The purpose of these debates is to Occupy Main Street.

[Eddie Haskell]

We have a two party system and both parties work for the same bosses. Neither party works for the people. The bosses want us preoccupied with fighting each other because no matter which side wins they maintain power. What they really fear is a third party ... one they don't own. They win by keeping us focused on left vs. right rather than on our common enemy.

OWS is not about left vs. right. It's about the haves vs. the have nots.

[TheWraith]

1. Thank you for the return of Naderite crap. nt

[Fire Walk With Me]

2. Now I know who unrecc'd my rec. Shiny red button for you.

[TheWraith]

4. It's not my fault that the OP is, among other things...

1. Full of it, since claiming no difference between the parties is absurd beyond absurdity.

2. Violating DU rules by advocating a third party.

It's also not my fault that in the US political landscape, there are only two sides, good guys and bad guys. The fact that you may sometimes find the good guys not radical enough for your taste doesn't negate the fact that those are the two available options.

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[TheWraith]

10. Nice attempt at obfuscation and evasion.

But the OP speaks for itself, and it's the same stack of bullshit that people have been trying to feed us since Nader 2000. If you want to believe that there wouldn't have been a difference between Gore and Bush, or that Democrats and Republicans are the same, go ahead, but none of the rest of us are required to treat that with anything other than the outright scorn it deserves, right up there with someone saying that the Earth is flat. If you, the OP, or any of the others have a problem with me saying that, you also have a simple and obvious problem with the truth.

[Eddie Haskell]

7. Really?

1. I never said there's no difference, but I will say not much has changed. Same wars ... no bankster convictions ... same school of economic advice ... same tax cuts for the rich.

2. I said the bosses fear a third party. I'm not advocating anything but representatives who work for the people rather than the Oligarchy.

[TheWraith]

13. To believe that, you have to willfully disregard reality in favor of propaganda.

And Republican propaganda at that, designed to convince people that Democrats are a failure and to give up. Including ignoring the fact that we're out of Iraq in under 10 weeks; that we've begun withdrawing from Afghanistan; that we've passed Wall Street reform that reinstates important regulations including the core of Glass Steagall; the success at halting the economic freefall; the expiration of the Bush tax cuts next year; and on, and on, and on.

[girl gone mad]

11. Maybe take a break for a while.

You aren't making any sense lately. Just a ball of rage.

[TheWraith]

14. I'll always hit back when people try to justify the same bullshit that gave us Bush.

This "no difference between the parties" crap is the reason that we're in the problem in the first place. It's the same basic logic as the Republicans use: tax cuts and deregulation got the economy in trouble, therefore tax cuts and deregulation will fix everything. Only here it's third parties electing Republicans got us in trouble, therefore third parties electing Republicans will get us out of it.

[woo me with science]

17. No, here's the reason people are upset:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=2140940&mesg_id=2141482

[Eddie Haskell]

3. It's the Inequality, Stupid!

http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/income-inequality-in-america-chart-graph

[Eddie Haskell]

5. Who Owns Congress?

http://motherjones.com/special-reports/2010/09/congress

[Skittles]

9. are you replying to yourself?

[Eddie Haskell]

12. Money in politics

http://motherjones.com/special-reports/2011/03/plutocracy-now

[woo me with science]

8. K&R

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2143855

[SoapBox]

15. Funny....

[MisterP]

16. that IS left vs. right

left is bottom, right is top (more or less)

[Eddie Haskell]

18. That's how it used to be, and still is to some degree but ...

Now both parties are beholding to the money that puts them into office and increasingly that money is corporate. Just compare Obama's rhetoric against his record. Look at his appointments.

[MisterP]

19. that I know: I never use "left vs. right" as shorthand for "Dem vs. GOP"

most DUers use the terms objectively, rather than assuming that the constricted political spectrums of Washington are evenly divisible
but many do, and that's a problem