Out of A Population of 300 Million Plus, Are There 535 Potential Statesmen?

[Mr. Ected]

And if we replaced our present legislature with these 535 untainted patriots

How long would it be

Before the majority of them

Sold out?

[Skink]

1. 536

:beer:

[Blue Meany]

2. The sell out usually happens long before the get to Congress n/t

[omega minimo]

3. If all of them are men?

[Mr. Ected]

4. Stateswomen and Statespersons May Also Apply

This is the United States of America, dammit.

[omega minimo]

5. Well then it would take longer. Not as much Old Boy Networking

:toast:

[Psychic Consortium]

6. There should be very strict laws against corrupt leadership: Life in prison.

To betray the public trust must be made a very serious crime, and no longer tolerated.

[omega minimo]

7. It used to be swords and the Althing..... now it's voting, which is rigged.......

[Psychic Consortium]

8. Tampering with elections must also be made a very serious crime.

We must decide if we really want to be serious about
democracy. Or just pretend to be one.

[omega minimo]

9. With authoritative bodies so compromised, who will make those

determinations on our behalf?

We have advocates working hard on election issues -- not much changes. The machines and corporations that own/operate them are in control.

California is being bankrupted by a pretend governor, corrupted legislature, who are blatantly stating that those on the gangplank first are the most vulnerable.

No bailout for a failed state. No accountability for a criminal regime. No certainty our votes count.

Advice?

[Psychic Consortium]

12. The people have had little power in this country.

We have been ruled by the incompetent and corrupt for a long time.
And anyone decent in elected office is rendered powerless.

And you are correct, it is a challenge to change laws demanding honor,
honesty and integrity in our elected officials.

However the times have changed. The American people made a major shift in the last election and set events in motion that will have profound ramifications for generation to come.

Obama sets the bar higher. He shifts the American perception of a what a public servant is....we will begin to see our elected officials differently and expect talent, hard work, focus on the people not self interest.

Obama demonstrates the honesty and integrity that will set the standard in the future; elected officials work for the people and promote the democracy, not their own interests.

At the same time the people find their voice and realize that government is truly a shared governance. We are not passive victims of government.
We are the government.

The time is very ripe for activism of all kind. Nothing will be handed to us. No one will do it for us. We must become involved in making the world the place we want it to be..... it will be possible at this time.

We will have clean air, food, water. Free elections, health care, education, equal rights for all. Competent leadership. We will see an unprecedented zeitgeist change. Events have been set in motion, the momentum is unstoppable. (That is why the GOP is so angry at this time. They know their time is over.)

[Psychic Consortium]

15. The GOP induced collapse of our country will allow us to rebuild

a 21st century democracy. There is much work to be done.

[salguine]

10. It depends on how we replaced the first batch. I think this would provide an excellent

incentive to fly right, at least for a while.

[NoPasaran]

18. Not necessarily

After the Jacobins executed the royals and the nobles, they took to executing each other. Then power passed to a military dictator who decided he'd prefer being an emperor. (And set up all his relatives as kings, princes and dukes.) After another fifteen years of war, the royals came back.

So the guillotine, for all its marketing appeal doesn't actually have all that much to recommend it as an instrument of political reform.

[Fumesucker]

11. No..

And "the length of time it takes a photon to travel the diameter of a hydrogen nucleus".

Respectively.

[cali]

13. an "untainted patriot" is simply a figment of your imagination.

and your op demonstrates that. if you believe that they'd sell out once they got in the Congress, they can't possibly be such pure as driven snow heroes of the people.

[Mr. Ected]

19. Human Nature Taints All of Us With Vices and Shortcomings

My OP demonstrates nothing. It asks the question, could a miniscule percentage of our population be principled enough and intelligent enough to run our country for an undefined period of time? I would like to think that there are a few of us who could maintain their beliefs and act accordingly in Washington.

Dennis Kucinich, for instance. There's one. There has to be 534 more.

[cali]

21. The Dennis is the ONE stuff is so silly.

Frankly, I'll take Bernie over Dennis any day of the week. Hell, I'll take my rep over Dennis. Too much grandstanding from Dennis.

[armyowalgreens]

14. The American people don't want true leaders.

They want someone to tell them how awesome they are and how great the US is. Anyone who says otherwise is "extreme" in their political views and considered incapable of being a popular candidate.

[cali]

16. wow. now that's some broad brushing there.

how do you explain my state's reps? Pat Leahy, Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch? Take a look at the reps from MA and other states. Hardly the little cut out rah rah figures you paint them as. There's not much sillier than thinking you can speak for 300,000,000 people.

[armyowalgreens]

20. I never said everyone wanted them.

I was speaking in general. The overall population of the US does not want a good leader. They want to be told that everything is going to be alright. That's why people like Sanders and Kucinich are not viable national candidates.

[KharmaTrain]

17. Leaders & Followers...

I had a college professor whose main thesis was there's only a select few that like to lead, most prefer to follow. Also that followers can't be good leaders and leaders can't be good followers. Finally that people end up leading where they feel they can have the most impact. Thus they'll lead a rock band or stock broker...politics doesn't usually rank high as a fulfilling vocation.

When you say "untainted"...how so? By money? By political philosophy? That is the antithesis of a leader. They're the ones who can and do get the money and have the motivation to win. It's more human nature than it is anything else.

Also, our political system is personality based. While you prefer a candidate of a particular party or political lean, in a majority of the cases, it's a personality that helps a candidate win...the ability to reach many groups, not just one. To do this, one needs a big ego that can take rejection and a boatload of cash for getting his/her name and face out there. As long as money is part of this equation, you'll never have "untainted" politicians.