onewheeloneil 29 points30 points 1 year ago

Yeah, this is nothing to do with checks and balances not working, this is about the GOP deciding that "Sticking it to the libs" is more important that doing what is best for the country.

I'm a fairly conservative person, in general, and I do not support the GOP at all. They are no longer the party of conservatives, they are the party of insanity.

zadreth 20 points21 points 1 year ago

Best metaphor I've seen is the Republicans would shit themselves if they knew the Democrats had to smell it.

wmccluskey 3 points4 points 1 year ago

All those liberal ICE agents, soldiers, and law enforcement agents...

bungerman 0 points1 point 1 year ago

Why are there so few of you? Did you watch Fox News before this escapade?

onewheeloneil 0 points1 point 1 year ago

As to why there are so few, it's a complex answer. I'm on mobile at the moment and can't easily type it out.

As for the fox news question, no. In high school I had to take a class called Theory of Knowledge that really helped me learn to think critically. That's when I started to notice that Bill O'Reilly really didn't sit well with me. He called his show "the no spin zone" but eeeeeverything he said was soo twisted and spun. I even agreed with a lot of it, but I lost all respect for him when I realized he was straight up lying about his bias. I currently try to get my news from a variety of sources.

EDIT: So, here's some of the reason conservative folks have (in many cases) gone off the deep end in their unwavering support of Trump. Keep in mind, I will be speaking from the perspective of a very conservative, religious person. (I am conservative and Christian, but the views I am about to explain do not necessarily reflect my personal beliefs, just what I have observed in others). I will try to be clear that I'm talking about perceptions of reality, not reality itself.

Under Obama, there was a lot of change happening much faster than we were ready for, especially in the realm of LGBTQ+ activism and rights. The perception was that the left leaning politicians in power were saying "We don't give a rats ass what you feel or believe, your an ignorant bastard and as such your beliefs are invalid. The moral thing for us to do is ignore you and use political force to obligate you to do things you believe are wrong."

In addition to this, pushes for green energy, welcoming immigrants, etc. caused a lot of fear to come boiling to the surface. Trump capitalized on that. Trump told conservatives that if they didn't pledge loyalty to him, he couldn't stop all their fears from coming true. What's worse, trump told them that if they DID pledge to him, he COULD stop all their fears. Many conservatives bought that line and swallowed it whole. They now have an additional fear: what if Trump can't keep his promises? But that fear is the "straw that breaks" so to speak, and they refuse to acknowledge it. Instead, they deflect. The only reason Trump hasn't already fixed everything ever is the evil Dems who are still fighting him.

But the hard thing is that both sides fall into the confirmation bias trap. Republicans see democrats calling for higher taxes on the rich, more green energy, a redefinition of sex and gender (which for a long, long time have been considered interchangeable terms), and at times mocking those who oppose them. Republicans interpret this to mean "Dems want to force their view of America down our throats whether the majority of people support it or not." On the other hand, Democrats see Republicans hunkering down, digging in their heels and saying "you'll change the country over my dead body!" and interpret that to mean Republicans are only getting more and more belligerent and thus their opinions and feelings are to be considered less and less valid.

As awful and tragic as our history with race-based chattel slavery, I feel we need to look at our past to glean some insight about the "vision" of what America is. There was a time when the founders were drafting a constitution and disagreed with how to "count" slaves. They came up with the 3/5ths compromise. Both sides gave a little to get something done.

To be clear, it breaks my heart that racism exists. It breaks my heart to know that, as a white man born in the south, I likely would have been raised as a slave owning racist had I been born during that time. The idea that a person with dark skin or African heritage is only 3/5ths of a person is abhorrent and disgusting. But at the time, it was the compromise necessary to create the USA.

What I want to see is a USA where both sides are willing to take small steps forward together. The idea that policy and culture can change overnight just isn't factual. In the cases where Democrats and Republicans very strongly disagree, there has to be some way to make some concessions to move forward. Sometimes that means that "your side" might not get everything you want, but at least you'll be getting something instead of just fighting more and getting nothing.

When we refuse to compromise, best case scenario, you pass a law the other side hates, and when they gain control, they just waste time trying to undo it.

pm_me_ur_big_balls 0 points1 point 1 year ago

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rebflow -9 points-8 points 1 year ago

How is asking for a border wall “sticking it to the libs”? If anything, the libs not compromising on the wall or even agreeing to meet and talk about it is “sticking it to the pubs”.

Zexapher 16 points17 points 1 year ago

Didn't the president have the chance for far more funding when republicans controlled both houses? Plus, Democrats in the House just passed the old republican bill from before the new House was sworn in, so it's the gop that moved the goalposts, right?

And I should add that Trump is the one literally walking out of meetings with Democrats who are seeking a compromise.

[deleted] 4 points5 points 1 year ago


BoilerPurdude 0 points1 point 1 year ago

No because they didn't have 60 senators willing to vote.

A budget passed the house (where all budgets are supposed to originiate) in December before the shutdown took effect.

Chuck and dems said nope we aren't going to vote on it (even though it had the 50 votes needed to pass).

Zexapher 2 points3 points 1 year ago

He did get the chance at $25 billion for border security, far more than what the president is asking for now, that Democrats offered during the last shutdown. The president fought against that, which torpedoed its chances, because he didn't want to compromise and he ended up getting nothing.

For obvious reasons, I don't think the Democrats see him as operating in good faith anymore. But Democrats have offered compromises, even during this shutdown.

BoilerPurdude 2 points3 points 1 year ago

Because pelosi said that a border wall was immoral! but really this is reddit and 100% of the blames is the republicans.

Ignore Democrats not willing to give a wooden nickel to a border wall.

Ignore Chuck and Senate dems blocking the vote in december on the House's budget.

amusing_trivials 0 points1 point 1 year ago

Why should they given even a wooden nickle? It's a complete waste. The current House budget includes 1.3 billion for continuing existing border security, so it's not ignoring the real issue. It's just bowing to the fake wall issue.

BoilerPurdude 0 points1 point 1 year ago

Because thats what the senators want... Thats how you start back up the government. Honestly I don't give a damn keep it shut down. The longer its shut down the easier it will be for people to figure out that most of the government is nonessential.