How many of you were interested in politics before Trump took office?

[njbuff]

I’ll be honest, I still know nothing about politics and I knew even less before Trump was President.

 

Now I see politics for the ridiculous game that it is.

 

There is hatred all over this country for political beliefs that I didn’t know existed because I was never involved in political discussions. EVER.

 

Point is, without dragging this thread out, that I should go back to being a political novice. It will make things much more simpler again.

 

Who is/was in the same boat I am?

 

Thoughts?

[BringBackOrton]

The Clinton, George W Bush and Obama administrations all thank you for not paying attention.

[Keukasmallies]

I was interested in politics, to some degree, before Obama was elected, now not so much.  The MSM has turned the tide for me to the point that I believe little I read or see in the MSM.  Trump is no worse than his immediate predecessor, but Hill'ry's totally unexpected loss turned the media into dumnp rats scavenging for the slightest morsel to help ease the pain.

[Azalin]

I've been fascinated by the mechanics of government, especially at the federal level, since the Carter administration. The Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the functions of the three branches and the balance of power between them - all of that is still a major preoccupation of mine, and will always be fascinating to me.

 

But there are politics and there are politics. In my opinion, too few people pay any attention to the mechanics of government and instead focus on the us vs them, team sports version of politics. Unfortunately, this kind of politics makes up the bulk of what we as a society consider to be politics.

 

The best thing that people could do is shut the hell up, turn off the TV, and go read a book. They'd be far better off for it.

 

 

[3rdnlng]

28 minutes ago, Azalin said:

I've been fascinated by the mechanics of government, especially at the federal level, since the Carter administration. The Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the functions of the three branches and the balance of power between them - all of that is still a major preoccupation of mine, and will always be fascinating to me.

 

But there are politics and there are politics. In my opinion, too few people pay any attention to the mechanics of government and instead focus on the us vs them, team sports version of politics. Unfortunately, this kind of politics makes up the bulk of what we as a society consider to be politics.

 

The best thing that people could do is shut the hell up, turn off the TV, and go read a book. They'd be far better off for it.

 

 

It has gotten so bad that Alan !@#$ing Dershowitz is being ripped apart by the left just because he believes in the Constitution. Offhand I cannot name one person in politics on the left that I could disagree with on many ideas but respect the person for their honest principles. There are no Patrick Moynihans out there. They constantly change what they stand for in order to please a certain segment of the population that they need for today. I'm not saying that the right doesn't have hypocrites too but I can at least find some of them that will stand on principle.

[row_33]

Reagan entered office my junior high school year, was well wound up in it and have ever since

 

read through Voegelin and Leo Strauss life works in undergrad for fun 

 

 

Edited July 6, 2018 by row_33

[boyst]

Since I was a young orphan on the streets of Brooklyn during Hayes' first tenure.

[Buffalo_Gal]

I have been "interested" in the process for quite some time now (around the Reagan years - the Carter years were - just put your head down and try and get through it).  The internet has made it a lot easier to become more informed, as long as you are willing to dig. IOW, do not trust the MSM.  The last 10-12 years have been enlightening  (and not in a good way).

[DC Tom]

50 minutes ago, 3rdnlng said:

It has gotten so bad that Alan !@#$ing Dershowitz is being ripped apart by the left just because he believes in the Constitution. Offhand I cannot name one person in politics on the left that I could disagree with on many ideas but respect the person for their honest principles.

 

Chris Van Hollen, I used to...but then he went full bug!@#$ gatorman ignorant with the 2007 bailout.

 

Since then...Bernie Sanders, I disagree with on everything but can say "Well, at least you're honest, I can respect that."  And maybe Mitt Romney.

[keepthefaith]

Been interested in politics my entire adult life but began to tune in much more closely during the Bush 43 years.  The closer you look, the uglier it is. 

[B-Large]

Do you vote?

[Azalin]

3 hours ago, 3rdnlng said:

It has gotten so bad that Alan !@#$ing Dershowitz is being ripped apart by the left just because he believes in the Constitution. Offhand I cannot name one person in politics on the left that I could disagree with on many ideas but respect the person for their honest principles. There are no Patrick Moynihans out there. They constantly change what they stand for in order to please a certain segment of the population that they need for today. I'm not saying that the right doesn't have hypocrites too but I can at least find some of them that will stand on principle.

 

I know exactly what you mean. Another that comes to mind is Sam Nunn. Too bad the dems gave up on that kind of philosophy. I might still be one if they hadn't.

 

 

1 minute ago, B-Large said:

Do you vote?

 

Is this for anyone specifically, or to the board in general? In case of the latter, yes, I vote.

[B-Large]

4 minutes ago, Azalin said:

 

I know exactly what you mean. Another that comes to mind is Sam Nunn. Too bad the dems gave up on that kind of philosophy. I might still be one if they hadn't.

 

 

 

Is this for anyone specifically, or to the board in general? In case of the latter, yes, I vote.

 

Directed at OP.....

[TakeYouToTasker]

I don't care about politics in-so-much as I work to understand the machinations of the individuals who would seek to rule us in order that I can best articulate and argue a moral philosophy that sets men free and opens the world to endless wonders and possibilities as a result.

 

As a very young man I cut my "intellectual teeth", so to speak, on Swift, Machiavelli, Sun-Tsu, Locke, Orwell, Rand, Paine, Smith, Marx, Hobbes, the Bible, etc. and have been working to properly define the world in a way that makes the most sense to the realities of human desires and perception, and the realities of the human condition since that time.

 

As a result, politics became my practical application of those desires.

 

Some day I hope to become skillful at it.

[Gugny]

Started for me with the Bush-Dukakis race.  As a teen, I was an ultra-right winger.  My closest friends (back then, and now; six other guys) were all in the same camp.  My friend's father used to bring us to John Birch Society meetings.  We all subscribed to the National Review.  We all listened to/watched/read Rush Limbaugh.

 

Fast forward to today, two of us (including the son of the father who brought us to those meetings) are pretty liberal; one is even more extreme right than we were back then; the rest are pretty middle of the road, leaning a little to the right.

[Doc Brown]

I couldn't avoid it growing up as my father was very into politics growing up and I remember putting up Carter/Mondale signs up along the road with him as a teenager.  He hated Reagan and still traces all of today's societal problems back to him.  He called Trump "Reagan's id" when we watched that Buffalo rally he had with Rex Ryan giving the intro.    

[Azalin]

51 minutes ago, Gugny said:

Started for me with the Bush-Dukakis race.  As a teen, I was an ultra-right winger.  My closest friends (back then, and now; six other guys) were all in the same camp.  My friend's father used to bring us to John Birch Society meetings.  We all subscribed to the National Review.  We all listened to/watched/read Rush Limbaugh.

 

Fast forward to today, two of us (including the son of the father who brought us to those meetings) are pretty liberal; one is even more extreme right than we were back then; the rest are pretty middle of the road, leaning a little to the right.

 

You were an ultra-right winger as a teen? I'd be interested to hear what caused you to change so much. I've changed and grown over the years myself, but I started as a little red-flag waving commie, eventually moving to the center and then on to a more classical liberal/libertarian bent.

 

 

[Gugny]

8 hours ago, Azalin said:

 

You were an ultra-right winger as a teen? I'd be interested to hear what caused you to change so much. I've changed and grown over the years myself, but I started as a little red-flag waving commie, eventually moving to the center and then on to a more classical liberal/libertarian bent.

 

 

 

As I got older, I just paid attention more.  I form my own opinions/beliefs based on why I see and what I learn.  Sometimes my stance ends up being popular with those on the conservative side; sometimes (more often), liberal.

 

Most of my liberal views are on social issues.  I think, as time has gone one, I realized that I have a problem with a government creating and enforcing rules and policies that affect people whom they've never met - and most of those people (female, not rich, gay, minority) are different than those making/enforcing the rules.

 

 

 

[Nanker]

I go back to Kennedy/Nixon. Can't remember a time since that politics wasn't of interest to me. 

[US Egg]

Actually, became less interested in National politics since Trump was elected. He exposed what many suspected about them and LW media.

 

Finally have someone in the White House that is his own person, sees things for what they are and doesn't pander to the media, Dems or GOP.

 

In Trump I Trust.

[BringBackOrton]

50 minutes ago, Gugny said:

 

As I got older, I just paid attention more.  I form my own opinions/beliefs based on why I see and what I learn.  Sometimes my stance ends up being popular with those on the conservative side; sometimes (more often), liberal.

 

Most of my liberal views are on social issues.  I think, as time has gone one, I realized that I have a problem with a government creating and enforcing rules and policies that affect people whom they've never met - and most of those people (female, not rich, gay, minority) are different than those making/enforcing the rules.

 

 

 

Social "issues" are the biggest problem with our government in the last 20 years. Politicians taking hard stances on things like gay marriage is so silly. 

[Buffalo_Gal]

10 hours ago, Azalin said:

 

You were an ultra-right winger as a teen? I'd be interested to hear what caused you to change so much. I've changed and grown over the years myself, but I started as a little red-flag waving commie, eventually moving to the center and then on to a more classical liberal/libertarian bent.

 

 

The usual progression for is people left to right.  (I have also done it.)

A man who is not a Liberal at sixteen has no heart; a man who is not a Conservative at sixty has no head.
—Benjamin Disraeli (British Statesman, lived 1804-1881)

Edited July 7, 2018 by Buffalo_Gal

[DC Tom]

5 hours ago, Gugny said:

 

As I got older, I just paid attention more.  I form my own opinions/beliefs based on why I see and what I learn.  Sometimes my stance ends up being popular with those on the conservative side; sometimes (more often), liberal.

 

Most of my liberal views are on social issues.  I think, as time has gone one, I realized that I have a problem with a government creating and enforcing rules and policies that affect people whom they've never met - and most of those people (female, not rich, gay, minority) are different than those making/enforcing the rules.

 

 

 

 

One of the things I respect about you.  I mean...while you're obviously an idiot, you're an idiot who forms his own moronic opinions and doesn't just parrot the last bumper sticker he saw.

[IDBillzFan]

I paid attention in college, and paid a bit more attention as a journalist in NC for a handful of years, but it kicked in full boat during the 2008 election.

 

While I readily admit I am not particularly well versed in a specific skill set, I do possess decent instincts to the extent I can size people up pretty accurately, pretty quickly.  It served me well as a salesperson for years, but Barack Obama absolutely buried the needle on my bullschittometer and I couldn't take it any more. I started attending Tea Party rallies and doing all the things I could to change minds, but it was all for naught, not because I found Obama a disgusting human, but because all my efforts led to a John McCain nomination.

 

Beyond the fact that the media was determined to have their first black president, he was also running against Mccain who, compared to Obama, is best described as "Dorf on Golf."

 

By the time McCain mentioned during a debate that we need to bail out the people with bad loans, I had enough. I was no longer a Republican. I was just a conservative who wanted less government in our lives, and a much smaller government overall. It's still doesn't matter because I live in CA, which has a supermajority in virtually every city.  I voted for SMOD in 2016, convinced (like the rest of the world) that it was going to be Hillary in a landslide. I had no use for Trump as a human.

 

Now I put my voice to good use; laughing at the Obama-adoring leftists melting down.  Trump is playing them like a harp from hell.

 

Sidenote: I've turned off anything news related on TV or radio. All of it. I'm much happier.

 

 

Edited July 7, 2018 by LABillzFan

[Gugny]

2 hours ago, DC Tom said:

 

One of the things I respect about you.  I mean...while you're obviously an idiot, you're an idiot who forms his own moronic opinions and doesn't just parrot the last bumper sticker he saw.

 

I was having a less-than-stellar day and this cheered me right up.  It's the nicest back-handed compliment I've ever gotten!  

[Foxx]

3 minutes ago, Gugny said:

 

I was having a less-than-stellar day and this cheered me right up.  It's the nicest back-handed compliment I've ever gotten!  

what happened to Mr. Met? did the O's eat him or something?

[Gugny]

1 minute ago, Foxx said:

what happened to Mr. Met? did the O's eat him or something?

 

Yes!  Tastes just like chicken!

[DC Tom]

28 minutes ago, Gugny said:

 

I was having a less-than-stellar day and this cheered me right up.  It's the nicest back-handed compliment I've ever gotten!  

 

No problem.  Any time you need someone to belittle you in to feeling better about yourself, just let me know.  For a schmuck like you, it's literally the least I can do.

[Gugny]

Just now, DC Tom said:

 

No problem.  Any time you need someone to belittle you in to feeling better about yourself, just let me know.  For a schmuck like you, it's literally the least I can do.

 

into.  Moron.  

[DC Tom]

2 minutes ago, Gugny said:

 

into.  Moron.  

 

Something you read off some liberal bumper sticker, I suppose?

[KD in CA]

I was most interested in politics in HS during Reagan and have become progressively less interested in it ever since.

[Wacka]

I was in 11th grade the year of the Watergate hearings (1974) and that is US history. The teacher spent most of the spring going over the Constitution and she used the hearings to go over yje part on impeachment.  We had homework to watch the news about the hearings.

[Gugny]

2 hours ago, Wacka said:

I was in 11th grade the year of the Watergate hearings (1974) and that is US history. The teacher spent most of the spring going over the Constitution and she used the hearings to go over yje part on impeachment.  We had homework to watch the news about the hearings.

 

My son was in 8th grade during the Clinton-Trump race.  His Social Studies teacher gave the class an assignment to watch the final debate and to make notes on each candidate's comments, claims, behavior, etc.

 

I thought it was a great assignment.  We actually watched the debate together and each took notes so we could compare/discuss when it was over.

 

The teacher must have gotten smacked down, because he never collected the assignment and they never discussed the debate in class.  I thought that sucked.

[row_33]

Firing Line is back on PBS....