Why does outrage start at the top? A mild rant..

I agree. If you don't participate in the process, you have no right to complain about it.

I say this all the time to people. All the time, until I am blue in the face. I guess it's just more fun to rant about Obama though than to actually take the time to learn about how our government works and participate.

Amen! (says the atheist)

It's not against Obama - it's against the current leader. Whoever that may be.

It's not more vocal, it's more easy to be vocal - remember Regan and Thatcher, for example? Plenty of hate for various reasons but no facebook! However, go to any pub and you would have seen conversation about how they did or did not do a good job!

There was plenty of belittlement toward GWB and a lot of that was on the internet, only it was just at the beginning of the true social media explosion.

One of the rights people still have is to argue for their POV and you now have the right to place them on ignore or unfriend them or whatever - in fact, it's better now...you can take that figurative axe and cut their dissenting little heads off!  It's easier to complain about the leader than the party in a post as well.

BTW when you say "Do you even know who your representatives and senators are? Do you know where they stand on the issues? Do you know how they voted when bills were presented? Did you yourself even vote in the last election? Do you even know how to vote?" can I ask what YOU intend to do to educate those you feel don't have a right to an opinion?  After all, you can't expect someone who doesn't know how to vote to approach their local representation, can you?

**clap, clap, clap**

My favorite is a family member who has been openly racist against Obama. Care to guess who she is backing now? Ben Carson. It makes me crazy. I know that she is somehow able to look past Carson's color but not Obamas? Because she doesn't agree?? Makes me nuts.

And!! --- right to free speech. I wholeheartedly believe people who fuss about it have zero clue what it means. I want to make sure they know that there are consequences for being an asshole that don't involve the government.

Well said!

I totally agree with you. I know people who complain about president, senators, reps, etc. who don't even vote. If you are eligible and choose not to vote then you are not eligible to complain. Period.


Edited because something wonked out and I lost the quote.

I agree. With a nearly 90% re-election rate in congress, we have done this to ourselves. Anyone who votes straight up for one party is part of the problem. If you only vote for republicans and your senator is republican and sits for 30 years in congress, that's on you.

Until we impose the term limits on these people with our vote we will not get anything different. We have set them up to make sure we fail. And they do a damn good job, no matter what side of the aisle they are on.

There is no one to blame but ourselves.

Signed: someone who never votes for the incumbent and often votes third party

I'm guessing that relative is diabetic.  Diabetic's toenail trimming is covered by most insurances simply because of the lack of feeling in their toes and feet because of the disease.  It saves the insurance companies, aka taxpayers, money because there is less chance of the nails being cut improperly which can lead to serious infections and even amputations.  As for the taxi fare?  I got nothing.

Ohhh...and can I add my favorite??

I keep hearing about the horror and fear of socialism-those damn socialists are trying to take over!!

Ummm...guess what? We may be a democratic country, but socialism is alive and well and living in your backyard. In fact, my guess is that 99% of the country directly benefited from or used something that would be considered 'socialist' by definition within the last 24 hours.

Do they not teach this anymore?

You can say this about 85% of our population, no matter what your political affiliation. Liberals are some of the most ignorant people I've met when it comes to the proper role of government. They are constantly insisting that things are "rights" that really aren't, and have absolutely zero understanding of government financing. Sometimes, I really think they believe money grows in the White House garden. They have no concept that it comes out of our pockets.

This "Tea Party people" is very well versed in the constitution, the founding, the separation of powers, and the proper role of government in our Republic. And This Tea Party People has educated her children as well, not waiting for or relying on the public schools to do it for me. Both of my children passed the 8th grade American history class final exam with perfect scores IN THE FIRST WEEK OF 8TH GRADE. My oldest chose to opt out of the class and did independent study, where she read a huge book about the Declaration and Thomas Jefferson and wrote a paper about it. She got an a+. My youngest is now in 8th, and has decided to stay in the class, because she enjoys the discussions. She comes home every day flabbergasted at the stuff that she knows that the rest of the class doesn't. Like, what the Declaration is, and who wrote it. Or that the first settlers to Jamestown didn't have motors on their boats. (not kidding. Wish I was.) She delights in reminding the teacher that we aren't a democracy, and she can articulate exactly WHY we aren't a democracy.

I vote in every election. I usually vote party line, not because I'm ignorant that way, but because I am educated about the candidates and the issues, and I know that the D's are worse than the R's. I did vote for the Democrat challenger to my Congressman last time around though - He took a very strong disliking to the libertarian/TEA Party contingent on our GOP Central Committee, and actively recruited and financed opponents for everyone of us that they could identify. Something like 25 seats were in contention, when every other year most people run unopposed. Hell, I doubt many of you here are even aware of what a Central committee is or does! I know I was ignorant of it until 6 years ago. Anyway, I won by two votes. Many other independent republicans were not successful against his onslaught, and the party has too many establishment good old boys now. I highly doubt I will seek re-election though...John Kasich is from my county, our Party is all-in for him, and I can't stomach him.

So, I am very involved in the process, top to bottom. I dont' rail about things that I don't know about. But you know what? I wont' tell someone that they aren't allowed to complain if they don't vote. This is still America. Freedom of speech does not hinge upon your voting record.