Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America

[TheresNoMoney]

I have never really believed in the idea of a polarized America.  I think people on the far ends of the spectrum, mostly left, are trying to create polarization.

Try tuning into Fox News any night of the week and tell me it's the "left" that are pushing the "culture war" meme. 

[TheresNoMoney]

I think the average "mainstream" person is, in general, more comfortable in the Republican party.  The Democratic party has for some time been a refuge for those on the fringes of society in one way or another (minorities, gays, etc).  I don't say that's necessarily a bad thing, just a reality, and I find it much harder to relate to the Democratic base than I do to the Republican base

The Democratic base is the average working American and those who belive in civil rights and equality for all. The Repulican base is the rich, white American and those who seek to push their warped view of religion on the rest of the country.

And I like your  assertion that minorites (such as blacks) are on the "fringes" of society.

[TheresNoMoney]

Rich white America as you call it couldn't get enough votes to win enough elections to control the White House and both houses of congress.

Exactly, that's why it's called a "base".

And polls indicate that people who are married and raising families lean strongly toward the Republican party.  The Democratic party lost its strong hold on the average working American quite some time ago, though of course many average working Americans, though not a majority, remain Democrats.

Goes to show the effective propaganda of the Republican party where it can get millions of average, middle-class Americans to vote against their own economic interests based on God, guns, gays, and fear of minorities.

[TheresNoMoney]

The left has waged a surreptitious culture war for decades without saying so.  One thing the right has to learn is to get their opinions across in a subliminal way as effectively as the left does.  The right has never really learned how to hide behind a false facade of impartiality the way the main media organs of the left have been doing for decades.

You've got to be kidding me. The Republican party has been much more effective in manipulating the media over the past 6 or 8 years than the Democrats have. Hell, after 9/11, Bush and every other Republican got a completely free pass for the next 3 or so years from the media.

[TheresNoMoney]

Maybe they just don't want to pay ever higher taxes for out of control spending on ineffective and substandard government services from which they don't benefit, and maybe they don't like Democratic sympathies on issues like crime, etc.

The current Republican administration/congress is the most out of control spending in the last 40 years, so your accusation holds no water (but I'm sure you'll still try to get people to fall for it).

And maybe they don't understand that Democratic economic policies help everybody and only hear the tired, worn-out lines about evil "government programs" and "higher taxes". And the meme about Democratics being sympathetic to criminals is another largely false one that Republicans love to spew.

I'm sure that living in New Hampshire, you develop an in-depth understanding on the fear of minorities.  Why don't you wait until you've lived in a racially mixed urban area before passing judgment.

I lived in Denver for a year (three blocks from E. Colfax, possibly the worst neighborhood in the city) and also lived just outside Boston for over a year.  So I have lived in racially mixed areas before.

[TheresNoMoney]

What a stupid conversation.

Agreed, but dazzleman seems obsessed with his Sean Hannity/Bill O'Reilly routine lately and has been particularly annoying.