Bipartisanship, the South and Voting Outcome...

Firstly, I'd like to start the post off with a commemoration of 9/11.  I can't believe it's been nine years since that day, because it is still so vivid in America's memory.  What happened that day and through the following weeks was unbelievable on every level, so horrific, with such acts of heroism, and such unity of the country, truly a day that shaped the future of America and the world.     

The Myth of Bipartisanship: 

The Democrats have been calling for bipartisanship recently.  The thing is that this bipartisanship, in their minds, means that they still get to do exactly what they want to, which is expand the role of the government.  They're calling for the Republicans to come over to their side without giving any significant concessions to the other side, and even if they did, it would be at too great an expense to the overall republican ideology to pass the bills they want passed.  Essentially what it boils down to is that Obama and the Democrats' idea of bipartisanship, one which they so aggressively call for and criticize others for not following, is that they will do exactly what they want, only a little bit slower.  That's ridiculous. 

Voting: 

I hear all this talk about person versus party.  Do you vote for the person or do you vote for the party?  Neither.  You vote for the outcome.  That means you vote for whoever has the best chance of improving the country or the state.  That means that you don't vote for someone solely because they seem like a good person.  You don't vote strictly party line no matter what.  You don't vote for third parties unless there is an overwhelmingly good reason.  It means you get involved early and intensely to get your candidate chosen, and this might be the most important thing you can do.  Primary voting is often overlooked and is incredibly important.  Then, during the final election, you vote for the best outcome.  Chances are you might not like either candidate, but you vote for the outcome.  There was a great South Park episode where Stan wondered what the point of voting was if it was "between a douche and a turd," and the reason to vote is that voting is your way of shaping the future of the country, it is your input into what will be the outcome, and the politicians are just the middle man in that step, you could say, using a pun I have used before, that they are just tools.  They are not a higher class of people and should not be treated as such, and you don't vote for the person you like best or who deserves the most respect except to the extent that that person may be more likely to get the policies you want done.               

The South: 

I'm increasingly perplexed as to why the rest of the country wants the South to be a part of America.  It is always belittled, ridiculed, and spoken of and portrayed in a derogatory manner using nothing less than bigotry and stereotypes.  Nothing complimentary is ever said about any of it except perhaps the food which is supposed to be tasty but unhealthy.  Politicians (especially on the democrat side but on both sides) go out of their way to minimize the South's influence and push Southerners to the periphery of their parties, trying to distance themselves from that region of the country.  So why did we fight a war to keep it in?  What reason could you possibly have at this point if the South decided to secede again?  I actually want an answer here.