"I have nothing to contribute".
It is refreshing to hear this. I try not to be an asshole but still get fucktarded responses (see above). I don't align myself with any party but I am conservative on some issues that people just don't like (guns ring a bell?). I'm also totally fine with liberal ideas like gay marriage. Just by trying to say that I am a reasonable person who has opinions that are both left and right gets me called a "bothsider(ism)". It annoys me, but I don't just shitpost respond to it because I realize that person just isn't worth responding to.
Not sure how you can believe people to not be right in the head, but I get it. Oh, and humor is obviously a good thing. Nobody wants to be around a bunch of people with sticks up their asses.
Are you saying you find me stupid? We may not agree on gun laws but I don't find you stupid. We may disagree on that, but I'm sure we agree on plenty of other things. I'm not sure if I can say that though without some bozo saying "bothsides", though.
I don't think there has been much common ground since probably the early 2000's. Look at the 80's. Reagan agreed to amnesty. The 90's? Welfare reform. There used to be compromise. Now everything is a pissing match.
Not calling you all-around stupid. I don't know you... and that is the kind of language I used before the Trump Era. In fact it was easy for me to distinguish (in my opinion) a stupid thought or belief from an all around stupid person. Finding it much more difficult these days and it has me rattled.
If I recall correctly you thought I was giving a mixed message on how I feel about guns? That may be so but when it comes down to it I want rapid fire guns out of the hands of civilians, extraordinary background checks, mandatory extensive training and I wouldn't be upset if all gun owners had to submit to a psyche evaluation on a yearly basis on their own dime. No one with a domestic violence or violence of any kind arrest record allowed to own guns, no one on a terrorist watch list allowed guns, no one with a history of mental illness allowed guns ... Oh and for the NRA to be dismantled. I thoroughly despise them. They're a disease upon gun enthusiasts/nutters and the government. And no, I don't care a lick about what ever rights anyone thinks would be stepped on to implement these things. Guns are intended for killing therefore the morbid privilege of owning a gun should be extremely regulated including what guns are permissible for civilians to own.
As for not aligning yourself with a party? Before Trump, neither did I though I am definitely progressive leaning. The system is busting at the seams and hating specific groups of human beings for it is shit. Utopia doesn't nor will it ever exist therefore it will always be up to the human race to aid and guide the least of its people and keep checks and balances on its people with the most. It should be done in a way that allows dignity because that is how to build a society. Not for political reasons but because we all gotta live life on this rock together. Tearing each other down or apart especially within a designated society is just counterproductive (yes I see the irony in what I'm saying but my anger and frustration is with those who think in terms of hurting others to protect their own through governance... They deserve to be verbally thrashed. To legislate shittiness is disgusting... but still, not productive to go after those married to being ignorant and cruel).
Stop caring about the both sides thing. Every one of us knows that regardless of the impressions we leave here of only regurgitating talking points we're each individuals with individual experiences leading us to our beliefs. Those experiences can of course be guided by extreme measures and we do see cultists in here but they are definitely not bothsiders and they are properly called out when they try it. Otherwise, I think the majority of people are. I don't use the bothsiders argument because it's weird. That being said, in most things I believe progressive is the only and inevitable way to go but in some things I'm moderate. I could probably never be called a conservative. Well, I'm very conservative with my own money. Every dime has a purpose, up to and including charity. My friends say I'm the most responsible free-spirit they've ever met. I wanna slap their tongues for calling me responsible!
Trumpublicans are a different breed. They are without a doubt a lower class of human. I have only been convinced, never dissuaded in this.