i got a problem

[kybob]

i do not post often here prefering to read others thoughts.

my problem is politics in general. i am sick and tired of useless, on going contention amongst all involved. from the newbie voter to the most savy politician, there is an air of "we gotta beat the fuckers, by hook and crook. one side accuses the other, and viceversa.

i remember during the Watergate hearings, the comittee wanted to nail Nixon for taking money frome the Milk Producers, then the idea was tabled because, so many others on the committee, and in the Congress, also were taking money from the same group. why was that, is not one set of ethics applies to all?

i have a problem with Sorus, Hollywood, and politicians; telling me what is best for me. i see that the Congress wants to investigate the Sago mine disaster. so they hold hearings in their suits, with other suits, with clean and smooth hands.
why don't they put on work clothes, and go down in the mines for a few weeks, with out the media in tow. experience first hand what a miner has to go through every day for years on end. walk a mile in anothers shoes, to find out things.

in my 58 years on this world, i have seen a steady erosin of Rights of the common man, by the power of political groups with an agenda. with corporate greed, and average folks wishing to further something or other.

another thing is why has the political system shut out any and all folks from seeking High Office??? seems only those with Law Degrees, and major funding run for office, why can't Joe the Carpenter, or Mary the secretary run for President, or Senate, or Representative. why should the Left-Right Club get all the glory. is the Left-Right Club afraid of something?

sorry for the rant but i just need to vent some way. bash me or agree with me. what are your thoughts?

[lvx35]

1. Erosion of rights.

Good post. This line hit me:

in my 58 years on this world, i have seen a steady erosin of Rights of the common man, by the power of political groups with an agenda. with corporate greed, and average folks wishing to further something or other.

I'm about 30, and this is really fascinating to me, because you are not the only person whose older than me I've heard say it. I've heard again and again that we are less free now than before, and the impression I get is its not just Bush, its been a slow downward climb for a while. Is this true?

[kybob]

8. imo yes

it is on a downward spiral. the abuse of forcing ones agenda on anothers i find more and more irrehensible. this is the very core of overall lose of Freedoms, Rights, and Liberties. as an example take motorcycle helmet laws. i for one do not care whether an individual chooses to wear a helmet or not. if he wants to run the risk of severe head trauma...thats his business. i could not care less, let the rider pay more insurance for his choice.

politicians seem to push little bits of anti-Freedom, here and there. i have reached a point where i ask others,"at what point in your life did you decide that the politician knows what is best for you?"

[lvx35]

11. I agree.

regarding politicians going for freedom removal. We've got Bush spying outside of all legal oversight and my own party is focusing its energies on banning smoking in private establishments, instead of stopping Bush. Its like you can't get away from people trying to widdle away at freedoms.

[Beam Me Up]

12. I agree w/ kybob, and I'm 58, too.

This country is far less free now than it was. The assassination of JFK, MLK and RFK is when I started paying attention--and I do not believe people behind those murders ever saw justice. The Sixties and the Seventies held some promise that things might get better in any case but that was soon thwarted by Reagan and papa Bush. The War on Drugs was t he precursor to the War on Terrorism (tm) -- which is nothing but a means to an end quite the opposite of the one declared.

We are in deep, deep shit and if they do attack Iran as they intend -- and make no mistakes they DO INTEND to do it -- we may not get out of this alive. And that is no joke.

I'll add, although I lay the blame mostly at the feet of REPUBLICANS, Democrats have to share some of it, too. Both have drunk water from the Corporate trough and benefitted while the Constitution and the American people have gotten worse and worse off. This is especially true when one considers the quality of life. That is, not just what one has or can afford, but the quality of our neighborhoods, environment, jobs, schools, health care, and so on.

[lvx35]

15. Wow, I've had a sense of that.

Its amazing to hear it, so many people seem to agree. Its also creepy, and it shows the seriousness of the times we are living in. It's also true about the democrats, I think its important to push for reform in our party. For me the SCOTUS ruling that allowed corporations to seize property from citizens under "eminent domain" was a big wakeup call.

[Boojatta]

2. Many people don't buy good products if they haven't heard of the brand

"...seems only those with Law Degrees, and major funding run for office. Why can't Joe the Carpenter, or Mary the secretary run for President, or Senate, or Representative?"

[kentuck]

3. It's not left or right...

it's up or down and right or wrong. What you are reading here is something unique in the history of this nation. There has never been a challenge to those in power as powerful as that challenge where you can put your ideas out there for all to see. This is all part of a great struggle, in my opinion.

[Rose Siding]

4. Until control of govt is wrenched from the far right

I find little comfort in the prospect of comity. The balance is so skewed that even moderate Democrats who speak against the rightist agenda are portrayed as shrill by the GOP machine- and much of the media. (I'm not sure how Soros fits in your argument)

As far as sending Congress into the mines for a few weeks, (as pleasant as that is to contemplate, momentarily :evilgrin: ) there are scores of issues as dire as the plight of miners. That's not as feasible as hearings that *should* give as much weight to the working miner as to the mining company shills.

[Ikonoklast]

5. I hear you, kybob

I am just a blue-collar working stiff, myself. Between all the time providing for my family and raising the kids, it was hard to devote as much time as I would've liked to politics. I tried to support those that I agreed with, as best I could with limited funds/and or time. I think like most people I just assumed that the best thing would always be done by those elected. Big mistake. The professional politicians that used to represent their constituency now get their marching orders from the same place, and the voters' wishes be damned.

Our political process has become hijacked by those that have the money and the power to support a secret agenda; corporate take over of our government, religious groups being used as the tool of the wealthy to get what they need, and votes bought by the highest bidder.

We let this happen. We have seen it coming for years, but did little or nothing about it. Now the house is on fire, and we are all calling the insurance company to try to renew that lapsed policy. Awakened too late, we are now in a rear-guard action trying to stave off a rout.

Now that Americans see that the abuses of power and the erosion of civil liberty and the right of privacy has led the government to their very doorstep, do they see the specter of others telling them how to think, speak, worship, and when they can do it. The sense of vague unease has turned to fear.

My only hope is that fear is a great motivator.

[meganmonkey]

6. Let me just say you are not alone

in feeling this way. I'm only about half your age (31) but in the 10 years I have been politically active it seems to be getting worse and worse.

And like you mention, I think the worst part is that it IS all about winning, rather than doing the right thing. I get so frustrated when I hear the excuse that it isn't 'the right time' for the Dems to do this or that. Ooh, it's an election year. Oooh, the Repubs are self-destructing, let them crumble.

IMO, it is ALWAYS the right time to do the right thing.

[FloridaPat]

7. THe US was never a nation "of the people, by the people, etc".

It was a country for the upper classes. They originally had the vote and when income taxes were first made, corporations and the self-emplyed paid very little taxes. But for a few brief moments We the People got wise and involved. Probably started in FDR's time. A rich man who cared about the little people. National education, TV with good programs on it, an international awakening with 2 World Wars, and veterans benefits that brought the average person to the point they could be involved. Kennedy got the country going with volunteer work and a lot of people, including myself, have stayed involved in one form or another. But over the years, I think we decided that the federal government should be move involved. Maybe started with the Civil Rights movement because they were the only ones that could make sure there was some semblence of equality.

I talked to a die hard repub a few years back. He said the feds took too much power. I saw it as the people giving away too much power. Same conclusion. We the People don't seem to care anymore. Only 35% of the people that can vote bother. People are just too busy with their own lives. I just don't seem to have the time to do much anymore like I did when I was 20. Or the energy. We are a very rich nation compared to the rest of the world. And we haven't bothered to run our country. We've let the politicans do that and they've been bought off by the corporations.

And then there are the religious nuts. Maybe it really was the fall of communism. We had a common enemy we could see. We could ban together and work together to fight that enemy. But the enemies today are invisible and Washington generated. We're turning into a global world, but our government is too busy selling us out to help pave the way. The religious nuts are waiting for Jesus to return and want to put a lot of genies back in the bottle: women's rights, African American rights, gay rights, minority rights of all kinds. They want the country back to the way it was in the 20's

We the People have to wake up, grow-up, and take charge. We have to learn to work together. We can start by working together on the things we agree on. We need a local, state, and national talking points. We have the power, the information, and the education to do it.

And lastly, I remember when I was in a union and we talked about going on strike. We don't need the federal gov't much anymore because we could do it ourselves if we wanted to. Washington main and really only thing to do is defense. Well, if there's no war, we won't them then there either.

[Virginian]

9. I think we need more than two political parties.

I think -- We need to remove the greed for money aspect from our government.

I think -- We should provide government housing for our elected officials so they do not need to hike their salaries saying they have to maintain two homes. Sort of like the embassies provide housing for the ambassadors but not as elaborate. Remember, these people are supposed to be public servants, not dukes or lords.

I think -- We should make drastic changes to Campaign finance. Our elected officials should spend their time working for us, not trying to raise money for themselves to stay in office. It should be about running the country, not about money.

I think -- We should require all broadcast networks to provide EQUAL time to ALL candidates in 15 - 30 minute blocks. The government would sponsor the networks for the air time. All political ads would be banned. This way ALL the candidates can have time to tell their voters a little about themselves and not just give sound bites.

I think -- The Constitution should be amended to require the states to provide a salary for their Representatives and Senators. That would prevent the congress from voting themselves a raise. States should control retirement pensions, too.

I think -- Any cash (or check, Mr. Delay) gifts from a lobbyist should be considered a bribe and be illegal. Anything over $50 in meals or recreation should be considered a bribe.

[kybob]

13. public housing for Congress

would be a good start, think of it. a big dormatory. with a wall locker, and a foot locker and a cot per person. drab but clean, doing their own cleaning and laundry etc.

remove the beenies, and the true to heart servant of The People will emerge over time.

[jarab]

10. I particularly like the idea of

sending the congressmen (and women too for the sake of inclusiveness) down in the mines. They'd have some major troubles, but I'd pay to see that happen.
(Kentucky here, too.)

...O...

[rman]

14. I think you identified the problem quite clearly -

we all have that problem.


One note though on "having an agenda":

Everyone has an agenda, in so far that everyone has goals. There's not much of a point being in politics if you don't have goals.
It's just that some hide their agenda and some don't. Agendas that are hidden are usually those that can't stand the light of day.