Left vs. Right, We're Headed for a Showdown

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It's official. After all these years going back and forth, democrats vs. republicans, liberals vs. conservatives, rich vs. poor, black vs. white, it's come down to the final big matchup. Left vs. Right.

NRA Head Urges CPAC Crowds to Fight 'Violent Left'

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/nra-head-urges-cpac-crowds-to-fig...

Perez: Dems need to take fight to Trump and the right

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/cebit/perez-dems-need-to-take-fight-to-tru...

[video:https://youtu.be/2t2GgN_RC7M]

All those for the left, line up on the left. All those for the right, line up on the right. All those that are tired of this bullshit, let's go bowling. It'll be fun.

[video:https://youtu.be/DohRa9lsx0Q]

As long as we maintain this duopoly of two political parties dividing us into a right and a left, we lose. Whether it's a major effort at a third party or an independent movement outside the election system, this duopoly has to be challenged. We can't let it go like this until the 2018 election season starts and then allow the same old election between the republican and democratic political parties. That's got to end. It's not like the conditions aren't ripe as hell for this, somehow a collective decision has to be made by those that want to challenge the duopoly system on what track to take. There's no way you can divide a country of 330 million into two sides, whether it's democratic vs. republican or left vs. right. All that does is keep the public divided and the rich in power.

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Pricknick's picture

Seeing how I was sitting on the ground I wasn't scared.
Not much scares me anymore.
We either have a revolution or sit back and wait to die.
Thanks for the tune.

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Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.

Big Al's picture

@Pricknick at the counter said something, can't remember how it started now (I got the Gorilla Glue), then we went off into a political discussion about revolution and what it's going to take to take down the power, the evil as he put it. You're right, we either do something about it or suffer the consequences.

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Alligator Ed's picture

It looks the the sheeple are giving the Donkey a blow job while taking it in the rear from the Repugnants. Very tasty choice of song. I agree that left/right is bullshit. Here is my preferred reference point.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4DdAs0PddQ]

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Big Al's picture

@Alligator Ed Good question. Ya, it does us no good but I've been hearing more of it since Trump.

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janis b's picture

There's no way you can divide a country of 330 million into two sides, whether it's democratic vs. republican or left vs. right. All that does is keep the public divided and the rich in power.

American politics is so myopic that it is not only color blind, but so nearsighted, that everything is out of focus. We need opthomology therapy.

[video:https://youtu.be/07rT1t2hkDU]

I was reminded, watching this video, of Obama’s ‘coolness’; as if he was the object of my teenage attraction to the cool boys in class. How utterly blinded we can sometimes be.

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Strife Delivery's picture

It seems for a 3rd party to emerge, we need a lightning rod.

3rd parties like Green and Lib have kind of floundered along, even with the worst candidates for the duopoly in history running.

Bernie could have been a lightning rod...but he has no courage. Schumer has the leash tight around his neck. To me the most pathetic thing to see this past election was Bernie squandering the huge amount of energy and momentum he created. He tried to push it into the black hole known as the Dem party.

Even now, his backed candidate lost (Ellison). What reason does he have to stick around? None. But that's the thing. He's a Dem who like to parade as an independent. He could change the course of American politics like that, but he won't.

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Amanda Matthews's picture

for us to fight for their jobs and bank balance. The side that's in control gets the most goodies. And either way, we get screwed.

Yeah, we need a third party.

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I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks

Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa

chuckvw's picture

Many who cling to the idea that the Democratic Party will ever again be a party of even a moderate left have been gas lighted for decades. "We're less evil than those nasties. If we lose to them, it's your fault." Remember how we fared over at the other place when we suggested that Clinton was a millstone around our necks? Yeah, she won the popular vote...and the dems lost over a thousand elected positions across the country, several governorships and state leges, AND congressional and senate seats. Some coat tails this strategy has!

Listening to Perez's speech today is a case in point. The establishment dems think that decrying Trump will be enough to win the day in two years--no new ideas, no effort to win over the masses of people who don't vote. The dems are a party with no reason to live. Assisted suicide may be the only answer.

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You should only listen to both sides when one side isn't totally full of shit. -Jim Jefferies

Alligator Ed's picture

@chuckvw Please assist!

Diablo

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janis b's picture

to form. One that reflects America’s diversity. NZ has developed one that works pretty well. The country changed to MMP, from the two-party system, in 1996. It was decided by referendum. I don’t know how referendums achieve public voting status, but a referendum might be a good start.

From the NZ Electoral Commission website …

“Coalitions or agreements between political parties are usually needed before Governments can be formed.”

If you look at the two graphs in the link, you will see the increasing influence of the Green Party. In the last election (2014) the Greens added one more list seat.

From Wikipedia

All New Zealand elections from 1914 to 1996 consistently used the British system of first-past-the-post (FPP) for parliamentary elections (bloc voting and runoff voting were also used in some elections before 1914). This system had consistently favoured the two largest parties. From 1936 on, these were the National and Labour parties.
The electoral reform debate began in earnest in New Zealand following two successive general elections in 1978 and 1981 in which the National Party won majority status with less than 40% of the vote, even though it won a lower share of the vote than the Labour Party. The Social Credit Party was also finding that the system worked against them, winning only one seat out of 92 in 1978 and two seats in 1981 as against 16.1% of the vote in 1978 and 20.7% of the vote in 1981. Governments had been previously formed despite the opposition winning the popular vote in both 1911 and 1931 as well.

Maybe a strong 3rd party would ultimately lead to the beginning of a different system, but I fear that until the amount of money and time spent on campaigning and advertising is limited, there’s little hope.

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Alligator Ed's picture

@janis b MMP voting would certainly begin to unclog the swamp drainage pipes (otherwise known as sewers) because parties with less funding could still get seats in a parliamentary government. This method may not be fully compatible with the constitution due to requirements for a Senate (aka House of Lords) but could be utilized for the House of Representatives, in a much fairer way than at present.

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Big Al's picture

@janis b National referendum to decide by the voters.
That's what needs to be talked about in this country now.
Thanks janis.

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@Big Al

Canada just tried for that. Suckers apparently* strategically-voted Liberal rather than NDP because of outrage and justifiable distrust over Mulcair considering dropping social democracy from the NDP platform and because the Parasite Class-representing Liberals promised (all middle fingers crossed behind their backs, of course) many things, including a Fair Vote system.

Naturally, this has become one of the promises InJustice Tru-don't-matter has announced 'Canadians don't care about' so he's going to pragmatically leave the easier cheating 'First Past The Post' system and just let the police deal with protesters.

I signed a petition on this the other day, the government website having the typical ever-since-Harper offensively threatening attitude with grim warnings, including a statement that anyone sending more than one petition in would be blocked forever and a note that a verifying email would have to be replied to.

They simply never sent me the verification email, with (of course) no means of contacting the buggers except for re-sending the petition and being blocked forever.

This is what happens when the NAFTA(etc.)-enabled Koch brothers and others of their psychopathic ilk purchase/replace/bully governments which were once reasonably democratic and responsive public services.

Unfortunately, as long as the US government/military are useful corporate/billionaire tools to be used against the world, people in other countries cannot deal properly with the foreign roots of the problem.

*Harper passed an illegal 'law', prior to this past Federal election, gagging Elections Canada from informing the public of electoral fraud for a reason, even though the public would not have stood for Harper to have been again cheated into the Prime Minster's Office.

And the NDP and Greens were both shrunk down to practically nothing by mysteriously losing votes massively. Hmmmmm, sounds kinda like the US situation, with a stand-in government for the time being?

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

janis b's picture

@Big Al

I'm sorry that Bernie didn't follow that direction. He would have delivered ... I think.

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