McKinneyMike Loc: Texas

Triple G

He speaks the t***h and we know who the irrational and gullible ones are. How do we identify the evil ones before they commit their evil acts?

McKinneyMike Loc: Texas

What is wrong with dealing with facts, arguing facts and then let normal people decide which candidate fits their expectations? We have to stop accepting nonsense, lies and BS from our elected representatives! With Citizen's United decision, its an uphill battle, but we have to find the real t***h, let the weirdo s**t go and base our v**es on real definable facts!
We have lost a base level ideal of what is real, what is normal and what is right for one and all. It shouldn't be that hard to be kind, to be honest and to be fair to others.

Effate Loc: El Dorado Hills, Ca.

Additionally, we have totally lost the concept of what our government should be, what our government should do. Unfortunately, it is an impossible task to be all things to all people.

DennyT Loc: Central Missouri woods

And that’s the trouble . To many politicians want to please to many people ( namely v**ers) instead of doing what best for the UNITED States.
The government was never designed or meant to “ be all things to all people “..

Effate Loc: El Dorado Hills, Ca.

Interesting this has been an issue since our founding according to an article in the “American Mindset” as this excerpt explains, “ In the 45th essay of The Federalist, James Madison, the father of the constitution, declared, “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal Government, are few and defined.” Article I, section 8 enumerates the federal government’s limited powers. There can be no doubt that the Constitution’s framers created a limited sphere of government power and a wide birth of freedom for individuals to live beyond the reach of politics but under the rule of law.

Madison’s tenth Federalist essay provides the fullest and clearest discussion of the founders’ notion of the common or public good. The Virginian clearly equates the “public good” in this essay with the protection of individual and minority rights. The problem, however, is that rival political, religious, and economic factions compete with one another for political power in order to force their view of the “common good” on the rest of society. This is the definition of majority tyranny. The ultimate result of “common-good” politics is the attempt of some ruling elite or majority faction to force on “every citizen the same opinions, the same passions, and the same interests” as was done in all classical and Christian republics.

But a political society organized around some one idea of the “common good” enforced by common passions, opinions, and interests is bound to fail for three reasons, according to Madison, because: 1) as “long as the reason of man continues fallible, and he is at liberty to exercise it, different opinions will be formed”; 2) as long as man’s reason is connected to his self-love, he will pursue his own short-term self-interest rather than the good that is common; and 3) as long as there exists a “diversity in the faculties of men from which the rights of property originate,” there will always be wealth ine******y and a diversity of views, particularly on moral, social, or religious questions. In other words, as Madison put it, the “latent causes of faction are thus sown in the nature of man.” The problem, of course, is that various factions will always attempt to gain political power in order to force their view of the “common good” on the society as a whole.”

Competing interests have always clouded the concept of “common good.”

Effate Loc: El Dorado Hills, Ca.

Kindness, honesty and fairness should be virtues that are a constant and definable but when you say we have lost the idea of what is real, what is normal and what is right for one and all…well seems to me those norms are in a constant state of flux. The target keeps moving and that may be part of the solution or part of the problem depending on one’s interests, ideology or perspective. Rose colored glasses have been with us for a long time.

Texcaster Loc: Queensland

Are Trump's 'crooked e******n volunteers' next on the 'Patriotic Beheader Boys' list?

ken_stern Loc: Yorba Linda, Ca

A healthy combination of Common Sense & Critical Thinking --
Would enjoy having this fellow as a neighbor

Effate Loc: El Dorado Hills, Ca.

Although we should call out speech that is over the top imflamatory whether uttered by Trump, MGT, Tlaib or Waters it is still protected speech and there will always be a James Hodgkinson or Justin Mohn running around looking for a way to relieve their sick, aggrieved minds.

Wyantry Loc: SW Colorado

Good comment.

And there is absolutely nothing wrong with dealing with facts, presenting factual data, and having people make decisions based on verifiable facts.

The problem, as I see it, is there is an excessive amount of misinformation or disinformation being presented as ‘fact’; information that may be countermanded by some other purported “true” data.
And when presented with verifiable data, from reputable sources, will anyone change their stance? Or are they so convinced by their “sources” they will never change belief(s)?
~~~~~~~~~~~

How one separates the ‘t***h’ from the ‘fiction’ appears to boil down to eliminating whichever ‘side’ is making the most outlandish claims.
Claims that run counter to the predominance of verifiable data, or claims that are obviously false on their face.

I would choose, for example, to lend credence to scientific data presented in a peer-reviewed publication rater than some yahoo posting on social media or some right / left wing talk show. And I almost NEVER believe statements by elected politicians without investigation and verification.

There is too much parsing and side-stepping of factual data by ‘wordcrafters’ who stretch t***h or refuse to give straight answers to questions.
Examples would be e******n-result deniers (past, present and future{all sides}), “i**********n” vs. “r**t” proponents, “sanctuary city” idealists, claimants of a pending “dictatorship”, those claiming there is no alien / illegal / migrant / refugee / criminal / smuggling problem on America’s borders, and those claiming there is no problem with the economy and ever-increasing National Debt caused by overspending.

Wyantry Loc: SW Colorado

Thank you !