Well, the folks on this thread are the real extremists. There are far rightwing nuts and far leftwing nuts. I'd say both extremes need to start looking at the center, where the sanity reigns.
I'm going to throw out an idea that will probably piss both parties off. The only time in my life that I've seen a US government hitting on all cylinders and working properly for the people was during the Clinton Administration when the GOP had control of Congress. I've often floated the idea that our government works best when no single party is in control of both Congress and the White House.
I still think Obama is the best possible man out of all the candidates on both the left and right to be President. He's the smartest on most issues, but doesn't have a Congress that is capable of getting anything done.
So maybe it would be a very good thing if the GOP takes control of both houses in November. My thought is this. If Obama continues to tack to the center, as we've seen recently, and he continues to set the agenda as most President's do, but he is forced to work with the other party to get things done, maybe the outcome is more centrist and less extreme.
Maybe we'll get incremental progress on things we care about like drilling for more oil, more nuke power, more renewable energy. Maybe we'll get small incremental steps toward cutting down on health care costs. And maybe we'll get broad cooperation between the GOP and Obama on cutting down the deficit, like we did when Gingrich and Clinton got us to surpluses.
So contrary to popular Democratic thoughts that a loss in November could be catastrophic for the country, I'm thinking that it may be just what the doctor ordered, considering that we'd still have Obama as President to veto any crazy shit the GOP comes up with.
Let's face it. The Dems in Congress have not been effective even with a super majority, so maybe it's time to give the GOP a chance in Congress, with Obama to supervise and veto if they continue to behave like children. Having said that, none of the current crop of GOP contenders for President come anywhere near being ready or qualified to lead the country. So my thoughts do not yet extend to a desire to vote for a GOP member for President, unless we get surprised and a non-Palin candidate shows up.
So thoughts everyone? Let me have it, but keep the flames to a minimum. I'm just throwing it out there to see if there are merits to the idea. |
