But you see DSM, overall I consider my political viewpoint to be somewhat RIGHT of center, opposite yours.

I believe that you and I could still engage in intelligent political conversation, as we are both informed citizens.

The problem with the party that I support is that there are just way too many ass-talkers. I agree with your previous posts regarding buzzwords, et. al. I may not necessarily agree with all of President Obama's policies, but the solution for the Republican party should be to present a better alternative, not to overthrow him. What would that accomplish? I think we've been seriously misguided as a party in that regard.

I choose to represent the Republican party because their views are more closely aligned to mine than the Democratic party. That doesn't make Democrats "bad" or "evil" or anything like that, it just means that I don't agree with some of their policies and views and that's that. I won't bash Democrats or spew hate venom in the direction of Obama, because political affiliation, in the grand scheme of things, is a VERY minuscule aspect of what it means to be a citizen of this country. In every aspect of life, a balance needs to exist in order to attain success. Politics is the same. You need some conservative aspects to balance the liberal, and vice-versa.

Whew, sorry for that! My point is that conservative policies are not what has Republicans in the proverbial hole. It is misinformed ass-talkers that give us such a negative rep.

I can assure you DSM, we're not ALL like that!

 

Indeed I would like to maybe sit down for a few drinks and have that chat when or if the opportunity arises! I am technically right of center, but in this country I am consider just over to the left.

I even vote for republicans! Just not the ones on the national scene. There is much to be said for the want of smaller government, lower taxes, etc.

There are plenty of dems who talk out their asses as well. The vocal minority will always leave your cause painted in a negative light.

One of the many points I threw out their in my word salad earlier is that I feel that without a viable alternative to the democrats on the national scene we are doomed because neither party is really interested in doing much to help country altruistically.

While I think the system is broken, as cliche as that phrase is.. we need the Republicans as a sound alternative to keep the Dems in line.

Every politician is in bed with some lobby-ist, pet project or corporation.

It's the narrative and what actions the groups actually take that matter to me.

My father is also a very rational fiscal conservative (socially liberal), and I think the two of you would also have much to discuss. He also despises what he sees coming from both of the parties. But still trends right. And there is nothing wrong with that.

Something may shock a lot of people who are convinced I am a die-hard liberal hack at this point is that I read the Wall Street Journal even now that it has been bought by NewsCorp, National Review Online and watch Fox news! I even listen to Michael Savage occasionally.

Locally, like I mentioned their are republican judges that I voted for recently, I also voted for Kirk (R) over Giannoulias (D)

I am pretty open minded, but the vast majority of the R's on the national scene frankly scare me to death.

There is healthy discontent with Obama here, but the majority of us still realize we are better off without McCain.

I don't mean to vilify local republicans, so that is not fair of me. But on the national scale, I don't see where the dem's push their craziest members to the podium.

I am an actual moderate. I hate pundits like Olbermann, Reid was kind of embarrassing, Rangle and Baucus routinely frustrate me. I am flexible as far as my voting because I don't feel I am accurately represented by any group currently.

It is just tough trying to find an acceptable balance between my interests for the nation as a whole, and those I hold for local issues.

So often I leave centrist and moderate republicans in the cross fire, and for that I will apologize.

 

I actually may be in Chicago this coming November for the RSNA conference at McCormick Place...that would be pretty cool to meet up! I'm sure I could learn a lot about politics, and obviously the FIT, by chatting with you

Also no need to apologize , I can certainly understand your perspective. The problem is all of the Republicans that people see in the mainstream media are the loudmouth ass clown types, so unfortunately we all get painted with the same negative brush.

 

BrainChampagne, I have to apologize to you, I wrote my last post in a hurry in a hotel computer, and I made the mistake of addressing it to you when I meant Diamond.
All else stands.

Beer and


Flea

 

Apology accepted. I'll call off the lawyers.

 

Except even then... it doesn't make sense. No where was I trying to take away your freedoms.

I have a gas guzzler. I used to have a big diesel tow pig that rolled coal and made 2000lb-ft at the rear wheels. But I understand the repercussions of all the above. I also no longer have the diesel, as fun as it was, because I don't NEED it. It was not responsible and just because I could have one doesn't mean its a good idea.

Try moderation and actually being conservative.


Sounds good, PM me in advance!

 

Here's my wisdom for today:

We all do shit that pisses other people off.

 

To go along with that, I just stuck this in another thread Simon and Garfunkel it's worth a listen.

 

Speaking for myself, I was a kid when the first oil crisis occurred. In my area, we didn't have lines around the block for gas, but I certainly noticed the price spikes. It wasn't a huge deal for my family as my dad was running Corvairs at the time, which were gas-sippers compared to the typical '60s-'70s land barge.

My first car was a '76 Toyota Corolla - a real rustbucket, but it ran like a Swiss watch and got 30 mpg. I stayed with smaller-than-usual vehicles over the years. Ironically, what I considered to be the first hint of real trouble ahead was around '98 or so, when I saw 85 cents per gallon for a short period. I was thinking to myself, "This is way too good to be true. How many people will be suckered into buying gas-guzzlers?" Quite a lot of people, as it turned out.

Then, in '99, I took a trip to the UK, and rented a car (a brand-new Rover 200, as it turned out). At about 80p per liter, that was at least $4.75 per US gallon. Watching the numbers rack up on the pump and realizing that they were £ rather than $ was pretty sobering. The next year, as my '92 GMC Sonoma (2.8 V6/5MT/25 mpg) was getting tired, I got the Saturn to replace it, and got about 33-36 city and 37-40 highway mpg... roughly what I get with the Fit now. However, the Fit is a much nicer and more versatile car!

 

I had a brief love affair with my Jeep Wrangler in '02. When I bought it, gas prices were $1.60/gal. I had to part with it early (wife and I could only afford one car, and a baby seat didn't fit well in the back) but gas had shot up to $2.30 at that point.

I had a GMC Sonoma for a while as well (2.2L I4) and later an Element. Both of those would barely hit 20 mpg around town. I liked the mileage in my Fit, bujt unfortunately, the car wasn't a good 'Fit' for me, and despite fighting with the seating position, driving longer than 45 minutes or so would leave me with a backache and irritate my sciatic nerve.

So, yeah, the tC seems the perfect car for me - a nice blend of style, comfort, economy, and while it's still a relatively slow car (7.6 sec to 60) but it has a wide, usable torque band and is decent on fuel (I'm averaging 25-ish).

One of my buddies was driving around in a Tundra Crew-cab, with a lift-kit, oversized tires, custom exhaust, the works. That iForce V8 was sucking down $90 in gas each time, and carrying him about 200 miles, or roughly 8-9 mpg. He took one drive in the tC and traded it for a Civic SI. I've heard a lot of people lately deciding that maybe the gas-sucker isn't the best vehicle, and looking for smaller replacements.

 

I really enjoy the adult crying like a child trying to bash his point across calling others "man-children". Its the proverbial "STOP DISAGREEING WITH ME, MY POINT OF VIEW IS THE ONLY CORRECT POINT OF VIEW BECAUSE IT'S MINE".

Grow up, you group all republicans with a few pictures of morons, while I could very well place you in a group of 18 year olds with obama shirts because "it's cool".

Quit throwing a hissyfit because people don't agree with you.