Who's got two thumbs and wants to get informed?

<---- This guy!
I've always been interested in seriously participating in politics and voting, but it seems like such a complex mess of issues I really don't know where to start. So, like many Americans- I say screw it and let my freedoms get taken away like a dolt, but it's becoming more and more obvious that my strategy of ignoring my right to participate in the voting process is going to seriously screw me (and those future kids I hope I'll never have, lol) over. Anyone got any good resources where I can inform myself as to what are current issues? Any college courses I can take or something? Yahoo just doesn't cut it for me these days.

Watch Fox News; "Fair and balanced" is their motto.

BARREL BREAK wrote: Start with history, then consider ideology. Then remember that both major parties want nothing that's in your interest.

I'd agree with studying history.

While I do believe there's a marked disconnect between the interest of the parties and your own interests, I think that it is possible to line up closer to one party than another.

Here's sonething to remember about politics-to understand where a political party sits, you need to understand the climate of your own society.

By that I mean parties pander to the lowest common denominator-they make big promises to simple people and often do so with no regard for consequences. So if you understand that militant conservatism is on the rise among those on the right, you see why Rick Santorum and Gingrich have prospered in this GOP run.

Years ago when I was young I believed in straight up Republican voting. At that time there was an atomsphere of militant liberalism that I perceived and I generally felt more comfortable with what I perceived to be the more down to earth Republican philosophies.

With this administration and the right wing hornets nest it has stirred up, I'm not sure I feel that way any more. I think with the pro gun movements after 9/11 that my hobbies are much safer, and I think reality has brought the global warning debate / militant environmentalism back down to the realm of common sense. I see less push from the left against conservative ideologies and I feel less threatened so I'm not as apt to vote straight right wing this time around.

Basically, just formulate your own ideology and go with the party why infringes upon it the least. Like guns? That's a political issue. Like abortion? That's a political issue. Like government assistance? That's a political issue. Are you pro big military or pro social reform? That's a choice you'll end up having to make. Once you know where you line up personally you can begin to check out the talking heads and take everything they say with a grain of salt...there's nothing wrong with a serving of Fox News as long as you take a side of Google with it.

Opinion based political programming is the junk food of the educational media. Most people watch them to shake their fists in agreement and feel their own values confirmed by a TV personality.

I personally get most of my news from Drudge and News.Google . Though the way Drudge arranges his headlines can lend to his right wing bias, you can generally follow the links and sort through what's hype and what's legit.

Both major political parties are ran by the same banks. Your vote doesn't matter.

Your mayor and governor will have more of a impact in your life, than the president.

Public Service Announcement:

Above post edited because an acronym for cursing is the same as cursing.  Eventually the mods will decide that everyone has been warned enough for this and will just start handing out strikes.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled thread.


Edited by Mack - 25 February 2012 at 4:17pm

Holy crap, how long has mack been a mod????

The world really has gone crazy.

GroupB wrote: They  couldn't put that as their motto if it weren't true.

I became disenchanted with the Republicans when Bush went into Iraq.  I was ready to change my mind if they did find WMD, but that didn't happen.  I told myself I would never vote Republican again.  Then Obama got into office and started running the national debt up like an unlimited credit card account.  He's on his way to spending between one and two trillion dollars a year and not having much to show for it.  I became a Libertarian and voted straight Libertarian in the last Presidential election.  Now I'm in a quandry.  I still want to vote Libertarian.  Ron Paul is a Libertairan in Republican's clothing.  I love his domestic idealogy, but his foreign policy and his conspiracy theories leave much to be desired.  I'd be on a fence post if he miraculously got the nomination.  I like Santorum, but the Democrats are clamoring for him to get the nomination because it is widely believed that Obama could easily beat him.  I don't like Romney because he isn't a conservative as he wants everyone to believe (see Romney Care).

stratoaxe wrote: I saw the bumper sticker on the back of his Crown Vic, right next to his AARP support sticker.