@Maj. Bill Martin , I've just read over your recent comments in one gulp, and I'm wondering why you're here and putting so much effort and thought into your comments. Generally, someone who is critical is most effective when they have an alternative vision to offer. Criticism for that sake of criticism doesn't offer much and tends to just irritate others. Just curious - what is it you want to happen?
In terms of...what?
First, I've never liked the whole cheerleader approach to message-boarding period, where people defend "their guy" to the death no matter how wrong he is on a particular issue, and vice-versa for the people they don't like. I think it is more important to take a stand on the merits of each issue, regardless of how the candidates break down on those issues. So if you're sensing from me a lack of consistency in terms of who I support, that's because I evaluate what is said, not who says it.
Second, I honestly don't know whether or not I will vote for Trump in November. I've been as honest about that as I can whenever it comes up. So trying to be honest about how I feel on particular issues is selfish on my part -- it helps clarify the issues, and helps me figure out where I should end up standing.
But big picture, here's where I stand:
I don't believe in the "uniparty" or "GOP-e" stuff, for the most part. I think most of those Republicans simply have a different strategy in that they prioritize winning over ideological purity. They don't take the Cruz approach not because they like Obama's ideas, but because they don't think Cruz's defunding approach will succeed in the long term, and that it will end up costing so many votes that it will hand over control to the Democrats and things will get even worse. Rightly or wrongly, I think they truly believe that. So I don't view them as the enemy as much as flawed allies.
I also don't buy into some of the doom and gloom within conservatism. Not yet, anyway. Charisma/messaging, etc. is an absolutely essential skill for a Presidential candidate, and we've been unlucky in not having a candidate who combines that with conservatism for awhile. But that is still achievable
if the right candidate emerges, and it may very well be one of the guys who failed this time. Maybe a new and improved Cruz, or Rubio, or Jindal etc.. next time around. I'm sure all of those guys -- and others -- learned something from their failure this time
So to answer your question,
what I don't want to see happen is for those of us who oppose Democrats to tear ourselves apart to the point where we cannot rally around the right candidate if he/she emerges. I dislike intensely the personalization of arguments, where people engage in what I see as juvenile name-calling -- "Trumpturds" and "Cruzbots", for example. Seriously, what the hell is that crap?
And that mindset is exacerbated by those who see every
single issue and statement as a chance to attack the guy they don't like, and to use personal insults against the people on the other side of the debate. All that does is drive people further apart, and they'll start disagreeing on issues not because of the issue itself, but simply because of who is on the other side. Everyone who posts on a message board isn't a wordsmith, so people aren't always going to express their opinions perfectly. Yet, less than perfect expression is sometimes jumped on with glee by those who just want to get a dig in for "their guy", or against "the guy" they don't like. Maybe if we more often tried to figure out where the other side was coming from and not always attach the worst possible interpretation to what they say, we might actually communicate better.
I'm not saying we cannot disagree, or that disagreements can't be strong and sometimes passionate. I'm just opposed to the personalization of attacks, and the cheerleader-esque approach of always backing one side over the other, regardless of the nuances on the argument. Because in the end, what is left is a whole bunch of hard feelings, some of which never heal, and which can linger to the point of weakening whatever opposition we can muster to those statist goons on the left. Not to mention that I personally get zero enjoyment out of discussing issues when it devolves into "my guy is better than yours, nyah nyah nyah". Which, if you look back a bit in this thread, is kind of what it is starting to look like.
Maybe it's just me, and I'm not cut out for this message board stuff. Entirely possible. Even likely.