I run into a lot of those, mad as hell that the country/government is so fucked up, but no idea how or why it got that way because the don't have a handle on how the government works. They've no clue that the government got that way because they let other people run it, rather than learning how to participate.

A Boeing contract negotiator once told the union reps, "You've had it too good for too long". I think that's what happened to America, with the advent of the huge middle (consumer) class, we had it too good for too long, and neglected our duty to protect ourselves from the government being taken over by selfish interests. Hell, have the people don't even bother to vote, no less participate.

I wonder if there's enough time to educate people how/what they have to do to turn this around before it's too late. Just voting every four years won't cut it.

Yeah, what was that cookie? The price of taking no interest in public affairs is to ruled by evil men, or some such.

Yes, the use of logic seems to have become a lost art. It's bad enough that the Republican Party is being destroyed from within and that the entire country is being held hostage by a group of true believers who favor the use of dogma over reason. But the situation is made even worse when reasonable people are afraid to recognize unpleasant truths, never mind verbalize them, because political correctness has made the entire subject taboo.

Unfortunately, problems like racism, the gun lobby’s desire to put an assault weapon in the hands of every single American –man, woman, and child – and turn the entire country into a war zone, etc. etc – all the serious issues which now face us – will not go away because one side is afraid to name them out loud and the other side lacks the ability to do anything but call everyone else dirty names.

In earlier decades Americans may not have voted out of complacency, but now they don’t vote because they know their vote won’t count. Gerrymandering has created Congressional districts that represent a political party and not the people who should make up its constituency. Outside interests then funnel in vast sums of money via PAC’s to the candidate whose mission it is to obstruct all attempts at passing any law that corporate America doesn’t like.

The Constitution of Madison and the system of checks and balances has been deemed contrary to the will of special interests, so those same special interests are now trying to push the Constitution out the door, along with quaint ideas like democracy or living in a republic.

The President of the United States is not elected by popular vote of the people of the US. Instead, the Electoral College system allows the voters in 10 or so states to determine who will be elected president – the rest of us just get to cheer from the sidelines.

Any voter who still isn’t dismayed by all of the above faces voter suppression laws and 7 hour lines, along with requests for “your papers, please.”

I’m surprised anyone still votes at all.











sent via horse with lightening feet/a mane like distant rain/the turquoise horse/a black star for an eye/white shell teeth/Pony that feeds on the pollen of flowers - courtesy Gary Snyder

"Profanity is desperation when politically correct (sugarcoated) spin is routinely challenged and exposed."

Sometimes, this is indeed the case.

Often, though, a 'go fuck yourself' is the standard reply (that should be) directed at one who makes no cogent or clarified (or accurate) point and who deserves nuthin' more than dismissal.

'nuff said.

IOW still an adult who posts like a child. Who knows only what an ego says. Only the mentally weakest waste bandwidth with profanity.

That profanity is best directed at a mirror. Only place where that 'intelligence' can be appreciated.

You two should get a room where you can "carry on" in private.

Party? What is a party without it's strength, which is being able to guaranty votes.
Big money PACs? What is a PAC without it's strength, which is being able to buy air-time to influence the uninformed.

Neither of those can do jack shit if the people don't play along. The ballot box is still the bottom line, so the voters have to get informed and involved from the very bottom. They should make an informed choice of who their dogcatcher is going to be, who their school board is going to be, all the way up to the President.

Going around saying their vote doesn't count, is a self fulfilling prophecy.

Looks like Rove and the Tea Party are going to war...

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/polit...vatives/61761/

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Governm...-war-Tea-Party

I find that a bit hard to follow, but the gist is that Rove and some others have realised that far-right types may win pre-selection but lose elections, is that it?

It's a bloody scary moment when the sensible sounding moderate in the group is Karl Rove. :eek:

Basically. I do think it goes deeper than just electability but this is what Rove is saying publicly.

There are some major philosophical differences between the Establishment (Rove) and Tea Party Republicans and the fighting has steadily become more public since the election. Essentially, the two groups are in complete disagreement about why they lost and how to proceed from here. The Establishment Republicans see a shrinking demographic base while the Tea Party Republicans see "unpure" candidates. Therefore, the Establishment want to go left while the Tea Party wants to go right.

And play along they do, despite the fact that both parties are only concerned about their own agendas rather than "we, the people". Even if only 20% of eligible voters turn out, the party which convinces the majority to vote they way they want, is showing all the strength that party needs. After all, they got their guy in the White House, right?

This is a given, but informed voters are scarce as hen teeth in this country. The ignorance of the average citizen used to amaze me. However, anymore I'm amazed when I encounter someone who actually make a point of being informed and not by Rush Limbaugh, either.

I hate to sound like my mother, but what the hell do they teach kids in the schools these days? They graduate from high school with their only "science" class being intelligent design, they can't place any of the 50 states on a US map, and they're functionally illiterate. I blame this in part on evangelicals with their passion for home schooling (blind leading blind), and voter refusal to provide funding for rural school districts and urban districts which serve mainly low income and/or minority students.

Given Citizen's United, given the high cost of running for national office, and given the concentration of the nation's wealth in the hands of a wealthy few, etc., etc., our electorial process has become hopelessly broken. We need something like the Occupy Movement, only this time around with competent people in leadership positions and workable solutions for the problems this country now faces.

I'm getting fed up with Halliburton being the sole choice on the ballot.

Inflation, everything has gone up. That $2500 Chevy is now $25000, but the cars have (arguably) improved considerably. Well, school taxes have climbed too. (They just tore down my high school and replaced it with a new one. $67,450,000 for 1400 students, $1,000,000 for the fucking "executive" offices. :rolleyes:)

Anyway, the taxpayers see this money being poured into schools and then look at the product damn whippersnappers graduating. No matter how much money you spend, how many facilities you provide, you can't beat the culture they are raised in. This is especially true in the ghetto, where brand new schools and brand new equipment has been destroyed almost overnight.

The schools are also so embroiled in politically correct bullshit, they don't have ability to teach the most important lesson a student can learn... life ain't fair.

They're leaving that lesson to be taught by the Republican Party.

They don't have to teach kids that life isn't fair. The world does that without any assistance from parents and teachers. Some people, in their attempts to offset the damage done by the fact that life very much is not fair, overdo lessons in the other direction, true.

If you look at the average intake of the more challenged schools, I bet most of those kids have already learned that life is not fair. They're steeped in the unfairness of life. What they need to learn is that life being unfair does not necessarily mean they are hamstrung from the start. They need to learn that words like 'successful' 'respected' and 'achiever' can attach to them too.