Opinions

I've always heard that opinions are like assholes, everyone has one. That is very true, but our assholes all basically work the same. But how we develop our opinions include so many different influences, that I'm amazed any two people can agree on anything. In this day and age I think people grasp onto something that stirs a strong emotion, hate, love, allegiance. Look at the political landscape and has it been this angry, this divided, in modern times? I had been a lifelong Republican, but with the coming of the Moral Majority, Rush Limbaugh, and the Christian Right I have quit the party. They have dispalyed no willingness to meet halfway, there is only their opinion, and the wrong opinions. Now the Democrats came to this party late, and only half armed. They tried with their own radio network and that failed.  They made multiple missteps in playing catchup. It surprises me how inept the Democratic party has been run. The world was there for their taking, and time after time, they dropped the ball. In 2004, Bush II gave them all the ammunition they needed, Al Gore gave them the platform they hadn't had in years, and they fumbled. 2008 brough change, had to be change, it wasn't anything the Democrats did. There was going to be a new President no matter what. Because of the lies and ineptitude of the Bush II administration, not to mention the adversarial attitude, the Dems rode the only horse in the race across the winner line. They held the Whitehouse, the Senate, and the House. They could write their own ticket, and what happened??? They seemed to mire themselves down. We did see a Stimulus package, and contrary to many people it was the right thing to do, actually should have been bigger. We got a very unpopular healthcare law. This piece of legislature is unpopular with the people, and the Dems insisted on pushing it through. When the midpoint of the Pres's term came around the backlash against him and the house was resounding. They had the country in their hands and they dropped it. Of course they had to deal with Republicans going against them, but it doesn't matter who is in charge, the other will go against them for their own ideals. The Dems really need a leader to take control of their party and get some order about how they deal with the public, and the Republicans. The Republicans are in a bad spot with the freaking Tea Party calling the shots. Do they really think that Sarah Palin is a great mind that lead this country into a new, and very different future?? Who else is there? Romney?? A devoted Mormon, a religion that believes if you do enough for the church here on earth, then you can become a god of your own world in the afterlife. A religion that believes Jesus and Satan are physical sons of God. That God has a wife and procreates just like we do, and this is just scratching the surface. So all of you Christian Rights out there, read a little on the good old Mormons, they will shock you. I don't know why anyone would want to be President in this day and age. The economy is a disaster and not likely to change for sometime. China represents probably the biggest problem for us to deal with. Their economy will become the world leader in just a few short years, they hold their currency at artificially low levels making it hard for the US to compete. They have hasd a successful espionage program and have secured much of the high technology that is vaulting them ahead today. They are throwing money at an alarming rate into their military, and it's beginning to pay off. We can be proud of our troops, but up against another army that is as well trained and well equipped, but outnumbers ours 5=1, well our boys will not fair well. Sooner, rather than later we will have to face off with them over Taiwan, it's just a matter of time, and china now has aircraft carriers. It's a dangerous time all the way around, and the future for the US isn't as bright as it used to be.