Jim, I don't see this great divide that you do. I no longer see a difference between a Republican and a Democrat. The result of having either party in office is the same. George Bush has done the two things Republicans are adamantly opposed to better than any Democrat ever could, he's grown the size of the government making it way bigger than it should be, and he's run up a deficit that we may never ever get under control. Add to that the fact that the value of the U.S. dollar under his leadership is so devalued it might as well be worthless. People have this idea that no matter what our presidents and various governments do the U.S. will always survive. It's like we're invincible or something. We're not. A country as great as ours must be maintained by following the principles used to establish it in the first place. Once we toss those ideas out, we can fall like any other country in the world. I fear that's what must happen now for Americans to wake up and realize what they once had. I haven't been a Republican in eight years and I was never a Democrat. I'm a Reform party member now and I'm screwed in this election. Realistically we have two Democrats running.
I'm a republican becuz I think IF we kept to the values and methods that first made America great, this country will continue to be great.
I feel this party best leads us to those values or principles - I believe liberalism (which is basically now what the democratic party has morphed into) takes us away from what made this country great, and as I see liberalism gain in strength, I see the country crumbling from within.
I see it most in our youth who seem to have lost their way.
Keeping in mind that we've been blessed by God and I believe that's due to acknowledging God in this country. But I see more and more rejecting God and even trying to get rid of God - liberalism often is the vehicle used to accomplish that removal.
That's basically how I view the parties (oversimplified as it is) & why I choose republican over dem. If I claimed to be independant that would be a lie becuz I won't vote for a party that panders to liberalism so much and for now, not enough people vote for independants esp. with the right values and I won't vote democrat.
Maybe I'm naive - but this is the way it works in my brain.
In the end, (sorry Jim to have to do this lol) God has an end time plan and I don't know how the USA fits into it - if we fall or if we're successful.
But I do agree with you Zech that this country can easily fail - our younger generations are in trouble in many ways; not only educationally, but morally and ethically.
Look how unpopular it is with liberals to join the military and go to war if need be... how many soldiers are going to serve the country when it gets even larger? Even some democrats have claimed that a draft may be necessary in the near future as it is.
Talk is that Obama wants to gut the military again like Clinton did... can we afford to that w/ world conflicts & nuclear weapons in the wrong hands? etc.
I do worry that this country is set up for a serious fall - from within.
