I hope this isn't out of line...

[ClarkJonathanKent]

I can't remember how many times I have read valid concerns from people here that too many Republicans simply give in to the Tea Party wing of the party. How many times have we collectively bemoaned the fact that there are precious few Republicans willing to speak truth to the travesty and asylum the Republican Party has become? We get disheartened because so many Republicans have abdicated their principles and simply followed along in this "trend" that has become right-wing politics.

But what do so many here do to the Liberals that want to speak truth to the Democratic Party? They chastise them for bringing attention to facts or inconvenient truths that might hurt the hypothetical election chances of some milquetoast candidate in 6 months.

Unless you think there are ZERO valid criticisms of the Democratic Party, these attempts at bullying are pretty shameful.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

1. "Principles" + politics = oxymoron

[upaloopa]

2. I see bullying from both sides

It seems we either have to force our views on someone by shaming them or we play like we are persecuted by the other thus shaming them in another way.
We have a lot of persecution complexes here I think

[Xipe Totec]

3. Yes, it is; out of line

Your concern is duly noted.

[FSogol]

4. Translation:

Blaming the Republicans: Not fair.
Blaming the Democrats: Ratfuck away!

[freshwest]

8. Yup...

[treestar]

5. The Tea party doesn't spend most of its time trashing Republicans

Or "criticizing" them.

And if we don't like the Republicans giving in to the TP, then why should we give into the extremists on our end? Seems you are looking for an analogy and then flipping it and ending up sounding hypocritical.

[Armstead]

7. Extremists.....Sometime i think you probably consider Dick Durbin extreme

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. Benefit of the doubt I will give you.

Stick around. You will see that we are pretty loud, just for example, the NSA issue. It is a very hot potato

[Xyzse]

9. Hello, I'm trying to understand what you are saying.

You mention that Republicans simply toe to the Tea Bag wing of the party. That many get disheartened that much of them have just went along without saying anything.

Then you mention that there are Liberals here who speak about "inconvenient truths" about the Democratic party. Fact is, Independent that I am, I am glad that it happens, even if they do get confronted. I can agree that in here, there is a defensiveness that happens, but, thankfully it spurs debate and more often than not, those that get listened to tend to have documented logical arguments.

Heck, I have to commend some here for being able to articulate some of the more questionable policies of the administration. Even if I may disagree or perceive it differently with some of the items that has been mentioned, I cannot disregard their points.

The one thing though that I completely will blast Obama for is his handling of Education policy and reliance on Charter schools, which to me is a continuation of Bush's policy.

Still, I don't really see things here as bullying. I tend to consider some here being impassioned in their positions that some become absolutists. I tend to think they are important as a counterbalance to those such as myself who tends to see how increments work, which is helpful, but if more people are like me, things won't move as much either, because I know I am limited to what I think is possible at the moment.

Any how, I ended up doing a small commentary, when I am not really sure what point you are trying to make?
Is it mentioning that there is a group here that crowds out dissenting voices? That always happens, but the thing is, in general, if they follow logic, remain civil and actually discuss things, they can generally remain here without getting booted out.

That is not something I see on the Tea Bag type boards.