Quote Originally Posted by Ernie View Post
It's amazing to me how far this country has fallen away from it's founding principles...
even to the extent that the "Tea Party" gets blamed by many as the reason why the country is in the shape it's in. I'm just glad that you folks are still in the minority for the time being.
The problem is that people think they know what the founding principles of the country are...and it turns out, they are wrong...

Actually, what is happening is, unfortunately, human nature...

There was a study recently performed regarding the root cause of the intense political polarization that we have to deal with in this country...

I'll do my best to find a link, but, to paraphrase, it studied the psychological and sociological effects of an intense crisis on a country.

To boil it down, two things happen after a crisis:

1) In the short term, everyone comes together and supports each other.

2) In the long term, after the initial feelings wear off, sides tend not only to drift back to their respective ideologies, but to drift even further on whatever side they fell...the right leans further right and the left leans further left...

Once that happens, people who have views that exist closer to the center find it impossible to function...

For example, Steve LaTourette was a nine-term congressional representative and a Republican. He was well-liked in his district and could have been re-elected for many more terms...his personal approval rating within his district was almost always favorable, even when Congressional approval was low...

He retired. LaTourette existed to the right of the center...but not far enough to suit many of his Congressional colleagues. He was a guy who would, when necessary, reach "across the aisle" in order to accomplish things for the good of the country. Being part of the most ineffective Congress in history wore on him. Seeing a Congress unable to overcome rampant polarization in order to accomplish anything meaningful was too much.

Obama's views exist closer to the center than many Republicans care to admit. He has been called "The Most Liberal President"...and while that is a nice Fox News soundbite, it isn't true. He was elected not because he was the most liberal. He appealed to the middle of both sides. He hasn't changed. Unfortunately, everything around him has.