{"id":5668,"date":"2025-03-06T19:22:59","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T00:22:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/?p=5668"},"modified":"2025-08-12T14:31:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T18:31:11","slug":"democrats-republicans-two-peas-in-the-same-pod","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/06\/democrats-republicans-two-peas-in-the-same-pod\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats &#038; Republicans = \u2018<i>Two Peas in the same Pod<\/i>\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-5670 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Two-Peas.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"612\" height=\"279\" srcset=\"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Two-Peas.jpg 612w, https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Two-Peas-500x228.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 612px) 100vw, 612px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Does\u00a0America\u00a0needs\u00a0a\u00a0new\u00a0\u2018<em>Pod<\/em>\u2019? America certainly needs more than just the identical likeness or similar pair that the Democratic and Republican parties offer.<\/p>\n<p>As a No Party Affiliation (NPA) registered Florida voter, I can&#8217;t stand either the Democratic or Republican party and usually vote against whichever I find most objectionable at the time. I voted against Harris last November. What a choice &#8211; Trump or Harris. While Trump has done better domestically this time around, his foreign policy has been a disaster\u2014bordering on treason, in my humble opinion, particularly in his actions enabling Russia to recover from their reinvasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>Both the Democratic and Republican parties support <strong>BIG<\/strong> government \u2013 though each wants their own version of it. Both appear left-wing to me, though Republicans might be considered center-wing. However, for clarity, I&#8217;ll use the conventional left-wing and right-wing labels. Political terminology can be quite confusing \u2013 I only recently learned that the Republican party encompasses Republicans, Conservatives, and &#8220;Classic Liberals.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/06\/democrats-republicans-two-peas-in-the-same-pod\/#Daily_Kos_vs_The_New_Neo_%E2%80%93_Political_Blogs\" >Daily\u00a0Kos\u00a0vs\u00a0The\u00a0New\u00a0Neo\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Political\u00a0Blogs<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/06\/democrats-republicans-two-peas-in-the-same-pod\/#MSM_Legacy_media_vs_New_Media_%E2%80%93_Media_Charts\" >MSM\u00a0(Legacy\u00a0media)\u00a0vs\u00a0New\u00a0Media\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Media\u00a0Charts<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/06\/democrats-republicans-two-peas-in-the-same-pod\/#Conclusion\" >Conclusion<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h3 class=\"western\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Daily_Kos_vs_The_New_Neo_%E2%80%93_Political_Blogs\"><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailykos.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Daily\u00a0Kos<\/a>\u00a0vs\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/thenewneo.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The\u00a0New\u00a0Neo<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Political\u00a0Blogs<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>For the past year, I&#8217;ve been exploring political blogs and their comment sections. They&#8217;re essentially &#8220;two peas in the same pod&#8221; \u2013 a Left-Pea and Right-Pea with different talking points but similar messages of bigotry and hate. Each side seems amazed at their own intelligence while dismissing the other as stupid.<\/p>\n<p>Daily Kos doesn&#8217;t allow for diversity\u2014a trait common among all left-wing blogs I visited. This hasn&#8217;t changed much since I conducted a similar exploration around 2008; if anything, it&#8217;s slightly worse. Their message is clear: toe the line or you&#8217;re out.<\/p>\n<p>I lasted about three days at Daily Kos this time. I was comparing Republicans&#8217; <strong>TCS<\/strong> (Trump Cultist Syndrome) to Democrats&#8217; <strong>TDS<\/strong> (Trump Derangement Syndrome) in a post, and that ended my tenure \u2013 apparently, I crossed a line by acknowledging <strong>TDS<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>I fared better at The New Neo blog, lasting around nine months and enjoying my stay until the final day. I was labeled a &#8220;troll&#8221; initially, but the name-calling subsided after about six months.<\/p>\n<p>Other Conservative blogs can be even less tolerant toward those who don&#8217;t adhere to the MAGA line\u2014especially in their comment sections. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.powerlineblog.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Power Line<\/strong><\/a> is probably my favorite &#8220;fair and balanced&#8221; Conservative blog, though its comment section is brutal.<\/p>\n<p>What ultimately ended my time at The New Neo blog was the aftermath of the Trump, Vance, and Zelensky interview on 2\/28\/2025. Republicans were visibly shocked by Trump&#8217;s and Vance&#8217;s rude, aggressive, loud, angry, and undiplomatic attacks on Zelensky \u2013 and the next day, they attempted to edit the <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/h3WD9CUNgEE?t=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Video Evidence<\/strong><\/a> of that disaster. Once Video Evidence is available online, it&#8217;s difficult to edit, but Republicans desperately tried.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s one example of such \u2018<i>Editing<\/i>\u2019 and\/or reinterpretation. I\u2019ll start with the \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/h3WD9CUNgEE?t=703\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Much less \u2013 No<\/a>\u2019 exchange between Zelensky and Trump. Trump had said that Europe gave Much less to Ukraine than America, and Zelensky tried to explain that Europe had given quite a lot.<\/p>\n<p>That \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/h3WD9CUNgEE?t=703\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Much less \u2013 No<\/a>\u2019 link shows a calm friendly exchange between Zelensky &amp; Trump \u2013 almost as if they are a \u2018<i>Comedy Duo<\/i>\u2019 team in the exchange.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/1-neo-transcript.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Here<\/a>\u00a0is\u00a0a\u00a0pic\u00a0of\u00a0a\u00a0comment.\u00a0Here\u00a0is\u00a0a\u00a0quote\u00a0from\u00a0the\u00a0comment:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Z:\u00a0We\u00a0can\u00a0help\u00a0Europe\u00a0because\u00a0Europe\u00a0really\u00a0helped.\u00a0President\u00a0Trump\u00a0said\u00a0that\u00a0they\u00a0made\u00a0less\u00a0support,\u00a0but\u00a0they\u00a0are\u00a0our\u00a0friends.\u00a0They\u00a0are\u00a0very\u00a0supportive\u00a0partners.\u00a0They\u00a0really\u00a0gave\u00a0a\u00a0lot,\u00a0Mr.\u00a0President.<\/p>\n<p>T:\u00a0[nods]\u00a0They\u00a0gave\u00a0a\u00a0lot,\u00a0but\u00a0they\u00a0gave\u00a0much\u00a0less.<\/p>\n<p>Z:\u00a0No,\u00a0no!<\/p>\n<p>T:\u00a0Don\u2019t\u00a0argue.\u00a0[Trump\u00a0smiles,\u00a0leans\u00a0in,\u00a0gives\u00a0Zelensky\u00a0little\u00a0pat]<\/p>\n<p>Z:\u00a0No,\u00a0no!\u00a0[said\u00a0this\u00a0time\u00a0in\u00a0a\u00a0sort\u00a0of\u00a0whiney-jokey\u00a0way,\u00a0with\u00a0a\u00a0slight\u00a0smile]<\/p>\n<p>T:\u00a0Much\u00a0less.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Watch the video and note that Zelensky does not exclaim, and only says \u201cNo\u201d (or nope?), then \u201cNo\u201d after another Much less, then Trump leans in and points with Zelensky saying \u201cNooo\u201d whilst both are smiling. Blog Conservative commenter says Zelenskyy did a <em>double-no\u00a0exclamation<\/em>. That\u2019s editing the facts \u2013 a claim by Republicans against Democrats and their MSM\u2014and akin to the pot calling the kettle black.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u00a0is\u00a0the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/thenewneo.com\/more-on-yesterdays-zelensky-trump-vance-blowup-what-about-europe\/#comment-2790688\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">COMMENT<\/a>\u00a0link&#8230;<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"western\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"MSM_Legacy_media_vs_New_Media_%E2%80%93_Media_Charts\"><\/span>MSM\u00a0(Legacy\u00a0media)\u00a0vs\u00a0New\u00a0Media\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Media\u00a0Charts<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.allsides.com\/media-bias\/media-bias-chart\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AllSides\u00a0Media\u00a0Bias\u00a0Chart<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-5667 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Media-chart-434x500.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"434\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Media-chart-434x500.jpg 434w, https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Media-chart.jpg 607w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 434px) 100vw, 434px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Pew\u00a0Research\u00a0\u2013\u00a0\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/short-reads\/2021\/05\/07\/broad-agreement-in-u-s-even-among-partisans-on-which-news-outlets-are-part-of-the-mainstream-media\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Broad\u00a0agreement\u00a0in\u00a0U.S.\u00a0\u2013\u00a0even\u00a0among\u00a0partisans\u00a0\u2013\u00a0on\u00a0which\u00a0news\u00a0outlets\u00a0are\u00a0part\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0\u2018mainstream\u00a0media\u2019<\/a>\u201d:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-5666 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Mainstream-media-369x500.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"369\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Mainstream-media-369x500.jpg 369w, https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Mainstream-media.jpg 517w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 369px) 100vw, 369px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The mainstream media (legacy media) is currently undergoing changes. New media continues to grow, but primarily along partisan journalism lines.<\/p>\n<p>My preferred sources for relatively balanced news are the Daily Mail and X (formerly Twitter). If Musk maintains a censorship-free environment, X may become the leading news platform.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"western\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Conclusion\"><\/span>Conclusion<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">Politics has become intensely partisan now, though perhaps it always was. I avoided politics until <strong>9\/11<\/strong>, voting for the first time in the 2002 midterms. The Right-Pea has become increasingly radicalized \u2013 catching up to the Left&#8217;s radicalization and possibly surpassing it at this point.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">For me, the political whiplash from Bush to Obama to Trump to Biden and back to Trump has led me to vote against whoever I dislike more. Harris versus Trump presented terrible choices, but Democratic positions on issues like transgender children, women&#8217;s sports, and bathroom access forced me to vote against Harris and the Democrats.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">If Democrats nominate candidates in 2026 and 2028 who move toward the center\u2014as California Governor Gavin Newsom recently did on transgender athletes\u2014I will likely vote against Trump and the Republicans for the first time. Trump&#8217;s and Vance&#8217;s pro-Russia stance has deeply disturbed me.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">Is there a new &#8216;<em>Pod<\/em>&#8216; on the horizon? One can only hope. \ud83e\udd1e<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Does\u00a0America\u00a0needs\u00a0a\u00a0new\u00a0\u2018Pod\u2019? America certainly needs more than just the identical likeness or similar pair that the Democratic and Republican parties offer. As a No Party Affiliation (NPA) registered Florida voter, I can&#8217;t stand either the Democratic or Republican party and usually vote against whichever I find most objectionable at the time. I voted against Harris last &#8230; <a title=\"Democrats &#038; Republicans = \u2018Two Peas in the same Pod\u2019\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/06\/democrats-republicans-two-peas-in-the-same-pod\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Democrats &#038; Republicans = \u2018Two Peas in the same Pod\u2019\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":28,"footnotes":""},"categories":[162,51,88,57,207,218,217,65,198,200,66,91,106,199,47,105,73,158,109],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deep-state","category-woke","category-child-grooming","category-democratic-party","category-elon-musk","category-jd-vance","category-kamala-harris","category-msm","category-news","category-npa-no-party-affiliation","category-progressivism","category-putin","category-republican-party","category-russia","category-russias-invasion","category-trump","category-ukraine","category-x","category-zelensky"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5668"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5668\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5699,"href":"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5668\/revisions\/5699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}