has it always been us vs. them / yes or no?

[mek42]

I'm in my early 30s and just starting to get interested in politics in the past few years.  Has the US political scene always been this polarized?  Was there ever any sense of compromise?  Of trying to find a middle ground that would make everyone half-smile and half-grimace all at once?

Or am I just hopelessly naive?

[taurusowner]

I don't think outright anti US agression has been as plain as it it has been since the 60s.  Even in the civil war, there were those that loved the Union.  They just loved their home states more.  Head over to DemUnderground.  They type of anti-US filth that is spewed and displayed by the modern Left I have a feeling is something that has not been seen often before.  Even during other times of great strife, the general fact was that the 2 sides had different ideas of how to make the nation greater.  Now on the other hand, we have leftists who plain as day say they want the US to diminish and fail.

[nico]

Haven't you heard?  President Obama is going to unite everyone; from the typical white people, to the enlightened modern progressives, to the bitter xenophobes still clinging to their guns and religion. 

"How?" you ask? 
Shut up!

That's right, through the power hope and change, the most progressive Senator in the last 40 years will make everyone equal, subsidize everything you want (not guns), lower taxes for everyone except those rich aholes with nice suits and big houses (politicians excluded), talk terrorists out of attacking us(until they do), reduce the national debt, stop Big Oil from making a profit, and reverse Global war. . . umm Climate Change^tm, and you're all going to like it!! (or else)

Still have doubts? Just go to barackobama.com and someone will be along shortly to assist you.  They'll be the ones in blue helmets. 

This message was paid for by Barack Obama for president.  Not associated with freedom, fiscal responsibility, US autonomy, or reality.  Void wherever the hell I say so

 

[Standing Wolf]

Has the US political scene always been this polarized?

You, ah... may want to bone up on the Civil War in your spare time.

[longeyes]

The only thing Obama will unite is The Opposition.

[MechAg94]

Yes, it has always been polarized, every since Washington stepped down and likely before.  Look at John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. 

I agree with the post above that I think the raw anti-US sentiment and outright intolerance/derision for those that disagree politically is more new in the last 50 years.  At least that is how I see it, but maybe those were there always, just kept under the surface. 

[AZRedhawk44]

I think the interhoozit has a lot to do with the anti-US sentiment... just as it has a lot to do with the unification of the second amendment crowd.

The freedom to more-or-less anonymously bash anything you don't like is pretty intoxicating.

[K Frame]

You need to read up on the political scene of the early years of our Republic.

Hamilton, Jefferson, Clinton, Adams, Burr...

The stuff that's going on today is piddling BS compared to that snake pit.

[mek42]

I'm coming up on some time off - any suggestions on a reading list?

[Dntsycnt]

I think the interhoozit has a lot to do with the anti-US sentiment... just as it has a lot to do with the unification of the second amendment crowd.

The freedom to more-or-less anonymously bash anything you don't like is pretty intoxicating.

I'm gonna have to disagree.  The internet allows me to chat with a young lady displaced from her home in Lebanon.  She despises our government, but knows plenty americans via the internet and knows we as individuals are usually pretty good people.  I in turn know that independent women do exist in Lebanon, and feel pretty happy about themselves.

There's a lot of bashing, of course, but there's bashing for EVERYTHING, and a lot of it is more for fun than anything else.  The internet is an enormous uniting force as well as a playground for the mature and immature alike.  For every 12 year old calling someone a fag on youtube there is a Canadian meeting a Kiwi, a brit talking to a Japanese person, or an Israeli debating a bunch of Americans.

[K Frame]

There are two really good overview books of the events surrounding the election of 1800...

A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America's First Presidential Campaign  by Edward J. Larson

Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800 (Pivotal Moments in American History) by John Ferling


There are also some good books on the Burr-Hamilton debacle, but it's been quite a few years since I read those.

Any decently stocked library should have a number of books on the subject.

[Scout26]

You need to read up on the political scene of the early years of our Republic.

Hamilton, Jefferson, Clinton, Adams, Burr...

The stuff that's going on today is piddling BS compared to that snake pit.

Yes, but then you could shoot the SOB after challenging him to a duel. 

From WWII until Nixon became president things were relatively cool between the two parties.  Once Nixon got elected the foaming at the mouth Nixon haters came out the woodwork and the wheels really came off the "Loyal Opposition  ".

[taurusowner]

Hamilton, Jefferson, Clinton, Adams, Burr...

But none of them actually hated America.  Neither did most of the leaders and generals or even people during the Civil War.

Now, we really do have a large group of Americans that truly hate America.

[charby]

You need to read up on the political scene of the early years of our Republic.

Hamilton, Jefferson, Clinton, Adams, Burr...

The stuff that's going on today is piddling BS compared to that snake pit.

What Mike said.

[longeyes]

The internet is an enormous uniting force as well as a playground for the mature and immature alike.  For every 12 year old calling someone a fag on youtube there is a Canadian meeting a Kiwi, a brit talking to a Japanese person, or an Israeli debating a bunch of Americans.

Well, yes...and maybe not.

I think there's a tendency to believe that talking to people really creates a meeting of minds.  More often than not it really doesn't.  And how often do people really reveal what they truly think about matters of great moment?

I trust actions, not verbal exchanges, when it comes to what counts.

[RocketMan]

Hamilton, Jefferson, Clinton, Adams, Burr...

But none of them actually hated America.  Neither did most of the leaders and generals or even people during the Civil War.

Now, we really do have a large group of Americans that truly hate America.

taurusowner hit the nail on the head.  The level of outright hatred for this country among some of the left is astounding.

[pinoyinus]

I agree with taurusowner 100%.  If you want an example, head on over to thinkprogress.org and see for yourself.  There are people there that are totally convinced that 9/11 was a CIA operation and that it was a missile that hit the pentagon and not a passenger plane.  The sad thing is that no one challenges it and just accepts it as gospel.  I wonder if the polarization that we see now will lead to another civil war (not that I wish for one to happen). 

[Fly320s]

Was there ever any sense of compromise?  Of trying to find a middle ground that would make everyone half-smile and half-grimace all at once?

I don't know about you, but I don't want to compromise with the leftisits/socialists/statists. 

[longeyes]

We have been compromising.  That's why we've wound up where we are now, defending on our own 20-yard line, hoping that the august Supreme Court deigns to recognize what all Americans of good faith and honor have known for over 200 years, that we have the God-given, not Court-given, right to self-defense and, more to the point, to resist tyranny.

There really isn't too much to "compromise" without this game not being worth playing any more.

[The Annoyed Man]

  There was a song in the late '60's early '70's ; "The one in the right was on the left, the one on the left was in the middle, theone in the middle was on the right..."

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

In the late 1800s, if memory serves, there was certain voter intimidation - which is the reason for current laws forbidding weapons in polling places. Beating people with clubs, IIRC.

Now, we really do have a large group of Americans that truly hate America.

Care to elaborate?

[MicroBalrog]

That is my response to the original poster.

[MechAg94]

During the slavery debates pre-Civil War, there was a guy who beat another Congressman with a cane.  Not sure if that is that picture or not.

I think the main difference is that these days you have a lot of socialist/communists, many of whom have little or no education when it comes to history.

[MicroBalrog]

Senator.

[MechAg94]

I think the interhoozit has a lot to do with the anti-US sentiment... just as it has a lot to do with the unification of the second amendment crowd.

The freedom to more-or-less anonymously bash anything you don't like is pretty intoxicating.

I'm gonna have to disagree.  The internet allows me to chat with a young lady displaced from her home in Lebanon.  She despises our government, but knows plenty americans via the internet and knows we as individuals are usually pretty good people.  I in turn know that independent women do exist in Lebanon, and feel pretty happy about themselves.

There's a lot of bashing, of course, but there's bashing for EVERYTHING, and a lot of it is more for fun than anything else.  The internet is an enormous uniting force as well as a playground for the mature and immature alike.  For every 12 year old calling someone a fag on youtube there is a Canadian meeting a Kiwi, a brit talking to a Japanese person, or an Israeli debating a bunch of Americans.

An Israeli debating a bunch of Americans?!?  The hell you say!