What can bring the country together?

[Anonymous]

Don't watch CNN or Fox. Read/Listen to news facts not opinions. Come up with your own opinions. Vote. Accept outcome and move on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been traveling to the Midwest for years to visit family. The divide happened a long time ago. Before Obama was elected. I put the blame on right wing radio and entertainment outlets like Fox News, Breitbart, Glenn Beck, and Alex Jones. The entertainment they push is anger and outrage, bigotry and sexism. I watched my dad get sucked into that world but he died in 2013. Folks are reeling in this country due to huge economic shifts that are occurring in economic/labor market, much like the industrial revolution. If you think back to that time in history and the profound changes that occurred, it makes sense.

The only thing that is going to change is the younger generations will be able to cope more with the new economic/labor environment and the ones in the thick of the change will die off.

That’s part of it but the liberal side is equally ridiculous. The liberal pocketbook seems to have no end and yet the younger generation feels poorer even if they aren’t because they need more things to live. Frugalness is not respected anymore. They also support much more extreme causes than they used to. Since when were liberals only on the side of pro choice if they supported abortion on demand up until the delivery date? Are there also liberal shows that are causing these extreme views?

This is a good example of what pp was talking about re Fox News and other right-wing media. PP has made a number of incorrect statements about people on the left, most likely Fed to him by right-wing media. Assisting the right-wing media is pp’s unwillingness and/or inability to think critically about the things he hears from that right-wing media.

And should we list all the “incorrect statements” made about Trump voters? CNN, MSNBC, WaPo, NYT, etc. - and of course, DCUM - spread lies about Trump voters every day. Yet you seem concerned only about the left being mischaracterized. Can you even grasp how one-sided you are?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been traveling to the Midwest for years to visit family. The divide happened a long time ago. Before Obama was elected. I put the blame on right wing radio and entertainment outlets like Fox News, Breitbart, Glenn Beck, and Alex Jones. The entertainment they push is anger and outrage, bigotry and sexism. I watched my dad get sucked into that world but he died in 2013. Folks are reeling in this country due to huge economic shifts that are occurring in economic/labor market, much like the industrial revolution. If you think back to that time in history and the profound changes that occurred, it makes sense.

The only thing that is going to change is the younger generations will be able to cope more with the new economic/labor environment and the ones in the thick of the change will die off.

That’s part of it but the liberal side is equally ridiculous. The liberal pocketbook seems to have no end and yet the younger generation feels poorer even if they aren’t because they need more things to live. Frugalness is not respected anymore. They also support much more extreme causes than they used to. Since when were liberals only on the side of pro choice if they supported abortion on demand up until the delivery date? Are there also liberal shows that are causing these extreme views?

This is a good example of what pp was talking about re Fox News and other right-wing media. PP has made a number of incorrect statements about people on the left, most likely Fed to him by right-wing media. Assisting the right-wing media is pp’s unwillingness and/or inability to think critically about the things he hears from that right-wing media.

And should we list all the “incorrect statements” made about Trump voters? CNN, MSNBC, WaPo, NYT, etc. - and of course, DCUM - spread lies about Trump voters every day. Yet you seem concerned only about the left being mischaracterized. Can you even grasp how one-sided you are?

It was a response to something posted here in this thread. If you feel that someone has posted a misrepresentation of Republican positions in this thread, feel free to call it out accordingly. Your post feels like a deflection, though, because you cannot defend the other post on the merits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You know who uses ID politics the worst? Right wingers.

This really is on you and the 1%. Such an unholy alliance.

This post actually made me laugh. What an incredible lack of self-awareness liberals have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been traveling to the Midwest for years to visit family. The divide happened a long time ago. Before Obama was elected. I put the blame on right wing radio and entertainment outlets like Fox News, Breitbart, Glenn Beck, and Alex Jones. The entertainment they push is anger and outrage, bigotry and sexism. I watched my dad get sucked into that world but he died in 2013. Folks are reeling in this country due to huge economic shifts that are occurring in economic/labor market, much like the industrial revolution. If you think back to that time in history and the profound changes that occurred, it makes sense.

The only thing that is going to change is the younger generations will be able to cope more with the new economic/labor environment and the ones in the thick of the change will die off.

+1. Exactly this.

Actually, the complete opposite. AI and automation is going to make a large percentage of the population useless (in a labor market sense), the big tech companies will continue to operate unchecked because they’ve paid off the RNC and DNC and we are going to become like Brazil: a highly stratified country where there are a lot of poor people and a few rich people who have to go around with armed guards all time time to avoid getting robbed and killed by the rest of their countrymen and women who they’ve left behind.

Or...we can elect someone who will address these technological and economic forces, reduce economic inequality, draw up sensible regulations for the big corporations and tech companies and stop this country from spiraling out of control into a dystopia. What we can’t have is Trump or business as usual. Business as usual will get us outright fascism ala Brazil soon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't watch CNN or Fox. Read/Listen to news facts not opinions. Come up with your own opinions. Vote. Accept outcome and move on.

+1,000,000
CNN is just as much “propaganda” as Fox.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been traveling to the Midwest for years to visit family. The divide happened a long time ago. Before Obama was elected. I put the blame on right wing radio and entertainment outlets like Fox News, Breitbart, Glenn Beck, and Alex Jones. The entertainment they push is anger and outrage, bigotry and sexism. I watched my dad get sucked into that world but he died in 2013. Folks are reeling in this country due to huge economic shifts that are occurring in economic/labor market, much like the industrial revolution. If you think back to that time in history and the profound changes that occurred, it makes sense.

The only thing that is going to change is the younger generations will be able to cope more with the new economic/labor environment and the ones in the thick of the change will die off.

That’s part of it but the liberal side is equally ridiculous. The liberal pocketbook seems to have no end and yet the younger generation feels poorer even if they aren’t because they need more things to live. Frugalness is not respected anymore. They also support much more extreme causes than they used to. Since when were liberals only on the side of pro choice if they supported abortion on demand up until the delivery date? Are there also liberal shows that are causing these extreme views?

This is a good example of what pp was talking about re Fox News and other right-wing media. PP has made a number of incorrect statements about people on the left, most likely Fed to him by right-wing media. Assisting the right-wing media is pp’s unwillingness and/or inability to think critically about the things he hears from that right-wing media.

And should we list all the “incorrect statements” made about Trump voters? CNN, MSNBC, WaPo, NYT, etc. - and of course, DCUM - spread lies about Trump voters every day. Yet you seem concerned only about the left being mischaracterized. Can you even grasp how one-sided you are?

It was a response to something posted here in this thread. If you feel that someone has posted a misrepresentation of Republican positions in this thread, feel free to call it out accordingly. Your post feels like a deflection, though, because you cannot defend the other post on the merits.

Actually, your response is the real deflection because you conveniently won’t acknowledge that the above is true. It’s seen in thread after thread on this site, and you know it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:War or some other major catastrophe that is obvious and caused externally.

I doubt it. After 9/11, Fox News just used it as an opportunity to ramp up their bigotry and fear-mongering.

True. But for awhile, a big chunk of the population was united by the bigotry and fear-mongering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:War or some other major catastrophe that is obvious and caused externally.

I doubt it. After 9/11, Fox News just used it as an opportunity to ramp up their bigotry and fear-mongering.

That’s not a real war. If China tries to invade us and ordinary people have to fight them off from their homes with guns that would definitely bring the country together.

We have it too good as a society today and we’re atrophied because we don’t know real struggle. In WW1 people weren’t bickering about gender pronouns. They were too busy trying to find water to drink in the trenches that wasn’t riddled with dead bodies.

Screw women and minorities, right?

Your logic is poor. So when things are bad, we shouldn’t be worrying about equal rights, but conversely when things are good, we’re silly for worrying about equal rights?

We have a world war-scale problem right now, it’s global warming. And what have most people done? Shrugged and believed right wing lies.

You think the average voter in West Baltimore, Langley Park or outside a mosque cares about gender pronouns? Issues like that are mainly a thing for rich white people...because these rich white people have it too good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been traveling to the Midwest for years to visit family. The divide happened a long time ago. Before Obama was elected. I put the blame on right wing radio and entertainment outlets like Fox News, Breitbart, Glenn Beck, and Alex Jones. The entertainment they push is anger and outrage, bigotry and sexism. I watched my dad get sucked into that world but he died in 2013. Folks are reeling in this country due to huge economic shifts that are occurring in economic/labor market, much like the industrial revolution. If you think back to that time in history and the profound changes that occurred, it makes sense.

The only thing that is going to change is the younger generations will be able to cope more with the new economic/labor environment and the ones in the thick of the change will die off.

I live in the Midwest and have lost my father to Fox.

It’s not a both sides issue, not a bit. OP doesn’t say “both sides” but she implies it.

How do we get past this? Naming the real problem, for one thing: Republican extremism and all that feeds into it. Sadly, it is a multi-factorial problem, but the big one is right wing propaganda. But we have to see the problem for what it is because you can’t solve a problem when you won’t identify what the problem is.

My dad too. He was always a conservative guy but never talked about Politics or seemed angry. My parents always told me it was rude to talk politics- when I was growing up. He retired early (blue collar union job). and has basically spent the last 20yrs sitting on the couch watching Fox and getting angrier by the day. Spread it to my mom too. There are millions of men like this. Why??? I really do not know.

My dad too. He lived about 1,000 miles away, so I didn't see him much. One time I went to visit for a couple of weeks in the 90s, and he was excited to show me the O'Reilly Factor. I watched about 10 minutes of it and was like, WTF? No thanks. He just got worse after that.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in WV and southwestern PA.

When I was growing up I never saw confederate flags. It was not a thing.

Now when I go home I see it all the time, and it's alarming.

I don't know who to blame and what caused this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't watch CNN or Fox. Read/Listen to news facts not opinions. Come up with your own opinions. Vote. Accept outcome and move on.

I agree that both are trash, but for different reasons. There is no left wing equivalent to Fox. MSNBC tries, but it's a pale shadow. It has a former Republican Congressman on for like 15 hours a week. When Fox gives a former Democratic Congressman that much airtime, we'll talk. CNN's big bias - and MSNBC too, for that matter - is that it wants to keep you emotionally invested enough to watch through the commercials. The easiest way to do that is to make you anxious or angry. So, they give you the bad news. They fill airtime with cheap to produce shows with people voicing opinions at each other. Cable news is hot garbage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been traveling to the Midwest for years to visit family. The divide happened a long time ago. Before Obama was elected. I put the blame on right wing radio and entertainment outlets like Fox News, Breitbart, Glenn Beck, and Alex Jones. The entertainment they push is anger and outrage, bigotry and sexism. I watched my dad get sucked into that world but he died in 2013. Folks are reeling in this country due to huge economic shifts that are occurring in economic/labor market, much like the industrial revolution. If you think back to that time in history and the profound changes that occurred, it makes sense.

The only thing that is going to change is the younger generations will be able to cope more with the new economic/labor environment and the ones in the thick of the change will die off.

That’s part of it but the liberal side is equally ridiculous. The liberal pocketbook seems to have no end and yet the younger generation feels poorer even if they aren’t because they need more things to live. Frugalness is not respected anymore. They also support much more extreme causes than they used to. Since when were liberals only on the side of pro choice if they supported abortion on demand up until the delivery date? Are there also liberal shows that are causing these extreme views?

This is a good example of what pp was talking about re Fox News and other right-wing media. PP has made a number of incorrect statements about people on the left, most likely Fed to him by right-wing media. Assisting the right-wing media is pp’s unwillingness and/or inability to think critically about the things he hears from that right-wing media.

And should we list all the “incorrect statements” made about Trump voters? CNN, MSNBC, WaPo, NYT, etc. - and of course, DCUM - spread lies about Trump voters every day. Yet you seem concerned only about the left being mischaracterized. Can you even grasp how one-sided you are?

It was a response to something posted here in this thread. If you feel that someone has posted a misrepresentation of Republican positions in this thread, feel free to call it out accordingly. Your post feels like a deflection, though, because you cannot defend the other post on the merits.

They are always deflections, with her hallmark “ ”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You know who uses ID politics the worst? Right wingers.

This really is on you and the 1%. Such an unholy alliance.

This post actually made me laugh. What an incredible lack of self-awareness liberals have.

Right wingers' identity politics reminds me of the story about the fish swimming past each other. There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, "Morning, boys, how's the water?" And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, "What the hell is water?" Because American culture has been constructed so thoroughly around middle and upper class white males, they don't recognize that they've been swimming in identity politics the whole time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't watch CNN or Fox. Read/Listen to news facts not opinions. Come up with your own opinions. Vote. Accept outcome and move on.

I agree that both are trash, but for different reasons. There is no left wing equivalent to Fox. MSNBC tries, but it's a pale shadow. It has a former Republican Congressman on for like 15 hours a week. When Fox gives a former Democratic Congressman that much airtime, we'll talk. CNN's big bias - and MSNBC too, for that matter - is that it wants to keep you emotionally invested enough to watch through the commercials. The easiest way to do that is to make you anxious or angry. So, they give you the bad news. They fill airtime with cheap to produce shows with people voicing opinions at each other. Cable news is hot garbage.

This is 100% accurate.