Political Perils of a 'Big Sort'?

Only when we can start balancing the emotionalism and the intellectualism in America will
be have true "cohesion". I am fortunate to live in a VERY small town, where there are million dollar homes next to mobile homes. It is a great place to live! Our town government is ALL volunteer and is made up
of all walks of life. We have a great community! We have building guidelines that are equal to all.
As long as you follow the community planning ordinance, build what you want.
We're not reliant on city water, city sewar etc. When I come home I am happy to come home.
Not because everyone thinks the way I do, but because we all value the same sunrise and sunset.
LIVE FREE OR DIE!

Palin also grew up in the Pentacostal church where she spoke in tongues. Her church promotes coverting jews into christians and gays into straights. She rails against spending but her record shows her running up public debt. She cut funding for unwed teenage mothers. She claims that her preacher has prophetic powers. She supported the "bridge to nowhere" and she took the money even though the bridge was killed by congress. She supports the corrupt Senator Stephens. She's way outside the mainstream of American politics.

loudowsonjr, I have a computer, several in fact, and I do not know that 9/11 was an inside job. Rather than posting unrelated nonsense on this news discussion board, why don't you just turn off your computer and go smoke a bowl and eat some 'cheetos' with your best friend, Judy Wood.

I would like to know, why no one covering the news is reporting the truth about 9/11. Any person who has a computer, knows that 9/11 was a inside job. If we are ever to be a united nation, we must be told the truth, by those who report the news. The way things are now, few if, any really trust what we read in the news papers, or what we hear on television.

In Texas it's call gerrymeandering, that's when a Replican controlled legislature draws little lines up one street and down another to make sure all the blacks are in one precinct.

Well, you can count me in on this. I used to think that conservatism was another legitimate viewpoint and something that honorable men could disagree about. After the last 8 poisonous years, it's clear to me that there can be only two kinds of Republicans left. There are evil Republicans and there are willfully ignorant Republicans. Both types disgust me. They have destroyed my beautiful country and I don't want to spend any more time around them than I absolutely have to.

As far as I can see, America has always self-segregated into lifestyle ghettos, it's just that the geographic borders are smaller than they used to be. Initially, we had two basic divisions; federalists vs states rights folks. That morphed into north vs south. If memory serves, we even fought a war of north against south - some folks are still fighting it.

For a while we had east - the establishment - vs. west - the frontier. There was gold vs. silver, farmers vs city people. Immigrants vs. people who were born here - some folks are still fighting that battle, too.

In short, the divisions have always been there - at first they were ideological divisions, then they became geographic divisions.

As the geography gets smaller - from regions to states to counties - the electoral college becomes more outdated.

This article firms up the case for going with a popular vote, rather than the obsolete electoral college. And now that senators are voted on by popular vote, rather than by state legistative bodies, one could argue that we no longer need two houses of congress, either - one ought to be able to get the job done.

Portland, Oregon!
At the Obama Show here , I went Portlands' nice zoo, passed that assembly and knew my zoo trip was going to be great! Obama was like a mothlight to all the wierdows, streeties,pamphleteers, gays, pan handlers, druggies, and everyone I'd rather not see at the zoo.
I have heard reports that the Obama organizers put the portable rest rooms on a memorial to the fallen Police Officers who died protecting the peace... but can't confirm that. Though the memorial is real and immediatly in the area of the Obama Show.
Please Obama! Bring you Rocking Rolling act here again only somewhere far from memorials to good men and women. Bring back the Pied Piper show of shows! Clean up Portland, Oregon, if even for a few hours!
Thanks to you my zoo visit was awesome!

You can point fingers back and forth with all the mind-numbing ad hominem attacks you want (mostly by the conservative side). But face the reality - the American experiment is coming to an end. We're going to see states get redder and bluer until the disparity turns us into two different nations within a nation. Some states will outlaw abortion while others will always assure its availability. Some will permit gay marriage while others will never allow it. We'll have polar opposites in everything from gun laws to public assistance programs to drug laws to civil rights laws - you name it. Merely crossing a state border could instantly cost you rights or as quickly make you a criminal.

Since there are no constitutional provisions for secession we're going to see the country devolve into two federal republics - separated by political philosophy rather than geography - with two different interpretations of the same constitution.

How come the poorest states like Ala, Ga, Missi,Louisiana, Tenn, , and also the most Obese, the most uneducated vote for the Repig Party. I'll tell you why, it's because they will always, for the most part be brainwashed by the Foaming Mouth's of the Far Right Talking heads and the Screwball Evangelicals.

As I read the posts responding to this article, one of the funnier themes is how accurate stereotypes are reflected (in this case not race; but by political preference). The liberal posts are mostly far left, barely able to contain the self importance that conservatives place under a microscope nightly on propaganda fests such as Fox News, Bill O'Reilly, and the rest.

Meanwhile the conservative posters fulfill their stereotypes including the inability to much of anything other than bash liberal point of view and repeat the republican media talking points. I have news for you conservatives; your party aint conservative. When conservatives stop pushing religion into state run institutions (public schools, etc), stop pushing freedom crushing laws such at the Patriot act, stop pretending that the republican party stays out of the business of US citizens, and most definetly stops hammering democrats as tax/spend enimies of the state while bankrupting the country with cut tax and spend policies.

No one listens; everyone talks. I love this country for what it achieved; but it is slipping away from us. As a country you cant spend 20+ years in political gridlock or political activism and expect a balanced budget, money that is worth more than the paper it is printed on, security and opportunity for all.

There is a tipping point and the United States is on the peak.

You know, shut the hole! To quote: ???Ask not what your country can do for you .. and get off your butts, shut your mouths, and do something for your country.???

It points to the total failure of ''diversity'',something no-one really wants at the heart of the ''Big Sort''.Bishop is right. Homogenized ideologies tout ''diversity''so long as it fits within their partisan mores. I see gay bars openly operating in Oklahoma City. I see few to no rightist conservative evangelical churches in San Francisco. I see writers[including Dickey,whose relative was the author of ''Deliverance''],waxing eloquent on the ''New South''. I also see raging bigotry no differant than that which was practiced in the old White Citizens Councils being performed on one American campus after another. Several of these,in regions of the nation that espouse ''tolerance''and ''diversity''.[including the new tactic of ''tolerance'',firebombing,such as that which is being endured by scientists at UC Santa Cruz by leftwinged Luddites at the present time]. People point at the ''other''not realizing as they look around,that their peers are cookie-cutter wearers of fashion,listerners of music,readers of books,bearing the same political and social ideologies as their own. One side asks ''if you are against abortion,then why don't you want to take care of the baby after it is born''? The other asks,''If you are such a champion of minority rights,then why are you not living on the Southside beyond the railroad tracks rather than in safe suburbs and wealthy neighborhoods''? It goes on and on,contributing to the ideological segregation. ''I hate guns''[except when my bodyguards are packing heat]. ''I am against global warming''[except when I fly on LEAR jets,and drive SUVs].''Jesus Saves''[except when I am raking in enough loot to build twenty mansions]. ''I am against gay rights''[except when I engage in sordid park bathroom affairs]. The Age of the Internet was to be the great leavener. Instead,it performs its share to contribute to the Age of the Big Sort acting no differant than tradtional,increasingly partisan[''Big Sorts'' of their own],media,which is more problem creator,than problem solver,fitting neatly with the presentday form of government as practiced in Washington.

donbl: Don't confuse the liberals with facts. They find them completely irrelevant anyway.

If anyone knows about subsidies, it's a Democrat!

I think this does happen, but it is only one of many factors that determine where people live. Most can not afford to move wherever they want and may be limited by job prospects, particularly if the person works in a technical or specialized field.

On the other hand, I used to live and work in an area where I was a political minority, and that was one of many reasons that I chose to move. It took a couple of years before I could find a better job in a new community, but eventually I did. So, I don't think this phenomenon is going to lead to massive relocation, but more of a slow trend. The way politics go, people's opinions probably change faster than their address.