Party affiliations

[|MP|Buccaneer]

I don't consider the right to bear arms to be a civil liberty because in my mind it conflicts with another, more important civil liberty: the right to life. Although the right to bear arms is a civil liberty guaranteed by the constitution, I can't support it for that reason.

Ah, you agree it's a civil liberty.  The problem you have is that you equate guns with only thier criminal use.  Not their legal use.  If that were the case then wouldn't automobiles, alcohol and all other less important liberties that can take a life when used the wrong way, be unsupportable too?  Just a thought for you.

Although party politics do play a large role in government today, I think that the reason politicians oppose each other is because they have different idealogies. When a candidate wins in an election, their idealogy is winning - therefore wouldn't they be representing the people by opposing legislation that went against that idealogy? It makes sense to me.

Tasty, if they voted their idealology once in office, and didn't suport the party, then we wouldn't have all these "Democrat supported bills" or "Republican supported bills" or party opposed bills.  The  party's stick together in congress.  There are a few, like the senator that just passed away, that bucked the system.  But too many of them feel the pressure to follow party politics.  That's where much of their money comes from.

[tasty]

Please Tasty. It is a widely known fact that the media is liberal and hardly conservative.

Read any major study on the issue and they all point towards media being liberal.

My? I can't believe that someone just seriously posted that. For one thing, my post had absolutely nothing to do with the political "spin" of the information in the news. Frankly, I would appreciate it if news had neither a conservative nor liberal spin. My post had to deal with what information is presented and what information is left out. I think that the media is a tool of the government - regardless of whether the government is conservative or liberal. If you think I haven't heard all the bullshit about the "liberal media" from Rush Limbaugh and others, than you're wrong. If you think I have never read a study on this issue, than you're wrong. This has nothing to do with the explicit opinions expressed by the major newspapers (the subject of the studies you are referring to).

and bucc, I just saw your post and my only issue with it is that your post assumes that there must be significant differences in idealogy within single parties. what other reason would there be to vote differently from your party? i dont believe that there are many democrats that disagree with their democratic counterparts - thus the similarity in voting.

[|MP|Buccaneer]

Tasty, guess I'm more cynical then you are.  I find it hard to believe that these Republicans and Democrats have such a polar idealology from each other.  If you look at their platforms, they usually stand for the same thing on many, many issues.  But when it gets down to it, if one party sponcers a bill, the other party almost always will find big faults in it.  This happens when the Democrats propose a conservative bill or when the Republicans propose a liberal bill.  They play the game.

And remember, they are supposed to be representing the people of their districts, not just the ones that voted for them.  If the Democrats tried to lift tarriffs on forign automobiles, any Democrat from the state of Michigan should be fighting their ass off against it.  Because that would be bad for our state.  Not for it because he's a Democrat.  Or for it because he's a liberal.  Against it because that's what the people polled in his (or her) district would want.  Too bad it doesn't really seem to work like that very often.  I can't remember the last time I got a call or was asked to take a poll by my Congressmen (but it was in the 80's)

[tasty]

While I don't see much disagreement within or between the two major parties, I do agree that we are not achieving what Democracy is supposed to be - the majority ruling with the minority still having a say. I don't think that politicians really care what we think as long as we vote for them. And as long as we keep voting for them, that is unlikely to change. It's a really difficult conflict for me - trying to express my discontent with they way the system is working, while still working within the system to try to elect as ethical a government as a I can. It is an inner problem I still have come up with no solution for.

[|MP|Buccaneer]

It would be easy if there were a black and white solution, wouldn't it Tasty.

All I do is look for the people that most deserve it.  Party be damned.  If I can't find anyone I like, I cast my vote with one of the not major party's.  So that other people are mroe encouraged to run (and possibly get some of that government money if they get enough votes).

Probably the best thing you could do is find someone worthy (if anyone is) and get behind them.  Push your friends for them, do service from them.  Being in college gives you some freedom of time and schedule to really get involved.  It's a good oppertunity to take advantage of (no matter what you think now, college is a piece of cake compared to the real world, and your day really tends to shrink).

Other then that, not much.  Maybe try to find the causes for electronic voting and other things to get this country closer to a true democracy.  Whatever you do, just don't buy into one party having the answers to all the questions.