Left v. Right on HT

[matapule]

Re: Left v. Right on HT

So, all that said, I won't relinquish my place as first in line for using the term but I will share it with you, timkona!!!

Okay, Tim, YOU are the Dominican! I hope you can speak Spanish!

[tutusue]

Re: Left v. Right on HT

Whoa, Whoa, Whoa.....

I thought I was the RepubliCRAT. At the very least, I coined the term.

Okay, you be the Republicrat, Tutu be the Demican. It's all good.

True story...
My dad, a diehard Eisenhower fan, did not align with either party. While registering for the 1952 primary he refused to register with either party, stating he wasn't partial to either one. In order to vote he had to register as one or the other. So, he chose republican based solely on, to him, the word having a less harsh sound than the word democrat! He was telling the story to my mom and me during dinner. The solution seemed very easy to an 8 year old...register as a republicrat! My dad agreed that it was a great idea and said he'd see what he could do! I remember that 1952 discussion like it was yesterday as it ended up defining how I vote. Can't remember, tho', when I redefined the term to include independent.

So, all that said, I won't relinquish my place as first in line for using the term but I will share it with you, timkona!!!

[matapule]

Re: Left v. Right on HT

Whoa, Whoa, Whoa.....

I thought I was the RepubliCRAT. At the very least, I coined the term.

Okay, you be the Republicrat, Tutu be the Demican. It's all good.

[timkona]

Re: Left v. Right on HT

Whoa, Whoa, Whoa.....

I thought I was the RepubliCRAT. At the very least, I coined the term.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Left v. Right on HT

I'm thinking if I'm close in to the middle that's about as liberal as one can get, sharing all four quadrants without leaning too heavily on either side but still showing some bias.

[matapule]

Re: Left v. Right on HT

Several times I tried to get a conversation going about education. I tried approaching it in a nice, polite way. I tried being a bit more aggressive - hoping to get a few riled up and maybe get the conversation going. All to no avail.

Well, I went back and researched, I don't know how I missed it. I'm riled up! The thread is now resurrected!

I'm not even on anyone's list of missed posters

I fnd that you have been consistently posting over the last year. Please keep it up. However, two people that I neglected to mention who are conspicuous by their absence are Glen Miyashiro and Nords.

Maybe we should take the test and post our scores again?!

Thanks for the link PZ. I took the test for the first time and no I'm not going to post my scores. It would serve no useful purpose for me to do so. However, I am a bit surprised by my scores. If HT ohana knew what my scores were, it might ruin my reputation, not to mention I might look bad in the eyes of other matapules!

Interesting. We could do a scatter graph.

Leave it to Scriv to come up with a good idea! Is it possible to do an anonymous scatter graph? Wainna mina, Scriv gimme kine idea.

[anapuni808]

Re: Left v. Right on HT

I just took the test and came out pretty much where I thought I would - right in the middle of the green square - pretty much a left leaning libertarian. Since I consider myself to be a left leaning, progressive Democrat - I can live with my results.

[scrivener]

Re: Left v. Right on HT

Interesting. We could do a scatter graph.

[tutusue]

Re: Left v. Right on HT

[...]Ha - I'm not even on anyone's list of missed posters [...]

Methinks that's because you post to HT enough to avoid anyone's lists. I've always considered you one of the cool posters here. Really...

[...]I have my own ideas and if some of them match up, then ok, fine. [...]

Bingo! That sums up my self-imposed, Independent Republicrat label!

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Left v. Right on HT

I just took that test and apparently I'm a right wing liberaterian but pretty much a centrist.

[bjd392]

Re: Left v. Right on HT

Re: Political Compass

I've probably taken that test over a dozen times. Each time, I was probably one tick mark right of exactly dead center. I always said it's because I believe in a couple "extreme" issues on both sides, and they cancel each other out mathematically.

[pzarquon]

Re: Left v. Right on HT

You know, back in 2006, we had a thread about the "Political Compass Test." People took the tests and posted their coordinates, suggesting that we could get a nice broad idea of where the various members of HawaiiThreads fell on the political spectrum.

Maybe we should take the test and post our scores again? The few of us that took it last time can see if we've shifted, but meanwhile, we could make a nice basic chart to visualize the political landscape here.

I'm happy to go first. Tonight, racing through the survey, I got:

Economic Left/Right: -3.00
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.90

Interestingly, I didn't post my numbers in 2006, though I did mention my score from 2003 (when the compass came up on HawaiiStories):

Economic Left/Right -3.75
Social Authoritarian/Libertarian -4.15

I'm shifting toward center. I don't know how I feel about that!

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Left v. Right on HT

I find it interesting because - although I have never actually said it - I do feel somewhat driven away. Here's my whaa - whaa for the day. Several times I tried to get a conversation going about education. I tried approaching it in a nice, polite way. I tried being a bit more aggressive - hoping to get a few riled up and maybe get the conversation going. All to no avail.

Sorry - guess that wasn't a topic that riled me up at the time. But I enjoy your posts related to the "acoustic" side of things, since we share an interest in sound technology.

But whatever label the opposing side wants to consider us, we have an equally degrading label for you. I'd prefer it be more of a discussion on issues, and not some lame name-calling spat.

Very good point. Many threads slip down that path quickly, and THAT probably drives people away more than anything else.

[bjd392]

Re: Left v. Right on HT

If you are unable to back your statements with factual information when challenged (rather than linking to screeds from partisan internet websites), then don’t make those statements in the first place. And if you do, expect them to be challenged, and for those with opposing viewpoints to want to engage you in further debate.

We seemed to have run into this problem already. We all know what the biased websites are, the ones that contain more opinion than fact. However, every "source" will be scrutinized anyway, even non-partisan, non-biased, raw-data number-crunched statistics.

The occasion that actually made me roll my eyes the most are the accusations that downplay people's posts and belittle them to "mere opinions" regardless of the amount of facts, years of research, personal credentials, or whatever to back them up. It sounds like, "Oh, despite your many years of first-hand knowledge and decades of experience, that's just your opinion, and it means nothing to me." That's more like a cop-out than a challenged debate. At least we'll agree that there is a passion on an issue that we support or oppose.

As for everyone's wealth of knowledge, if it's not Fox, CNN, MSNBC, HLN, or any other "perceived to be biased" news channel, where do you get your TV news? Saying an online newspaper doesn't help much either, because we'd rather read a big-name (but unfortunately biased) newspaper with AP input than some podunk newspaper with a paragraph-long article. There's a give and take there. But to say you don't watch or read leads me to believe either the sources are hearsay, the non-participant really doesn't know what's going on, or you've got to be some genius with an implanted chip in your brain who is all-knowing and all powerful (but would rather complain about stuff than fix it) .

Also, being a conservative doesn't necessarily mean we all agree with our stereotyped categories. I watch Fox as an alternative viewpoint, and even then I don't agree with things they say. (Of course, when other TV stations are showing some fat guy's chocolate bakery when national breaking news is going on, you tend to distrust that station's priority when it comes to news :cough: CNN.) I don't pay attention to the Tea Party; I have my own ideas and if some of them match up, then ok, fine. I could care less about Sarah Palin. But whatever label the opposing side wants to consider us, we have an equally degrading label for you. I'd prefer it be more of a discussion on issues, and not some lame name-calling spat.

[acousticlady]

Re: Left v. Right on HT

hmmmm..... interesting.........

I am ambidextrous.

I find it interesting because - although I have never actually said it - I do feel somewhat driven away. Here's my whaa - whaa for the day. Several times I tried to get a conversation going about education. I tried approaching it in a nice, polite way. I tried being a bit more aggressive - hoping to get a few riled up and maybe get the conversation going. All to no avail.

I'll bet I could say anything and no one would question it, refute it, agree or disagree. Ha - I'm not even on anyone's list of missed posters

Anyhoo, luckily, I am confident enough in real life that I really don't sit up at night and worry about it So I will continue to read the comedy threads and occasionally post some nonsensical fluff.