I just wanted you guys to know that there are a few GOPers who would be respected by the Dem side.

McCain
Bill Weld

I know the tenor of discussion has gone south recently, but it is largely due to the intensity of the real race and the present GOP leadership's love of going low.  Karl Rove is a prime mover in this.

Not many in the GOP want to hark back to Watergate, but apparently he has no problem with doing so.  But I don't think all GOP share his love of chicanery.  The ONLY GW line I like is that "good people can disagree" on this issue (or somesuch-I tend to turn his speeches off in disgust about 5 words in).

So I did want you guys to know that while the dialogue here will continue to be harsh and bitter from both sides- it need not be.

Were Mccain running or Bill Weld, or somebody from the old-style intellectual right wing, un fettered by the wacko right wing and the Christian influence, we might be having a more nuanced discussion instead of a "culture War".  But with Karl rove at the helm and the Goofy Christos being pandered to, you are gonna get this kind of anger expressed.   And you should know that almost by definition, the kind of guys who like to occasionally or regularly plunk down $-$$$$$$$$$$ for a little carnal fun, are going to be from the center and right wing of the Democratic spectrum, not the most liberal.  If I can be coming around to secession being a good  option for California, there are thousands who can be talked into revolution.

Just a thought.  The constant attack that we here on the Progressive side are Stalinist zealots brings on the occasional desire to re-explain the true nature of the full political spectrum.  Had GW EVER thought about ruling with an eye to the true nature of his mandate (wafer thin at best- nonexistent in point of fact), this whole rift might have been avoided.  I, personally was hoping for something along the lines of his father's administration, one that I disagreed with often, but never lost respect for.  I was to be bitterly disappointed within days, when neo- and ultra- conservative appointees began to be announced.

As Douglas Adams said so well " We still respect you, --- just not very much, that's all".

Cheney said he 'honored Kerry's sevice in Vietnam'  Then Kerry turns around and lies by saying that Cheney said just the opposit. The Dems are so good a projecting (accusing) what they do onto Republicans. That shit is really getting old.

Centrists simply lead better because they do not come to the table with a head full wrong headed views.  While conservatives and liberals should be admired for their passion, their policies most often lead to one type of train wreck or another.

This issue is not about the term of Bush II or even his father.  The country started to become divided during Johnson's term in office and has progressively gotten worse.  A centrist that can see merits in arguments from boths sides of the political divide has a better chance of getting opposing sides to sit down together and give up a few of their cherished positions for the greater good.  What we have had for a while now is a succession of politicians who campaign as centrists but when elected, administer either from the left or the right, this is wrong for the betterment of the country.