House Majority Whip shot at congressional baseball field

[Dill]

(06-16-2017, 10:23 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: I didn't ask for exhaustive, I asked for fair and representative.  You seriously can't think of one instance of dirty politics by Democrats?  I can think of a few from the most recent Democratic primary.

No, I fault you for going into your inquiry with the mindset you just expressed above, that there is no such parallel activity by the Democrats.  You're making my point for me with your own words.  I'll send you some chocolates if you PM me your address.

Wait, is your concern only with the specific tactic or with dirty politics in general?  I mean, I've seen some amazing examples of selective outrage, but this would be a new one on me.

What YOU ask for is beside the point, especially if you cannot seem to follow the argument. Mike's question went to the center of my argument, which you have still missed.

Unlike you, I do have patience. To repeat-- placing political behavior in an analytic framework that allows for systematic comparison, and recognition and elimination of double standards, does allow one to get a more secure grasp of the social causes of political extremism and so some chance of realistically addressing them.

I am not looking for garden variety dirty politics and then claiming only one party does them. I am not interested in a blame game.

I am examining the social/historical roots of the current extremism. What dirty tricks fueled that? Stuffing a ballot box or taking bribes or even breaking into the other side's headquarters are not the sort of thing that would count here, since they break the law but don't reset the level of civility in public debate.  Atwater's Willie Horton add would, as would Trump's tweet of pictures comparing his wife to Ted Cruz's.

You claim there is "parallel activity" by the Democrats. Did Hillary call some group "deplorables"?

(06-16-2017, 10:23 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Why the hyper focus on one party though?  In your own words, just quoted, you admit to granting dirty behavior by both parties.  So why, in a thread about the rancorous nature of today's politics, and how it led to this tragic event, would you indulge in more one sided rancor?

To repeat my repeat, I am not trying to establish that both parties engage in "dirty behavior"--then reversing that to claim only one does. I am saying there are specific kinds of dirty behavior which have broken previously established political decorum and elevated anger and divisiveness to a level not seen since the 60s.  And I am saying that one party appears more guilty of THAT behavior than the other.  It's not my fault if Democrats have not done what Atwater, Gingrich, Rove and a gaggle of Fox News commentators along with Trump have done.  It is not my fault if the Republican Party and its president have mainstreamed rhetoric, goals and tactics once associated primarily with right-wing fringe groups. 

You keep talking about rancor and one-sidedness--
Is there a reason why, even in your second response now, you have only offered me chocolates rather than counter examples?