What would it take to unite the U.S. citizenry?

I don’t think it needs to be “united” so to speak. I’m not sure it’s ever been that in my lifetime. But it would be wonderful to get back to a late 90s early 00s level of civility.

Fewer intentionally antagonistic politicians. Less vitriol.

I think that’s possible. Maybe not likely but possible.

 

Duh. The Olympics are about to unite us in cheer.

A race to Mars.

Doesn’t have to be war. Geez.

 

Has anyone ever told you that arguing with you is like arguing with a 14 year old?

 

No, but you should take the time off and go read something. Are history books OK to read or are they all "hard tilted" now too? Is there any truth at all left in this world? Maybe you can at least be up to date on things that happened in the past......

At a minimum, go cruise Facebook for some valuable information. Just please....do SOMETHING.

 

Oh please. Always the typical double standard. It's only Republicans who are expended to "compromise". Democrats have always believed in seeking absolute control without any challenge. Democrats would silence all dissenting viewpoints if they could, and they are closer than ever to doing that.

Always the same BS:
Republicans win (Presidency, Congress, etc.): Republicans need to compromise, find middle group and come to the middle.
Democrats win (Presidency, Congress, etc.): Elections have consequences. We've been given a mandate. Go to the back of the bus. No compromise or meeting in the middle.

It's always Republicans who are expected to compromise. Democrats are never expected to compromise. That's what makes you hate Trump so much. You are so used to cowardly RINO Republicans who will always fold and give Democrats what they want. Trump was the first Republican who actually told Democrats to s*ck it just like Democrats always tell us. Trump was the first Republican to fight dirty like Democrats and to treat Democrats how Democrats treat Republicans.

 

Honestly at this point I do not believe there is any one event that would bring Americans together as a country. Perhaps an invasion by another country on U.S. soil but even that's debatable at this point.

Just look at the current Israel-Hamas war. Let's say some terrorist sympathetic with Hamas committed a terrorist attack. You would have plenty on the left who would cheer on the attack and say the U.S. had it coming by supporting Israel.

Sure maybe if China or Russia attacked the U.S. there would be a temporary coming together but it would probably barely last a week. Even with 9/11 most of the unity was gone by end of 2001/early 2002. 9/11 was the last time the country was truly united and if it happened again today I don't think the country would unite even with that.

I think it would take some truly cataclysmic event that we've never experienced. Something that wouldn't just bring the U.S. together but all of humanity. Most likely some sort of life ending event scenario (meteor on a trajectory to hit Earth and wipe everyone out) or finally meeting life that isn't human (whether it's somewhere on our planet or life that is from another planet). I think short of something like that the sides are too far apart.

 

Oh yeah, Facebook for valuable information. That’s a great idea! Can’t believe I didn’t think of that one.

You know Jo, the more you blabber on nonsensically, the more it becomes apparent which of us is better read, and more informed.

I don’t know what is on MSNBC tonight, but whatever it is, I hope you enjoy it.

 

I wish that the Olympics united us. 8 am already prepared for the bashing of specific athletes that the right doesn't like

 

This gets to the heart of the issue. We don’t have consistent fact sets because we pursue fact sets that somehow validate our preferred biases, and the commercial media landscape is happy to provide that for us.

You go back to world war 2 and most people had a pretty consistent fact set as news and information came from the same place, some of it could was probably even propaganda.

There is little prospect for the commercial media to try to override our base desires for bias confirmation, unless there is an overriding pressure for conformity - either social pressure or from an authoritarian style government.

So I doubt there is any real scenario this happens. There were brief periods of unity - after 9/11, even at the very beginning of Covid (remember people applauding health care workers ) but it broke down pretty quickly when people figured out new angles to feel aggrieved and sorry for themselves.

 

Perhaps those athletes should keep their politics out of it and stand for the anthem? Perhaps those athletes should not use the stage just to bash every aspect of the U.S. they don't like? I mean let's remember they are representing the U.S., not themselves. I really don't think that's too much to ask.

If they can't do that no one is forcing them to represent the U.S. They should do the right thing and either not attend the Olympics or try to attend the Olympics as an individual athlete not representing the country. But then they wouldn't get all the money, all the endorsements and all the attention that representing the U.S. provides to them. They would largely be irrelevant and would have to pay all of the expenses themselves.

So they hate the U.S. but are more than happy to take advantage of all the opportunities provided to them by representing a country they hate. Sounds pretty hypocritical to me.

Stand for the anthem, don't use the world stage just to bash the U.S. and stay politically neutral and the U.S. will be more than happy to support you and cheer you on. Again really not much to ask.

 

Yep the left will bash Fox News, OANN, Newsmax, Breitbart or InfoWars (even though in many cases these sources have been proven right) but then treat MSDNC (oops sorry MSNBC), Politico, CNN and NPR like they are unbiased legitimate news sources.

At least OANN, Newsmax and InfoWars unapologetically admit they are news/opinions with a right wing slant and a Republican angle. It's more than past time for MSNBC, Politico, CNN and NPR to just admit they are news with a left wing slant. Especially in the case of MSNBC and NPR, just admit the truth, they are media wings of the Democrat party.

Even the freaking Weather Channel at this point always seems to have a political angle.

So sorry if those of us who are Conservatives do not count MSNBC, CNN, Politico and NPR as legitimate unbiased news sources.

CSPAN and Bloomberg are probably the closet things we have to nonbiased news sources. And even they can sometimes be debatable.

 

It's only going to get worse as well since the 30 and under crowd almost exclusively get their "news" from social media. Of course most of it is just opinion masquerading as news. More and more people will fall into the rabbit hole of echo chambers and groups that reinforce their existing opinion. And this will be for both sides and they will grow even further apart.

And let's be honest. A country that isn't united really isn't a country anymore. I seriously doubt the U.S. can stay together long term.

 

It’s silly enough to see people trying to equate Fox and cnn. But now you’re throwing infowars and breitbart into the mix?

 

No, I think it's mostly because he's a hate-monger and a criminal.

 

You're right. I would trust Fox News far more than CNN. At least MSNBC is somewhat honest that they are essentially Democrat media. CNN tries to hide it but they fail miserably.

 

Tell yourself what you want. The reality is you hate Donald Trump because he's the first Republican ever to fight against Democrats by using Democrat rules. He's the first Republican who's actually had the guts to get in the mud to beat Democrats at their own game. Republicans would rather get slaughtered while looking nice and polite. Democrats are used to Republicans who are afraid of their own shadow.

I'll take the guy who gets in the mud, says mean things but win elections and get things done over the Republicans who are spineless, say the right things and proceed to lose elections or do nothing even if they win.

 

Have we had that in the past 200 years?

 

The only election he won came with overt support from Russia.

And he obviously didn't come close to winning the popular vote.