politicians are all the same all over the world. "what can i do to grease my own bank account?"

Here is my completely cynical take. At the national level, the differences between the two parties don't amount to a hill of beans. The differences in rhetoric are just so much window dressing. The two major parties are engaged in a scramble for power ie money. There's plenty of money floating around the halls of Congress from special interests and special sweetheart deals for your pals, etc.,etc. Halliburten is only one of the more obvious examples of this.

In my latest round of e-mails to Congress (sent to both Republican and Democratic representatives), I have discovered that most of them don't even deign to send form letters to their constituents anymore.

The State level is slightly better, but not by much.

The Right finds you.

You have to find the Left.

Here, this should help.... :D

http://www.seanpercival.com/blog/200...t-infographic/

Facing North, the American Left is to the West and the American Right is to the East.

Great minds, my friend, great minds.

My left hand makes an "L" when I look at the back of it with the thumb outstretched. Being direction dyslexic, it's the only way I can tell the difference.

But the Left Coast and the East Coast are filled with Lefties! And the middle is conservative Righties... ?

Well, there was Schwarzenegger...

The left wants to help you and doesn't; the right wants to screw you and does. :D

I guess that makes the right more honorable. lol!

Torture is torture. You do it for a good reason, soon you do it for a bad reason. It is evil, and evil acts are not justified by results. "The ends do not justify the means".

Once you throw away your principles once, it get easier and easier to do it. In this case, amendment VIII, which make no exception for national security.

It's a slippery slope!

So they have you arguing the same nonsense that justified the American defeat in Vietnam. The world is right wing extremists, left wing extremists, and the intelligent people - the moderates. To keep people confused, extremists use the other extreme to promote fear. Promote hate to make this world difficult for moderates.

A perfect example is Sharon of Israel. A man with a history of intentionally creating massacres and other violence for the greater glory is right wing Israelis. His great fear was the Oslo Accords. To subvert peace, an extremist must make being a moderate impossible. That means using hate. So he and 100+ 'close friends' tromped on Temple Mount to incite extremists. Sharon used hate so that moderate Palestinians and Jews would be forced into the ranks of extremism. He needed and successfully inspired Intifada Two.

Then extremists needed Rabin assassinated. And succeeded. Like Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity and some extremists here, Sharon and Likud all but called for the murder of Rabin. Then could blame it on others. Sarah Palin, et al encouraged an assassination of Congressman Gabriel Giffords and others.

Extremists fear those who learn the conflict is extremist verses moderate. Not right verses left.

What did George Jr do to promote hate? He all but protected bin Laden. Keeping the boogey man alive was important for a "them verses us" attitude so necessary to keep the less informed brainwashed.

Hitler made the same point in his book. Disparage the bourgeois and intellegencia. Then those easiest to manipulate could be recruited into his extremist party. Hate is essential to make life difficult for moderates. Hate of Jews and other ‘inferior’ people further inspired his wacko extremists. . Drives all from the ranks of educated, informed, and tolerant moderates.

Every long time Cellar dweller can tell you in detail how adamant I was about Saddam's WMDs. Moderates will also remind you how correct I also was. Which is why extremists here have even tried to cause me harm (UT censored the attempt). Yes intentionally tried to cause me harm because emotion (not logic) drives extremism. Entertaining feelings rather than thinking logically is the nature of extremism. Even promoting hate of Muslims who would build a mosque in Lower Manhattan. More fodder to encourage extremist hate.

Extremists avidly created death of 4,500 American soldiers for no purpose. Even had Ted Koppel censored for doing a Nightline episode that would honor Americans killed in Mission Accomplished. That honesty considered a threat to the extremist agenda. Extremists will not admit that the president named that war “Mission Accomplished”. Extremists even refused to answer an obvious question (for political reasons). “When do we go after bin Laden?” bin Laden remains alive because extremists needed him to be alive. Today we are all paying for an economic disaster created by Mission Accomplished and other extremist lies.

It is not about left and right. It is about those driven by emotion into the ranks of hate verses others who know by first becoming educated - moderates. A patriot does not run about wrapping himself in a flag. That is for the emotional. Education creates a patriot. Someone who can think rather than be manipulated.

Being an extremist is easy. Hitler simply told his extremists how to think. So they ‘accidentally’ murdered some 8 million Jews – and called that good.

tw you amaze me. i like some of the points you make here. most of them actually. but i have to ask this because i;m curious...

because i am admittingly ignorant to this could you supply a link to said story?

i am not going against you mind you, i would just like clarification.

who? i'll defend you and i don't care who from! we may disagree sometimes but you do have my respect. and respect is enough in my book sir.

You referring to me again? You are a LIAR.

I'm not sure exactly what you are posting. But an extremist who intentionally posted to hurt me has again called me a liar. He denies that UT had to censor his post? Emotion is essential to extremism.

Extremists intentionally perverted facts to first try to blame Saddam for 11 September. To call Saddam an ally of bin Laden. Later, they all but invented myths about Saddam's WMDs. Screw facts. They were searching for hate to promote their political agenda - a unilateral and unjustified attack on Iraq (and other axis of evil).

I make no apologizes for identifying these extremist characteristics - especially hate.

Did Sarah Palin call for the assassination of Gifford, et al? Others here can cite their posts that demonstrate how hate was promoted. Likud also needed the assassination of Rabin. Promoted the same hate. So many Jews ignored by assuming no Jew would murder another Jew. Wrong. Extremist hate even inspired Timothy McVey to kill so many in Oklahoma City. Or Black September at the Munich Olympics.

Sometimes hate backfires. An attack on Giffords resulted in 3 days of silence from Palin. And a nationwide discussion about what that hate inspired.

Uday - emotion verses education differentiates extremists from moderates. Silly 'left verses right' is necessary to have you ignore a real conflict - informed moderates verses emotional extremists.