A reformed anything is the worst there is. I'm a reformed Democrat. In my youth and on up until middle age I voted Democrat mostly. But as time went on I got to see the consequences of my actions. The problem is that many of these consequences can take decades to become self evident.
This lead me to try to be an independent, but that goes nowhere. There is no impact to the system to be an Independent so therefore I had to choose sides. Knowing I had been betrayed by the Dems that left only the Republicans. Like it or not those are the only real choices you and I as normal people with normal resources have. It takes mega bucks to fund a way to get the "little people" to band together to become a factor so that ain't happening anytime soon. And if you've got the megabucks to fund that sort of movement you have to ask yourself is it still composed of &/or representative of the "little people"?
Basically I feel the Dems consistently try to take the feel good route (to garner the most votes) but are actually the least concerned for the consequences of their actions. They are also the most adept at maneuvering the spoken and written word to make it so that if you disagree with their statements then you appear callous and uncaring. "You can't possibly be against helping the poor little children, orphans, poor, little old ladies, etc, etc.?" They remind me of the Romans in the Bread and Circus times, which was just before the end when they collapsed.
The Kennedy election was another one of those "We want change" elections. The policies begun under his regime have done more damage to the basic structure of what is United States than anything since the Civil War. You could argue that both Kennedy and Lincoln were the worst presidents this country has ever seen since they brought about fundamental shifts in the countries directions.
As far as long term Democratic mistakes, take welfare, it seemed like a good idea at the time, but my how it has grown! Most of you are too young to have known America prior to welfare nor have you seen welfare grow and as it's grown how it's changed and destroyed the basic fiber and core values of America. Welfare as we have it is fundamentally wrong. It doesn't reward industriousness. We have 4th and 5th generation kids who don't even understand the concept of working for a living. But they do understand working the system so that they can have their welfare and a little something on the side. Handouts are the wrong way to go and time has proven that.
We've got to take a hard look at where we are headed and take some unpopular stands. For instance Welfare simply doesn't work. (gasp he probably is for killing unborn babies too!) Instead of helping the poor become un-poor it has created a HUGE sub class of American and consequently we have a greater percentage of poor than ever. It used to be a virtue to work hard and we were too proud to take a handout - now it's the American way.
Simply put you get more of what you subsidize. No one has the right to a good life or even a life. You must work for what you get. Those that work hardest get the most. Those with ambition (which is another thing that has been stifled by Welfare) get ahead, the lazy sloths don't.
The thing that gets me about both parties is that neither is concerned about what is right or best for the people or the country but are instead concerned with staying in power. Of course they say that the only way they can help the people/country is if we vote them in power.
But with all our ills we still live in the best country in the world. Freedoms we take for granted other countries don't have. And that's not to say that there aren't other good countries out there, only that we seem to have the best or most of the attributes that scream Freedom.
Unfortunately all of that could be taken away with the stroke of the pen or pull of the voting lever. If we, and the political parties, don't begin taking more long term views we'll end up another has been country.
