Claude_Verret

Wait, you mean the government isn't broken because republicans are racists? :P I do not disagree with what you've stated, I'm not denying that the role of the great ideological divide we've arrived at, but surely the parties themselves and the system they govern under, and could work to change, make bridging that divide almost impossible, no? Either way I think that we agree that we currently have an unworkable situation that needs to be fixed. I agree the parties absolutely need to be a part of the solution and I've always thought this ...how to address it is the conundrum as you've said. I'll check out those texts. I'm interested if you've read the one I linked to last week and your thoughts if you have? I'm still only half way through it myself. https://www.amazon.com/Parties-Versus-People-Republicans-Democrats-ebook/dp/B008X8L4OW/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1475706710&sr=1-1&keywords=mickey+edwards

One of the basic foundations of democracy is compromise. Of course people see things differently...that's why I've recommended reading Haidt because it helps to go beyond just acknowledging that people see things differently to actually shed some light on why they do. Healthy debate that ultimately leads to compromise is good. Voting lock step by party is not.

Dude, really? So now republicans elected to congress are the problem because they're racists? It's one level of misguided to paint their constituents with that broad brush...but c'mon. This is DeLuca-esque. I'd start here.

Sigh. One more time I guess. The problem in my view is the two parties themselves and how they do business in how they govern. It's not a liberal vs. conservative problem. It's a Democrat vs. Republican problem. Party above all else...that is the root cause of the dysfunction. I want that changed. I've already acknowledged that I may be wrong in hoping that challenging their power by voting 3rd party as a solution. What should be clear to everyone however is that business as usual between the two parties and how they govern is indeed broken.........because partisanship. A true non-partisan who believes in the current system would do as you propose, but a non-partisan who sees that it is broken because of D/R's would not be part of electing more D/R's into a system that he or she wants changed. If we had two parties that had demonstrated over the past few decades that they could work together in any way shape or form instead of retreating further and further into their respective corners and here I was demonizing both of them, then you might have a point.

Do you miss the point in every post you respond to or do you just save it for this thread alone?

Smart as trees in Sault Saint Marie I can speak my mother tongue.

Uh huh. That answer makes it perfectly clear that you'd never be prone to supporting a distasteful candidate to the bitter end simply because he/she belongs to your team.

Yeah I'm pretty much with you here. If the situation was reversed and the GOP nominated a traditional politician and the Dems nominated a loony political outsider (eg. Micheal Moore), then partisans would defend him to the end for no other reason than because he's painted blue in their eyes. The fact that the GOP waited to try to block his nomination before it was too late and the Sanders movement I think should signal to both parties that business as usual isn't going to change much, but I'm not holding my breath that the message will be received. Four years of the ultimate politicians politician in Hillary will certainly do nothing to bridge the ever widening divide or quell the anger IMO.

I like the Beatles, the Stones and Zeppelin and I refuse to rank them!

Not a fan of Michael Moore but I agree with him here, Trump is in this despite all the lies, gaffes and missteps because people see him as a "Human Molotov Cocktail" to throw at our corrupt and broken system.

I had, but just revisited via Google music. Sublime indeed.

Howard Stern and various artists put together a tribute "album" for the 50th anniversary of the Beatles Revolver. I think that the special airs next week, but he's been airing clips the past few days. Grace Potter does a nice job on Good Day Sunshine, Jewel on Eleanor Rigby and Cheap Trick doing She Said She Said were some clips that I heard. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/howard-stern-details-all-star-tribute-to-beatles-revolver-w442971

I'd say it's been there definitely less than a year, but I don't often go over to that side of town and never on a weeknight because those damn super streets are such a clusterfukc. I don't know how people deal with living off Avent Ferry road.

I haven't been myself yet, but I hear that the cupcakes are great. The last time I needed to go was for license renewal and this DMV can't do those since they're a contractor.

Here's the local DMV in my town.

Round and round. Someone cue Ratt.

He really isn't advocating a 3rd party solution, but rather a restructuring of how the two parties do business. No easy task for sure, but business as usual will only be more of the same from Washington.

Here is the Atlantic article by former congressman Mickey Edwards that preceded the book I linked to the other day. The opening paragraphs and the concluding one capture my position better than I could ever hope to convey with my own words. Maybe 3rd party isn't the best way to try to go about solving our broken system, but what is absolutely certain is that there are only two teams and two alone that are responsible for where we are today. There is no "3rd team" that shoulders any responsibility whatsoever. This is why I cannot and will not be a part of voting for candidates from either party in a broken system that only serves to perpetuate this fruitless cycle. Individual candidates may seem like a lesser evil option, but so long as we are letting them govern inside a broken party system the way it currently stands, it will matter not who wins. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/07/how-to-turn-republicans-and-democrats-into-americans/308521/ snip... Proposed solutions from Mr. Edwards.

Good luck to you sir.

Cmon man. At least read the posts in this thread from today. If you do that and the above is still your response then I can't help you. Seriously.

Another guy who can't read what I'm saying. Where's the Hitler reference? Next!

Keep wallowing.

More suggested reading: The Parties Versus The People: How To Turn Republicans and Democrats Into Americans I'm only about 1/4 through it so I haven't yet arrived at the nuts and bolts of his proposed solutions, but man is he speaking my language! Yeah he's a reformed Republican, and Haidt's a reformed Democrat. I'm fair and balanced...read 'em both. :P

This is the game I remember most during this long drought. It was the day I bought my first born home from the hospital. I sat on the couch holding him while the Bills introduced him to Bills football at its finest. No help needed, win and they were in.

If you don't have SiriusXM it's probably available on YouTube, but check out the whole Metallica appearance on Stern from earlier in the week if you can. As is typical with Stern musician interviews he focuses on the song writing process, where the lyrical inspiration comes from and how songs are ultimately pieced together etc... Cool stuff. They played Master of Puppets, Sad But True and a track off the new album live in studio.