Sojka's Call

Politics in the US have gotten mean. It seems that more of the meanness is coming from the Republican side, but, then I see this study by Jesse Graham, Brian A. Nosek, and Jonathan Haidt at the University of Virginia that says most likely my liberal bias is blinding me to the caring nature of my conservative friends. They investigated the moral stereotypes liberals and conservatives have of themselves and each other and made an interesting discovery. In reality, liberals endorse the individual-focused moral concerns of compassion and fairness more than conservatives do, and conservatives endorse the group-focused moral concerns of ingroup loyalty, respect for authorities and traditions, and physical/spiritual purity more than liberals do.  They found out that both liberals and conservatives correctly identified the other groups values but exaggerated them. What a surprise?! The surprise was that conservatives and moderates were more accurate than the liberals. Liberals exagge...

In When did our Politicians Stop Representing The Voters? Part 1 we discussed the Republican side and now in this Part 2 we look at how well the liberal side of the electorate is represented. To say that most liberals feel underwhelmed by President Obama is an understatement. Many feel downright betrayed.  The Johnathan Chait article   in the New Yorker traces liberal disappointment with any Democrat residing in the Whitehouse all the way back to FDR! And, now it is not surprising to see the same disillusionment by the left with President Obama. There never really was a honeymoon for the President - the howling started before he was inaugurated.

My email friends and I have some very spirited exchanges about politics bordering on acrimonious and sometimes going over the line. About half of them will vote for whomever the Pubs put up, 40% want the best candidate and 10% will vote for Obama. Those in the Pub camp keep pointing to government regulations as their deciding factor. The rest want someone who will be good for the economy primarily. They asked me for my opinion.