Mitt Romney and Mormonism

[blueerica]

Originally Posted by Alex

I don't expect to be offered the first choice within my lifetime (and being a materialistic atheist I also don't expect to be offered any choices after my lifetime either).

Well, sh**.

[Kevy Baby]

I don't get people who say they would NEVER vote for a person of a certain political party. While you may lean one way or the other, would you rather have an obviously bad person of your preferred party rather than one of "the other side" who might actually do some good?

[Not Afraid]

The less religion plays a part in a politicians life, the happier I am with that politician. So, Romney would not be high on my list of potential canidates to vote for. I heard his comments several times today while driving around. Besides the fact the I kept thinking of Lloyd Benston's comment to Dan Quayle I was really disturbed by this comment:

"In recent years, the notion of separation of church and state has been taken by some well beyond its original meaning," Romney said. "Religion is seen as merely a private affair with no place in public life. It is as if they are intent on establishing a new religion in America — the religion of secularism. They are wrong."

No, Mitt, you are wrong. Now, go take your dog on vacation. (Sorry, but I cannot forget nor forgive that cruel act.)

[Not Afraid]

I can concur that those with a stifling religion to rebel against in fact DO put out.

[LSPoorEeyorick]

I suppose that if some Democrat was looking to lower taxes for the rich and remove social aid programs and take art and music out of the classroom, and by some chance got nominated... and if some Republican was looking to raise taxes for the rich and add social aid programs and better fund the arts in the classroom and in the country... then yes. Yes, I would vote Republican.

Nobody is good or bad, everyone is complex and it seems to me that almost everyone does what they're doing because they think they're in the right. What I'm trying to illustrate with the above is that I really, highly disagree with the Republican party's stance on most things, and I'd be only likely to vote for them if they changed their stance to mine.

Also, I hope I'm not proven wrong, but I tend to think that Republican beliefs lend themselves more to what constitutes "obviously bad" behavior in my opinion (i.e. ME ME MEism, money-seeking and war profiteering, etc) and Democrats, less so. Not that the potential for bad behavior doesn't exist on both sides, but to someone who values empathy and social aid, the Democrats always come out smelling fresher - if only in the dirty diaper versus rotting corpse sense.

[Kevy Baby]

Any time people start thinking that one political party is truly better than the other, I remember this classic clip from Richard Jeni (RIP). Better words were never spoken.

[Jazzman]

Originally Posted by Kevy Baby

Any time people start thinking that one political party is truly better than the other, I remember this classic clip from Richard Jeni (RIP). Better words were never spoken.

I know this is obnoxious, but I just had to quote this in honor of yet another genius gone too soon. Loved Richard Jeni. Platypus Man will always be one of my favorite comedy features ever.

[LSPoorEeyorick]

I do like Richard Jeni, but I'm still not sure why the things he said about Democrats are so horrible.

And sure, everybody's a little dirty, everybody's a little annoying, everybody's a little hypocritical in one way or another.

Though I'm sure you don't agree, it really is OK for me to agree with one set of principles over another. And to keep doing it consistently.

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by LSPoorEeyorick

I do like Richard Jeni, but I'm still not sure why the things he said about Democrats are so horrible.

So are you saying that what he said in that routine (I assuming that you watched it and are commenting on it) about Republicans is true but what he said about Democrats is horrible?

Originally Posted by LSPoorEeyorick

Though I'm sure you don't agree, it really is OK for me to agree with one set of principles over another. And to keep doing it consistently.

I am not saying that it is not okay to have a set of principles. Instead, I believe that:

1. NO political party will ever stand for all that I believe in. And I believe that this holds true for most everyone else as well.
2. I believe that both of the major political parties have long ago lost sight of what there core values are and this is why I cannot support either one of them. Yes, I lean towards the Right (primarily because of their historic fiscal issues), but strongly disagree with many of their societal stances (gay marriage, abortion, etc.). But I cannot side with the Democrats either because historically, they want to take and spend too much of my money.
3. At elections, I review (as best I can) EACH candidate to see what they want to do in office, review their track record against that and see which I feel has the best chance of doing what I believe to be right. Whether they are Democrat or Republican usually has little bearing in and of itself.

[LSPoorEeyorick]

Originally Posted by Kevy Baby

So are you saying that what he said in that routine (I assuming that you watched it and are commenting on it) about Republicans is true but what he said about Democrats is horrible?

No, that's the opposite of what I'm saying; I am saying that what he said about Democrats is NOT horrible. (I said "I didn't understand why it's so horrible," meaning "I didn't understand what's so horrible about what he said," not "I didn't understand how he could say these 'horrible' things about Democrats.") I didn't say anything about truth on either side. Blanket statements tend to have a kernel of truth and a whole lot of generalization - especially when used for comic effect.

Originally Posted by Kevy Baby

I am not saying that it is not okay to have a set of principles. Instead, I believe that:

1. NO political party will ever stand for all that I believe in. And I believe that this holds true for most everyone else as well.
2. I believe that both of the major political parties have long ago lost sight of what there core values are and this is why I cannot support either one of them. Yes, I lean towards the Right (primarily because of their historic fiscal issues), but strongly disagree with many of their societal stances (gay marriage, abortion, etc.). But I cannot side with the Democrats either because historically, they want to take and spend too much of my money.
3. At elections, I review (as best I can) EACH candidate to see what they want to do in office, review their track record against that and see which I feel has the best chance of doing what I believe to be right. Whether they are Democrat or Republican usually has little bearing in and of itself.

You didn't know me when, but I used to be a vocal political activist for breaking the two-party system. This was before the Iraq war, when my priorities were shaken by the actions taken led by our Republican government. And yes, the Democrats didn't stop him from going to war. But personally, I doubt we would have gone if Gore had been in the office. And I very, very much regretted my third-party vote (even if it wouldn't have helped) the moment we stepped into Iraq.

I do review every major candidate, in any party, during the year or two before the election. But it all seems pretty futile to me. No, no single candidate stands completely in alignment with me, and they never will unless it's ME running. We're all beautiful ****ing snowflakes, etc. But that does not stop me from noticing that most of the Republican candidates' political views are in opposition to my views, while the Democrats are (for the most part) campaigning for things I agree with.

I'm not a centrist. I very very much want to get us out of Iraq. I want to stop the hemorrhaging war funds leading to war profiteering while bankrupting the country. I very much want to seek out goodwill internationally because I believe we've sullied our name with our middle-eastern meddling over the last thirty or forty years. I want to legalize gay marriage. I want to keep church and state completely separate. I want to see arts funded and schools funded and social aid programs funded. I want to fund it myself, with raised taxes. I want people who can afford taxes (MYSELF INCLUDED) to pay them. I want wealthy people to pay them even more. I want a better healthcare system. And yes, I even want to unite the partisan country under a common goal of improving life for each other and NOT taking lives overseas. If, in my review, I can find a Republican who agrees with me about these things, I'll consider voting for them.