and part of that recipe includes the pressure to be a team player and present your leaders as infallible heroes and heroines. Some embrace that pressure, some resist.
Frankly, I tend to be skeptical of all politicians simply on principle, and the only real politicians I have any political respect for are those who will take ethical positions on issues and fight for those positions regardless of the political pressures that come into play. Of course, I'm an unashamed idealist, and I'd rather fight and lose political battles than dishonor integrity by capitulating. That makes me a good person and a really, really poor politician and partisan.
That of course, means that Barack Obama has never been on the very short list of politicians that earned my political respect. I'd excuse failure on the grounds of a "handcuffing system," but I don't excuse promoting unethical positions on issues to begin with, and I don't excuse pandering to those with distinctly destructive positions on issues instead of taking a stand. So be it.
That said, you make a good point about people in general, and politicians ARE people. None of us are going to reach a standard of perfection, and all heroes and heroines have feet of clay, so to speak. That includes politicians. Your list is instructive in that regard. And we can probably find positive things done by even the worst.
I'm not really interested in taking a balanced approach between corporate greed and human need. I do value balance, and trying to maintain a healthy balance in anything is often like walking a fishing line strung over a high, rocky gorge. This specific balance, though? No thank you. It's like trying to balance the needs and interests of the pedophile and the child.
As far as DU goes? True constructive debate is very, very rare on any anonymous internet site. The anonymity itself tends to remove filters that would keep us balanced between freedom of expression and civility. And, of course, DU is not a free-speech site. It's a censored site, censored in favor of partisanship. In general, there has been an attempt to maintain a balance between party and issues, as long as it's not directly related to Democratic campaigns. Still, the DU ship lists distinctly to partisan starboard, and THAT also limits open, constructive dissent.
I think good conversation is found here. We just have to sift carefully through all the rest to find it.
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