joether
Posts: 5195
Joined: 7/24/2005
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When President Obama came to office, he naïve believed he could change the politics in Washington (and maybe the rest of the nation). Much of his first and second year was devoted to 'bridging the gap' between the two parties (and much of America). That he worked tirelessly, speeches all over the place, to get people working together rather than furthering the span and depth of the political chasm. Unfortunately for America, that was not what the Republicans and most especially the Tea Party desired. The country was in the middle of a very deep recession that was border lining an economic depression. We had many troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan at the time. And many other man-made and natural disasters on top of it all. The Republican/Tea Party at the time, just recently lose control of Congress yet again to the Democrats. And the conservative media misinformation machine was still spewing 24/7. To say the least, the President was up against impossible odds, would be an understatement. Whether you agree or disagree with the guy, he was trying to restore American's faith in government.
The lesson learned is one of many, nor a small group can not possibly hope to change Washington. It would take a vast sum of people, changing of numerous laws and regulations, time, patience, intelligence, deep levels of education and enough wisdom to fill Jupiter! If such a people could be found, they would have to be 'middle of the road'. Of course, no one is True Neutral (to take a Dungeons and Dragon's, 1st edition definition). That moderates have both conservative and liberal views on a wide range of topics. Of course these individuals that could serve, and do well in restoring America's trust and faith in government, are not remotely perfect individuals. They have many flaws physically, mentally, emotionally, politically, and/or religiously.
That the process of getting elected has to be overhauled top to bottom is an understatement. That someone for the poor class should have as much right and chance of being a senator or representative as the multi-millionaire. An I think the poor person could very much use that $178K/year salary more than the super rich. Lets not forget the middle class, as they do are feeling their power in the US Government shrinking each and every day. So campaign reform would have to conclude (like much of the country) that money in politics is not 'used for freedom of speech' but more so to undermine that free speech of all Americans. How many 'ma & pa' newspapers exist in the United States on a regional or national level (if not international)? None! How many corporations, whose loyalty is not necessary the same for the United States of America, but hold national and international influence? Quite a few. That the poor/middle class candidate for office has an equal about of time/prime-time coverage as the rich.
Could any of us run without establishing a political party? Or being in a political party? According to some laws and regulations: 'no'. Then again, an individual running against someone with well placed friends/allies has no chance of winning. So is it really a Democracy or a Republic? Or a Plutocracy? An Oligarchy?
The two most powerful tools the founding fathers gave to future generations is: A ) The ability to freely vote, and B ) The ability to meet half way during tough negotiations. In 'A', the problem is not with freely voting. Its that the number of informed, thinking, and conscious voters, is only about 1/3rd of the total population of voters. Another 1/3rd are the opposite of the first third; they don't think, consider, nor are well informed. The final third, don't vote; so not much can be said how they would vote. How do we get that second 'third' to be more informed, given all the fucking technological advancements this nation has seen in the last decade alone? How do we get the final third of voters to the actual polls? Tyranny wins when few Americans vote; Liberty wins when many Americans vote.
Right now, Congress has no ability to agree on much of anything. That might explain their 12-17% approval rating. Republican/Tea Party feel they should run the country irrelevant of how the elections went in both Presidential elections. They have pushed bills through the US House of Representatives fully knowing the Senate would never approve of the bill. So why waste government money pushing crap that has no chance of becoming law? For political points in Republican districts. To say "They are getting stuff done, and Democrats/the President, are road blocking things. But reality is, the Republicans send stuff they knew ahead of time would never pass. It would be like Democrats sending bill that directly undermined the 2nd amendment.....over and over again. Republicans would never sign off on such laws. Which is why the Democrats don't really do it very often. The ability to sit down, negotiate and compromise, is a concept completely lost on the current session of Congress. More Republican than Democrat. Tea Partiers? Those guys just hate the United States, and want it dismantled all together; or at least that's what their actions speak....
Why bother trying to solve the problems beyond the beginning, when we cant solve the beginning problems? Worst is, that Americans do not want to solve the beginning problems. Easier to bitch and moan than get one off their ass to do something useful! We have this problem every year, yet the number of Americans doing something about it is a tiny fraction of what is needed. In my home town, the election that is coming up in a week or two, will only have 1/11th the number of residents voting. To bad we couldn't list the other 10/11ths of voters out in the open and shame them for FAILING of their civil duty. 'Not going to the polls' is not the same as 'voting for none of the people listed' at the polling station. And the ones that don't have a reasonable excuse for not getting to the polls or sending an absentee ballot, are usually the same stupid, idiots, that complain about government!
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Both the Democrats and Republicans need a Darkhorse - 
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