[CS-FSLUG] [PD] Are Democrats to Blame for Gun Control? (was They have started already... HR6257 To Reauthorize the Assault Weapon Ban)

[Timothy Butler]

>>
> Your absolutely right. This discussion has slightly taken a  
> different path.
> Like you and Ed said about the Democrats and Republicans "the  
> differences are
> nil".

	Actually I should clarify, I did not say that. I think they are more  
similar then we think, but I do think there are more significant  
differences than Ed does.

	I was specifically trying to argue against that idea in what I was  
saying about bad apples and such.

> In my eyes, the guys that reintroduced this bill are the "bad  
> apples" of the
> Republican party and that is what I think Fred should have  
> acknowledged
> instead of flatly blaming the Democratic party as a "whole". This is  
> why I
> mentioned "totalitarianism".

	Clearly they are the bad apples. I think Fred called them RINOs  
(Republicans in Name Only).

>
>
> All in all, I think, I and all the Conservative Democrats on and off  
> this list
> are owed an apology.

	Let's try a different, useful question that I've always wondered. Why  
be a conservative Democrat? Given that the party, by and large, does  
not advocate conservative policies... (it isn't the case of bad  
apples, but the major bulk of the party).

	I'm just curious. When a conservative Democrat runs in my district,  
I'll vote for him (or, if the case occurred, her) to reward them for  
thinking different, but I also scratch my head. Why not join the party  
that is closer to their values? Why help by caucusing with the  
Democrats (or putting them in office) to get Democratic congressional  
leaders who are decidedly not conservative? That is, if you vote for a  
"Blue Dog" conservative Democrat, they may be pro-small government,  
pro-fiscal conservatism, maybe even pro-life, but they are still part  
of the caucus that puts Nancy Pelosi in charge. Pelosi isn't anywhere  
near the values of the Blue Dogs.

	So, I think, if all the Blue Dogs became Republicans, they'd help put  
in leaders they actually agreed with. They are essentially "DINOS" but  
they still help give the Dems power.

	I do agree that both parties are too similar on too many issues.  
Nonetheless -- there are a great deal of issues that do arise in which  
I think a person will find one party speaks to them better than others.

	For me, the view of the purpose of government and the view on issues  
like abortion certainly tilts me in a particular direction. Not for  
love of party, but because by-and-large that party agrees with my  
principles more.

	(My wish is that both parties would split. Conservative Republicans  
and Blue Dog Democrats, if they were separate parties, would probably  
be able to form alliances with each other to fight big government  
parts of both parties by forming a coalition government...)

	-Tim

---
Timothy R. Butler | "It may be that  when the angels go about their
Editor, OfB.biz   | task  praising God,  they play only Bach.  I am
tbutler at ofb.biz   | sure,  however,  that when they are together en
timothybutler.us  | famille they play Mozart."
                                                       -- Karl Barth