Is "mainstream America" Republican? (death, ratings, elect, state)
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First of all, none of that appears in the Constitution. Moreover, discussing gun control isn't in the same wheelhouse as anything you mentioned. It's not covered under obscenity laws and isn't a matter of national security. It's fair game, and part of a vital conversation in which we should all be participants.
Well true enough, but most of the "implied powers" that have been found in the Constitution are not in there. The so-called "elastic clause" has found that anything and everything is related to inter-state commerce, and therefore the feds have some jurisdiction.
My point was just that the courts have found that the constitution is not a literal document, despite the fact that I disagree with many of their rulings.
Yup, & the right to keep & bear arms is no less important.
I was obviously joking when I said you should be pro gun in order to vote.
Anti constitutionalists have a right & should to vote in the US, just like communists, nazis & socialists. See everybody gets their rights here!
I'm a pro-Constitutionalist, and I do believe in a strict interpretation, but you have to admit that the situation in the US in 1789 was completely different from today. Guns were necessary in a rural and unexplored society such as the US was at that time. In 2008, we don't live the same way, and don't face the same challenges as in 1789.
In my opinion, the second amendment references bearing arms by a citizens militia, the type that won our independence. That means that citizens need to be able to own firearms, but there have to be some practical accomodations to the changes in the world today.
Laws like the Brady Law just make common sense. Not allowing people to own automatic weapons or weapons designed to cause massive bodily harm just make sense. At the very least we need to be sure that we are not allowing crazies and criminals to own weapons. The problem is that sometimes we don't know they are crazies and criminals until after they use that legally purchased gun.
Well true enough, but most of the "implied powers" that have been found in the Constitution are not in there. The so-called "elastic clause" has found that anything and everything is related to inter-state commerce, and therefore the feds have some jurisdiction.
My point was just that the courts have found that the constitution is not a literal document, despite the fact that I disagree with many of their rulings.
I agree with everything you just said. My posts were a tad oversimplified, but that was in reaction to an earlier poster.
Not true. You do not have the freedom to yell "fire" in a crowded theater or to disclose national security information, or to defame or libel someone. Doing any of those things will land you in a civil or criminal court.
Actually, you do have the right to yell "Fire!" in a crowded theater under a variety if circumstances, one of which being the case that there actually is a fire. What you don't have in terms of free speech is the liberty to use that right to either injure or imperil people. That seems reasonable enough to most folks with respect to the First Amendment. It ought to with respect to the Second as well. There are no rights that are responsibility-free...
I guess I would answer the OP's question by simply stating the obvious facts that since WWII, the overwhelming majority of Presidential terms (not just Presidents) have been served by Republican Presidents, including the current President. Bill Clinton was the only Democrat to win re-election since FDR.
Actually, both Truman and LBJ were re-elected. Jimmy Carter was the only post WWII Democrat who stood for re-election and lost. Ford and Bush-1 make two Republican incumbents who were not re-elected. The "overwhelming majority" meanwhile stands at 9-6, and in 5 years might very well stand at 9-8. Not really so overwhelming.
Quote:
Originally Posted by neil0311
Up until 2006, both houses of Congress had a 12 year Republican majority. Yes the Democrats won back Congress, but they only have a narrow margin in the Senate, and the House is up for grabs every 2 years.
There are 24 Republican-held Senate seats on the November ballot. The Democratic margin will be increasing there, as it is expected to do in the House as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by neil0311
I think Democrats in the northeast and west coast think that they represent the political will of most Americans. I would say that isn't the case, and that even in the face of the 2006 results which when looked at through a popular vote breakdown was extremely close, most people in the US do not agree with the moveon.org wing of the Democrat Party.
Take a look at a US map by population density. Most Americans live in the northeast, mid-Atlantic, and west coast areas. The population density of Wyoming is about 5 people per square mile. In Manhattan, it's about 67,000 people per square mile. The 2006 votes was not close. It was...to use Bush's word...a "thumping". Most people in the US are no longer able to agree with any wing of the Republican Party...except perhaps for the outcast liberal wing...
Only for the purposes of this discussion, I'll say that my definition of mainstream is white, Christian (not necessarily practicing) Americans, integrated blacks, and assimilated Asians (I'm on of 'em) and Hispanics.
I live in Maryland, which is usually seen as a "blue state". But its not so simple if you look at the county maps and who won in 2004. We have a large African American population that often affects how our state goes (we saw how they voted for Obama this week.) The only districts that voted for teh Dems last time were Baltimore City, which is mostly poor and black, PG County, which is mostly poor black and Hispanic, and Montgomery County, with a mix of poor and lower middle class African Americans and Hispanics (many illegals), a large Jewish population, and a few immigrants from elsewhere. you take this, and a few liberals and hippies you have anywhere, and we are easily a "blue state".
But I've notcied that the vast majority of your white, non-Jewish person here is moderate to conservative and supports Republicans. If you leave the immediate DC and Baltimore areas, you will find people who are Democrats. Even a lot of Americanized Asians I know vote Republican, mostly for fiscal and religious reasons. (Evangelism is big in the Chinese and Korean American communities and like other Chrisitians a lot of these people are values voters and care about morals. At the same time, i've had Jewish friends who say they would be Republicans because like most other Americans they support our military, want the gov't to stop inteferrring with everyday life and wants the illegals out, but the religious aspect of the GOP makes them uncomfortable).
What about where everyone here lives? Are there actually many Democrats and liberals among middle class, Christian white voters? It seems like Democrats always support special interests like African American voters, women voters, Hispanic voters, etc etc. This only fosters divisions that we don't need. We are all Americans before we're anything else. There shouldnt' be black concerns, Asian concerns. There should only be American concerns.
I don't know about "mainstream America," but I know form experience that where you are, the mainstream idea is populism, and that's on both ends.
Actually, both Truman and LBJ were re-elected. Jimmy Carter was the only post WWII Democrat who stood for re-election and lost. Ford and Bush-1 make two Republican incumbents who were not re-elected. The "overwhelming majority" meanwhile stands at 9-6, and in 5 years might very well stand at 9-8. Not really so overwhelming.
There are 24 Republican-held Senate seats on the November ballot. The Democratic margin will be increasing there, as it is expected to do in the House as well.
Take a look at a US map by population density. Most Americans live in the northeast, mid-Atlantic, and west coast areas. The population density of Wyoming is about 5 people per square mile. In Manhattan, it's about 67,000 people per square mile. The 2006 votes was not close. It was...to use Bush's word...a "thumping". Most people in the US are no longer able to agree with any wing of the Republican Party...except perhaps for the outcast liberal wing...
Will the dems increase seats in the congress? There approval rating is lower then Bush's. Guess time will tell.
Will the dems increase seats in the congress? There approval rating is lower then Bush's. Guess time will tell.
I wouldn't make too much of that low approval rating for the Dems in Congress. Right-wing folks are down on them because they are - well, Democrats. Left-wing folks are down on them because they did not accomplish much of the Left-wing agenda - but largely feel that the problem is that there are still too many Republicans in Congress that have prevented the Democrats from moving forward. Thus the approval ratings are low from both sides, but that does not mean that the Left-wing folks down on Congress are about to vote Republican next time - just the opposite actually, they are pretty fired up and are anticipating major gains.
I wouldn't make too much of that low approval rating for the Dems in Congress. Right-wing folks are down on them because they are - well, Democrats. Left-wing folks are down on them because they did not accomplish much of the Left-wing agenda - but largely feel that the problem is that there are still too many Republicans in Congress that have prevented the Democrats from moving forward. Thus the approval ratings are low from both sides, but that does not mean that the Left-wing folks down on Congress are about to vote Republican next time - just the opposite actually, they are pretty fired up and are anticipating major gains.
Ken
I agree. The pachyderm is gonna take a pretty walloping on the trunk come November.
I agree. The pachyderm is gonna take a pretty walloping on the trunk come November.
Hey!
Nice to agree with you once and a while.
Ken
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