it is just here on this forum, in front of our eyes. The amplification of outrage, spreading of fake news etc. it happens right here. Someone posting fake news here, for sure it will be regurgitated on some other forum, message board or blog, perpetuating the fake outrage.

We are even at the point where one side firmly believes that the other side is subhuman and wants nothing else than to tear down America. How is that possible? How can we attribute the worst kind of emotions to other people who happen to have a different opinion about what makes America great?

Part of it, of course, is the negative campaigning and character assassinations from the politicians who run for office. We are just too happy to buy into their spiel and amplify their smears, whether true or not.

My prediction: Trump is just the beginning. While impossible to imagine, but we will see even more nasty races and vile candidates in the future. Until voters eventually say that the had enough of the dirty campaigning and start actively voting against the guys who haul the dirt.

 

You have just proven my point. Tyvm.

 

I agree with the media especially on Cable. Fox for the right, the pro-Trumpers, CNN and MSNBC on the left, for the anti-Trumpers. Not one news network on cable reports the straight news, fairly, fully and accurately. It is always from a political bias perspective. Now I haven't watched the news on any of the over the air networks in more than 20 or 30 years and can't speak for them. Now one must remember the cable news network are in the news business to make money, make a profit and the bigger the better. Each network reports the news in a way to please their audience. Each wants to keep the viewership they have and add more, thus make more money. The days of Walter Cronkite are long gone.

I agree polarization has set in since 2000. That should have been expected as one party moves far right, the other far left and middle America gets lost in the shuffle. You seen this in the rise in Independents, those who don't affiliate or identify with either major party. From 30% in 2005 to 40% in 2014 to 45% today. That is a huge chunk of the electorate with no political party to call home. They are left behinds by continuing movement of our two major parties to the extreme left and right.

What's left in the two major parties are the hard core ideologues. Both parties extremely happy to be rid of their moderates, the center, center left and center right in the political spectrum. That gives the hard core the freedom to nominate candidates way out of the mainstream. Candidates a majority of Americans don't want, but are force to choose between them.

I can remember when both parties had their liberal and conservatives wings. The democrats owned the conservative south and the Republicans, we called them Rockefeller Republicans the liberal northeast. There was a time when the Democratic Party was known as the big tent party, not no more. That big tent party averaged 45% of the electorate identifying with them from FDR to Reagan. It also enable the democrats to control the House for 58 out of 62 years. 1933-1994. Since then it has shrunk down to 29% of the electorate today. The Republican Party has been the smaller of the two, averaging 30% of the electorate from FDR to G.W. Bush. Today they are down to 26% of the total electorate.

The problem is the hard core ideologues reign with both major parties. There is no solving that problem unless one or the other, maybe both are willing to readmit moderates, the center, center left and right back into their parties. The ideologues won't allow that. They know in our two party system, those in middle America will be forced to choose either a far right or far left candidate even if middle America is disgusted with both and want neither. Just look at 2016, 60% of Americans didn't want Trump, 60% didn't want Clinton, yet they were forced to choose between them.

No, I don't think there is any fix. The left hates Trump. If Trump went away and Pence replaced him, Pence would then be hated as much as Trump was by the left. Republicans think the Democrats are this country's number one enemy, out to destroy the nation. The Democrats think the same thing about Republicans. Hate abounds.

There is no one man or candidate that will be able to unify. The hate from one party for the other is way too strong. This attempted destruction by both parties to destroy the other will continue until this nation is also destroyed because of it. There is no hope, that I see.

 

The blue quoted portion says it all. You don't want to "heal division". You want to defeat the right, which you see as an outside minority that needs to be defeated. Fox is rivaling all leftist networks combined. The 2016 election has proven that the country is divided right down the middle.(population wise)

 

I agree. If Pence was president, I would criticize him as much, because he is also an extremist, although not as repulsive as Trump.

On the other hand, I could have united behind a guy like Kasich. Had he been elected, I would have thanked god that we dodged the Trump bullet. Why didn't he get nominated? Because the extremists rule the primaries.

You could even see this when McCain ran for office. McCain is generally a good man. However, during his campaign he moved far right, trying to appease and excite the RW base. It didn't work, but at the same time he alienated moderates, which cost him the election, in particular the extreme pandering to the RW base by selecting someone as polarizing as Palin as the VP.

In my view, the first start has to be to change the primary system, which favors the extremists. How to do that, I don't know.

 

Trump colluded with Russia...

 

I don't know either how one would change the primary system. This system of ours has been in place since 1976, so it is relatively new. Prior to 1976 there were between 12-15 primaries, some of those not binding. The state party leaders choose whom their delegates would support in the rest. Still having each state's party leaders choose the delegates with only a handful of primaries and caucuses worked pretty good since WWII. That system gave us FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, JFK as presidents. It also gave us Nixon whom most of the party leaders owed in 1968.

The problem with our primary system is a candidate with a small fraction of one's party members/voters can use that faction to obtain the nomination. That was the case with Trump, he had the largest faction, roughly 35% of the GOP. That was enough to over ride the remaining 65% since they were divided on which candidates to support.

Perhaps it isn't the primary system at all, you touched on it. To gain the Republican nomination one must be a far right ideologue, the same with the democratic nomination, only far left. Could a Jim Webb, Joe Manchin, Jon Tester win the democratic nomination, they are more mainstream, more middle America than Hillary, Sanders, Warren etc. No way would the democratic party nominate any of them. Not far left enough. The same holds true with the Republicans.

An Eisenhower or a JFK couldn't win their party's nomination today. Too middle America. To think otherwise if fooling oneself. Perhaps the question is, how do we get middle America involved in the candidate selection process? Middle America decides who wins elections, at least on a national basis. But the ideologues of both parties don't want them involved.

The difference between the past and today is in the past, pre-primary system, party leaders were more interested in finding someone who could win in November than ideology. Today it's all about ideology and not so much who can win in November.

 

I don't know a single person who actually thought Obama wasn't born here. NO ONE!!!! Maybe part of the problem is you watch too much MSNBC when they group EVERY Conservative or Trump voter as a white nationalist KKK Nazi. The source of the problem is your deluded view of reality thats being fed to you through only Liberal media sources. And stop watching FOX through the lens of CNN or snipped youtube clips.

 

How do we heal the political divisions in America?

Kill all politicians, let God sort them out and start all over with a new bunch, repeat..

 

Never heard of Sheriff Joe Arapahoe?

 

This could've been an interesting question to discuss if it had not instantly became the "conservatives are EVIL!!" thread.

Good luck on healing divisions with that attitude.

 

Of course there are whack jobs who believe Obama wasn't born here. VERY few though. I said I didn't know...but did I have to say "personally"? I figured it was implied=)

 

Are you implying there are no conservatives that are evil?

 

We Native Americans don't believe what the govt. says, if that were true there would be no lawsuits over broken promises.

The ideas of socialism was good enough for grandpa during the Great Depression and helped the US beat enemies on two fronts and become the world's manufacturing and military leader...So I'd watch what I say about a system that is beneficial to the masses if ran properly by the right people and not those that seek to impose their will through military dictatorships and force.

 

Hillary Clintons leftist lunatic Birtherism conspiracy work for you

 

No doubt. But that wasn't my point.

 

1. Get off Twitter.

2. Based on the previous comments in this thread, your left leaning readers seem to be basking in the conflict, so they want it to continue until it's resolved by winning 100%.


I think the country was far more divided during the Vietnam war. Remember, we had actual domestic terrorist groups committing bombings. We really have little of that going on now. But Vietnam wasn't going to last forever and things cooled down somewhat after the war was over.

But now, we're in a situation in which it isn't one issue (along with a menu of smaller issues) that separate us, but our entire worldview's have split. One group hasn't changed much and is much more traditionalist, and for the other, it's always year zero and the world is being constantly re-invented according to the latest social fad, and everything that came before is revolting.

This is only going to get worse over time.

 

There is going to inevitably be lots of division in American politics today because of the issues involved. Lots (arguably most) of the major issues today there is simply no way to compromise.

Are liberals really willing to compromise on gay rights and homosexual rights?

Are conservatives really willing to compromise on gay rights and homosexual rights?

On many issues it is strictly zero sum. All or nothing.

 

If we've learned anything over the last 10 or so years it's that changing public policy, or electing the first black prez, doesn't changed people's hearts. Racism and intolerance can't be legislated away. Thankfully, at least minorities of all kinds at least have some legal protections.

 

Are you implying there are no alcoholic American Indians? Sounds stupid doesn't it, so stop with the horse crap that you know you are shoveling.

The first few posts after the OP were a clear swipe at the entire conservative part since no one person was single out. Which is in clear opposition to the OPs call for unity, and why unity will never happen.

 

I didn't post any of them so address those responsible.
and open wide, I'm shoveling again.

 

Are you denying there were distinct policy reasons to fiercely oppose President Obama that had nothing whatsoever to do with racism?

 

The right helped also to put those laws and restrictions on the books that are abusive and overreaching so it's was enough of a bi-partisan issue to allow as such to exist then it will take both to deconstruct the former.