Why can't we have political discussions on this site without name-calling?

Question

And why do some people start screaming about how unpatriotic another person is just because the person has a viewpoint that opposes that of the current government? Is it not our responsibility as Americans to question our leaders and encourage them to make decisions based upon the will and best interest of the people?

Answer 1

Your question is an excellent one!

And it is, indeed, "our responsibility as Americans to question our leaders".

But as Hamlet says "Aye,there's the rub!"

There are those...many of whom appear on this site regularly, many of whom are guilty of the crudest and most pointless insults...who believe that questioning our leaders is NOT within our rights, let alone our responsibilities, as Americans. It's an echo of the rhetoric that was used during the Viet Nam years of domestic unrest: "America - Love It or Leave It!"

It's an inverted logic that encourages those who proclaim themselves to be the most intensely "American" to also DISCOURAGE...with screaming, sarcasm, personal insults, tar and feathering...the exercise of those most dearly held and hard won privileges that are available to us AS citizens of this country:

The right to privacy.

The right to free speech.

The right to separate religious belief from political action.

The right to assemble in protest.

And the right to criticize - and even to remove from office - those of our representatives whom we judge to be acting against the good of the people.

I can explain to you that this is what most conservatives believe...but I cannot explain to you the motives for that belief.

I'm not sure anyone can...least of all, the conservatives themselves.

Answer 2

Some people, when they can remain anonymous, like to be very rude. On here, they are able to reveal their true selves, rather than the polite face they show to the world when they meet people face to face.

And yes, it is the responsibility of every American to question our government and our leaders and to encourage them to make decisions based upon the best interests of the nation and her people.

Have you ever noticed that the people who yell the loudest that we should not question the president are the same people who had "Not my president" bumper stickers during the Clinton years? By their own logic, they should have supported him 100% simply because he was the president.

Answer 3

Because it is easier to de-humanize your opponent than it is to figure out why you believe what you do and how you can translate that into an education for your opponent. And even if you try, as often as not, they jump in with name calling, which just pisses you off, and the spiral begins to grow.

As to the rest of your question, yes we have the right and the obligaction to question our leaders and to remove them or re-elect them as we see fit. But remember -- there will always be a minority, someone who voted against the current leadership... are you positive that "your view of what is wrong" isn't also in the minority? Minorities are often very vocal -- they have to be to be heard... but that doesn't change that they are still a minority or minority oppinion.

And this notion that the "will of the people" and the "best interests of the people" are the same is insane. A leader is elected to perform what is, in their oppinion and with the facts available to them what is in the "best interests of my constituents"... not what is necessarily "popular with my constituents"... Otherwise we could despense with politicians altogether and just vote by raising our hands everytime there is a question.

Good leaders throughout history have taken chances and bucked popular trend because they believed they were RIGHT. In WW2, we as a nation were actively passive, refusing to take positions and even inviting German leaders to America regularly... but our government was still sending hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of military equipment overseas to England and training their soldiers long before Pearl Harbor made joining WW2 the "will" of the people. Why? Because as leaders, they felt it was in the "best interests" of the people. Had they been wrong, they wouldn't have been re-elected or would have been impeached. But they were more concerned about carrying out their mandate than about the popular "will".

Answer 4

Generally, the people that oppose the current govenernment don't just oppose it - they treat Republicans and military personnel like they are terrorists. It is quite ridiculous - if these people took a look at what is REALLY going on instead of listening to everything their liberal media tells them - they could see this. It is clear as day to me! And it is a little unpatriotic to call our president a DICTATOR when you are running around with a Starbucks in your hand and typing on a computer. If you are this person, which I am pretty sure you are, judging by your question, you seriously have NO idea.

Answer 5

To answer your main question, this isn't a political discussion forum. Its a Q and A forum for knowledge and enlightenment in 'specific' answers and advice, although its been overly misused as a political debating board and the perfect venue for opposing viewpoints and verbal attacks.

Answer 6

Using web sites to debate serious issues is a great breakthrough in technology. However, this kind of new technology lets people stay anonymous and hide behind their Avatars which means that nobody will know their true identities.

The other reason is because the days of educated debates are long gone. You can see that those who use foul language are usually ignorants and ill informed. This is why they tend to use that kind of language to hide their shortcomings.

Answer 7

the name calling has allot to do with the lack of people sitting in front of us.it is also kinda fun.and lets face it stupid people are everywhere.
if you ask for opinions on an open forum like this.you will get them,from 12year olds,from stupid folks,from neo Nazis,and from americans,oh and canadians
yes democracy allows for questioning our governments
unfortunately everyone is so afraid to do so because
our governments have become the greatest terrorists of all
and to question our leaders is to give in to the folks our leaders
oppose

Answer 8

We most probably have learnt from our politicians to start with name-calling. LOL.

I agree with you. We should be able to discuss our viewpoints, without insulting each other. A bit of name-calling and arguing is not too bad, as long as we do not insult each other.

Answer 9

Namecalling is part of this forum. Can anybody who is against Bush say his name without also saying 'evil' or 'dumb' or 'fascist'?

Can they question a policy without some invective or disparaging comment about Bush or Republicans or conservatives?

Yes, there are asshats like that on both sides. But the 'bush is dumb' puppetry on here is pandemic.

Answer 10

Because we've fogotten how to debate for any period of time.

Since everything is instant nowadays, people feel they have to get their point out in 10 seconds. Some folks, who don't have all the facts to defend their point, then resort to name calling...