Well m bearnotes friends I have a vision of sorts brought to me by all the political hub-ub we are being overwhelemed with. Personally, I am a liberal person, I subscribe to many liberal policies and my votes tend to be for the democratic candidate. I am however, also a person who really does appreciate the the neccessity to make this country a better place. My political philosophy, in short, revolves more around compromise than partisan politics. Yes I believe that there are some good Republican politicans, and good Republican ideas. Morever, I believe that the truly educated and compassionate citizen should always vote his or her heart, and not his or her party.
I'd like to start a group for people like myself...those who find themselves mostly to the left of the line but who are not affraid to speak out when they think the democrats are taking a turn in the wrong direction.
I think this group could be successful for a number of reasons, each of which I would be happy to explain if you wanted to contact me for more information. I need 4 more people to start the group as an official campus organization, and I came here in search of a few souls who might have said "yeah I kinda feel like that too." If that is you, email me so we can talk. The group will be active on campus, but it will NOT be overly time consuming. Email me for details.
Thank you for your time.
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jto974s@smsu.edu
NEW CAMPUS GROUP...LOOKING FOR MEMBERS!
Moderator: solid_dave
I'm gonna throw a little p.s. on here to try and foster some interest. Here are the things that I hope to accomplish in this new organization.
1) Work to elect the best democrats to office (not all of them mind you)
2) Bring at least ONE speaker to campus
3) Educate the SMS community about the election process and the candidates running for office.
4) Promote the IMPORTANCE of excepting civil responsibility and voting.
4) MOST IMPORTANTLY - use organization money (and raise additional funds) to provide a scholarship for a high school senior planning on attending SMS, who shows an open mind and a general philosophy on life that corresponds with the views of the organization.
I think these are all admirable goals, and I think that we can have fun while doing it!!!
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1) Work to elect the best democrats to office (not all of them mind you)
2) Bring at least ONE speaker to campus
3) Educate the SMS community about the election process and the candidates running for office.
4) Promote the IMPORTANCE of excepting civil responsibility and voting.
4) MOST IMPORTANTLY - use organization money (and raise additional funds) to provide a scholarship for a high school senior planning on attending SMS, who shows an open mind and a general philosophy on life that corresponds with the views of the organization.
I think these are all admirable goals, and I think that we can have fun while doing it!!!
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the_red_chimp
- Bear Representative
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Isn't someone who can objectively look at both democratic and republican ideals moderate? What's the point of claiming a political party if you're going to operate within the others' sphere of influence as well? All American politics are conservative worldwide anyhow, so American liberals are conservative too.. just make a moderate political group. 
I'm not really sure about the showering post...but I'll address the other one briefly.
If you read my posts on here (which I'm sure that they'll be many more) you'll begin to understand my philosophy about life. In a nutshell, that is that the answers are always in the grays...never in the blacks and whites.
I think it is very much possible to live your life by democratic principals and still not bend over "sheep like" any time a democrat speaks. In other words...I think it is possible to be liberal and not subscribe to every policy the democrats have.
This, I don't believe, is being completly moderate. I'm not entirely impartial. If two candidates were absolutly identical (clones even) with no discernable differences b/w them, and one was a Republican and the other a Democrat...I'd vote for the Democrat.
Now, in addition I would argue that those, such as myself, who favor a political philosophy but aren't affraid to disagree once in a while actually have a favorable amount of power in politics. Hardcore liberals will always vote Democratic...even if Hitler was running. The same is true for hardcore Republicans (voting Republican). It is those voters who are more moderate that the parties must keep happy, and thus, listen to and care about. However, although I used the word "moderate" let me reitterate that I am not a true moderate. I don't look at the parties necessarily equally, and I do tend to favor liberal policies.
Let me emphasize once again that I am a democrat. I have and will continue to volunteer on democratic campaigns, and I subscribe, on most accounts, to democratic philosophy.
In quick response to the_red_chimp (whose post I just now saw) I will say yes, this organization is for those who are mostly democratic. Open mind, in this case, does not mean that we treat Republican and Democratic philosophy equally. What it means is that we actually take time to analyze democratic policy, and discover why it is either good or bad, and not just accept it blindly. If we find it good...we support it...if we find it bad, then we discuss why it's bad, discuss ways to fix it, and/or search for other political candidates who may have it better (and if they turn out Republican, libertarian or whatever then so be it).
I hope this is clear, although I understand the concept is a bit odd...especially as vague as I have been in the posts.
That's it for now, I would be happy to address any more questions that you may have. I do not think this organization would be as strange as you may be thinking. In fact, I think there are probably a lot of people who favor a political party but not mindlessly.
If you have any more questions or comments feel free to post them.
Thanx
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If you read my posts on here (which I'm sure that they'll be many more) you'll begin to understand my philosophy about life. In a nutshell, that is that the answers are always in the grays...never in the blacks and whites.
I think it is very much possible to live your life by democratic principals and still not bend over "sheep like" any time a democrat speaks. In other words...I think it is possible to be liberal and not subscribe to every policy the democrats have.
This, I don't believe, is being completly moderate. I'm not entirely impartial. If two candidates were absolutly identical (clones even) with no discernable differences b/w them, and one was a Republican and the other a Democrat...I'd vote for the Democrat.
Now, in addition I would argue that those, such as myself, who favor a political philosophy but aren't affraid to disagree once in a while actually have a favorable amount of power in politics. Hardcore liberals will always vote Democratic...even if Hitler was running. The same is true for hardcore Republicans (voting Republican). It is those voters who are more moderate that the parties must keep happy, and thus, listen to and care about. However, although I used the word "moderate" let me reitterate that I am not a true moderate. I don't look at the parties necessarily equally, and I do tend to favor liberal policies.
Let me emphasize once again that I am a democrat. I have and will continue to volunteer on democratic campaigns, and I subscribe, on most accounts, to democratic philosophy.
In quick response to the_red_chimp (whose post I just now saw) I will say yes, this organization is for those who are mostly democratic. Open mind, in this case, does not mean that we treat Republican and Democratic philosophy equally. What it means is that we actually take time to analyze democratic policy, and discover why it is either good or bad, and not just accept it blindly. If we find it good...we support it...if we find it bad, then we discuss why it's bad, discuss ways to fix it, and/or search for other political candidates who may have it better (and if they turn out Republican, libertarian or whatever then so be it).
I hope this is clear, although I understand the concept is a bit odd...especially as vague as I have been in the posts.
That's it for now, I would be happy to address any more questions that you may have. I do not think this organization would be as strange as you may be thinking. In fact, I think there are probably a lot of people who favor a political party but not mindlessly.
If you have any more questions or comments feel free to post them.
Thanx
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Let me give an example from the right to better illustrate my point. John McCain is a Republican...and a prominant one. But he also has his own beliefs and when his beliefs come in conflict with the beliefs of the Republican party, or Republican leadership he is not affraid to vocalize those differences. I don't know anyone that would consider him an independant, or a moderate, just becaue he has occasional conflicts with his party.
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Fried Squirrel
- Bear Leader
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the_red_chimp
- Bear Representative
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- Joined: August 30, 2004, 2:21 pm
Ok...there's obviously a misunderstanding here. I don't know if you are partisian in nature but in most cases, democrats are going to favor a democrat with a few bad ideas over a Republican whom, in their opinion, is ALL bad ideas. Moreover, parties don't necessarily make mistakes, politicians make mistakes. I'm not a huge fan of John Kerry's war record...but why does that mean that I shouldn't support Clair McCaskil for governor? Yeah they're democrats, but they're also individual people whose idea vary some. Remember that there are varying degrees of democrat and republican. There are even conservative democrats and liberal republicans...having a disagreement with one member of the party doesn't mean you should stop supporting the entier party. But id DOES mean that you should be responsible enough to voice your concerns about the policians (your party or not) that you have disagreements with.
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Krovox the Great
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ColorOfSakura
- Bear Leader
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Alien - I agree with you wholeheartedly. I'm also a person who doesn't really look at politics as just Republican and Democratic. It's like, yes I am a liberal mostly. But there are Republicans out there that I feel are doing a good job and should continue to do so. I also think that there are those who aren't so great. Same thing with Democrats as well. And it sucks because this is my first presidential election and NEITHER candidate is really a good one to go with. And I'm not even bothering voting third party...that isn't happening, in such a dual-minded society.
Sadly life isn't just black and white, and neither is politics. But people want a cookie cutter society when they cannot have one. The grey area is what SHOULD be focused on, because in the end - those are what the world is made up of.
I'm just tired of people coming up to me and going:
Them: "Are you a Republican?"
Me: "No."
Them: "Oh! So you're a Democrat then!"
Me: "No dimwit, I'm neither. I have my own opinions on things but since they vary so much, I thusly DO NOT consider myself part of a political party."
I mean...that's like someone coming up and asking "Are you a Catholic?"
and when you say no they automatically assume that you're Jewish. You know, there are more than two choices in life.
Sadly life isn't just black and white, and neither is politics. But people want a cookie cutter society when they cannot have one. The grey area is what SHOULD be focused on, because in the end - those are what the world is made up of.
I'm just tired of people coming up to me and going:
Them: "Are you a Republican?"
Me: "No."
Them: "Oh! So you're a Democrat then!"
Me: "No dimwit, I'm neither. I have my own opinions on things but since they vary so much, I thusly DO NOT consider myself part of a political party."
I mean...that's like someone coming up and asking "Are you a Catholic?"
and when you say no they automatically assume that you're Jewish. You know, there are more than two choices in life.
