Have you had your opinion changed here?

[Hamish Howl]

Why is "odious" in parenthesis?

For the same reason "really bad" was quoted.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

I've learned plenty.

 

[Individual]

I don't look into the opinions of others because opinions are, well, opinions. What I'm interested in verifying are claims made, especially when they're made by posters who just toss opinion out in the form of a claim/statement/fact. Then, after recognizing the trend, I just give up on communicating with the poster.

My opinions are primarily focused on governmental issues, such as taxation, government budgeting, spending, debt, inflation, immigration/citizenship laws, abortion, etc. and not so much individual politicians.
IMO, an elected politician should represent the views of their constituents regardless of their parties views on each issue. The number of issues seems to grow larger over time with none actually being solved, except in ways that create new campaign issues to attract a voting bloc, leaving voters forced to take the bad with any good as the basis of their vote.

 

[BitterPill]

Why is "odious" in parenthesis?

For the same reason "really bad" was quoted.

At the risk of damaging my MAGA status, odious isn't even in parentheses.

MAGA.

 

[Callen]

I don't look into the opinions of others because opinions are, well, opinions. What I'm interested in verifying are claims made, especially when they're made by posters who just toss opinion out in the form of a claim/statement/fact. Then, after recognizing the trend, I just give up on communicating with the poster.

The problem there is when one decides because they don't like the stated facts that it is merely an opinion so they can then ignore it and continue to spread their untruths.

 

[Queen Margo]

At the risk of damaging my MAGA status, odious isn't even in parentheses.

MAGA.

OYE, I faux "pawed" ok, quotation marks.
Never worry about your MAGA status.

 

[Patriotic Voter]

I've learned plenty.

But have you changed your mind about anything by learning a lot on DP?

 

[gbg3]

My opinions are primarily focused on governmental issues, such as taxation, government budgeting, spending, debt, inflation, immigration/citizenship laws, abortion, etc. and not so much individual politicians.
IMO, an elected politician should represent the views of their constituents regardless of their parties views on each issue. The number of issues seems to grow larger over time with none actually being solved, except in ways that create new campaign issues to attract a voting bloc, leaving voters forced to take the bad with any good as the basis of their vote.

I agree that an elected politician should represent the views of their constituents. Manchin, Youngkin, and Polis come to mind as examples of politicians who tend to try to do that most of the time, even when it may at times really frustrate or even anger their party. Youngkin hasn't frustrated the party at all, but I included him because he's one who really listened to and cared about what the voters had to say (and won because of that). Polis wasn't nearly as strict with covid restrictions as most Dem governors were and he didn't see that as the right direction. Manchin very obviously frustrates Dems often but he's a senator in a red state and he certainly recognizes that - so his constituents do obviously matter to him.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

But have you changed your mind about anything by learning a lot on DP?

Yes. That's what I was getting at .
I realize people like for debates to have a winner and a loser but if I "lose" it means I have an opportunity to learn something.

One example is abortion. I've never been entirely "okay" with all of it but I've always been pro-choice anyway because I defer to the woman on it.
She is the one who must face the reality of having the procedure, after all.

But I've concluded that, at least for me, it is okay to compromise and accept a ban on elective procedures after Week 20 and still call myself "pro-choice" just so long as exceptions are in place
for medical necessity or in a case where it's discovered that the fetus is altogether incompatible with life.

But if fetus and mother are healthy and the mother has not made a decision by Week 20 sorry, I think that means she has to carry to term.
She can give it up for adoption.
That is a more conservative POV than how I believed when I first joined in 2005.

It was not one single debate on abortion that inspired me to modify my view, it was listening to all sides of the debate for a period of years.

 

[Moon]

One of the reasons for a debate is to not only put forward a view you have but also to listen to others that could change your views

Yes. I used to be against gay marriage but after conversations here (real conversations, not the shit flinging that goes on now) I changed my view on it to the point that I voted for it when it was on our state ballot in 2012.

 

[TearItAllDown]

And they are already hard at work using the same tactic with DeSantis. It won't matter who it is they are worried about running/winning, the treatment will be identical.

Trump was an easy target for us democrats. DeSantis just may be a great politician and presents a grave threat to our version of Democracy. He will be tortured 100X more than Trump to make sure he stays out of our way and eventually either falls in line or leaves politics. If he does decide to run for POTUS he will become the first presidential candidate to be preemptively impeached twice before he even wins the election. He will have at least 100 women come forward and accuse him of rape, he will be accused of being a manchurian candidate of Putin AND Xi Jinping, we will scour every tax return and even every purchase he has made in the last 40 years and start at least 20 congressional investigations into just about everything possible before he is even elected. Then if he does somehow win and survives the early onslaught, we will just have to get nasty.

 

[reinaert]

Yes. I was wrong about the number of fascists in my country. It's much, much higher than I suspected.

 

[Ambig]

It was not one single debate on abortion that inspired me to modify my view, it was listening to all sides of the debate for a period of years.

I can learn a lot more by listening to good debaters debate than I can by reading a paper about the issue.

 

[Rumpel]

My answer would be: Hardly ever