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Corruption in the Republic

By Joshua Holland, AlterNet. Posted August 22, 2005.


What is political corruption, anyway? The conventional wisdom is that it's shady midnight deals at the statehouse, but it just might be your fault.
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How could one not be appalled by the porcine politics that passes for American Democracy these days? Each bill that slithers its way through this Congress soaks us more brazenly than the last.

In an economy where wages barely outpace inflation, the influence industry is booming; the number of creepy-crawlies on K Street has more than doubled in five and a half short years under the Bush Administration.

We all have our favorite exhibit of pernicious looting posing as public policy. Mine is a local phenomenon: the mega-bucks tax-payer financed sports stadium swindle. It's a perennial favorite -- some well-connected billionaire who makes the right contributions at City Hall and the Governor's mansion and is on the right cocktail circuit manages to convince a city full of hard-working Americans that they've got to buy him a new stadium. The pitch is always the same: the sweaty exertions of 'roid-raging pro athletes will bring prestige and prosperity and, most of all, jobs, jobs, jobs! As supporters of San Francisco's 3Com park pitched it: "Build the Stadium -- Create the Jobs!"

It's basically an old-fashioned grift on an enormous scale. Almost a decade ago, economists Roger Noll and Andrew Zimbalist undertook a study sponsored by the Brookings Institution that's considered a public-policy classic. They found that stadiums cost cities tens of million dollars of dollars in subsidies per year. Contrary to supporters' claims, "Sports facilities attract neither tourists nor new industry":

A new sports facility has an extremely small (perhaps even negative) effect on overall economic activity and employment. No recent facility appears to have earned anything approaching a reasonable return on investment. No recent facility has been self-financing in terms of its impact on net tax revenues. Regardless of whether the unit of analysis is a local neighborhood, a city, or an entire metropolitan area, the economic benefits of sports facilities are de minimus.

But despite the debunking of the economic rationale (in subsequent studies as well) we keep falling for it. And our cities' fat cats -- the D.C. power-broker lawyer, the Cleveland shipping magnate, the computer direct-sales gazillionaire -- get fatter and our happy local politicians sit in the owner's box and moon for the cameras; mom and dad complain about the $8 dollar beers and $5 dollar hotdogs and never think twice about the $184 dollar chunk of concrete that they paid for even if they never once go to the park.

There is no ideological stake in objecting to such outrages. Corporate socialism isn't conservatism, it just proves that there's no public participation keeping our "leaders" honest. The only way government builds stadium after stadium for a select circle of rich guys is if they're the ones doing the governing.

It's the same at every level, most visibly in D.C. Last month Molly Ivins wrote that we're "pigging out on pork", and Paul Krugman lamented that what passes for governance these days is little more than "machine politics at work, favors granted in return for favors received."

Ivins and Krugman look at a particularly corrupt administration but fail to see the ungovernable beast behind it, the hot blood of tax dollars coursing through its veins. The problem isn't that you can go to OpenSecrets.org and find out who owns your representative and how much they paid for him or her, it's that there has to be an OpenSecrets.org in the first place.

But while it's easy to gripe, it's harder for us to recognize the fact that the sorry state of affairs in government today is truly a monster of our own creation. I have seen Dr. Frankenstein and he is us.

We've built a country -- the nation founded as a bold experiment in self-governance -- into a glorious monument to apathy, a beacon of democratic neglect so far removed from the ideals we hold dear as to be completely unrecognizable.

It wasn't supposed to be this way. In a 1787 letter to Edward Carrington, a hero of the Revolution and member of the Continental Congress, Thomas Jefferson wrote of the role citizens played in keeping the government's nose to the grindstone: "If once they become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress, and Assemblies, Judges, and Governors, shall all become wolves."

Jefferson and his fellow Framers understood that we'd lose control of our government the further distanced from its workings we became, and the less we believed in our capacity to govern ourselves.


Digg!

Joshua Holland is a fair-trade activist, a freelance writer and a regular contributor to The Gadflyer blog.

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And then?
Posted by: GeoffW on Aug 22, 2005 1:54 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
After I've finished blaming myself, what to do about it? To me it would seem the answer the author proposes is to run for those very same precinct captain, school board member, and dog catcher positions that allowed the religious right to mold the national right to it's image. And I agree, that probably is the most effective (if not immediately visible) method to turn things around. What bothers me is the tone. Why not end with a positive suggestion? Personally, I don't find myself particularly motivated when I get called a fat lazy couch potato. Go ahead and point that out if you must, but please, at least end without insulting the reader. You might attract more people to your point of view that way.

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» RE: And then? Posted by: Samantha Vimes
» RE: And then? Posted by: gypsy55
Case Wagenvoord
Posted by: Wagenvoord on Aug 22, 2005 4:23 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Every forty or fifty years the American public has to grab big business by the throat, slam it against the wall and teach it some manners. Looks like it's that time, again.

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» RE: Case Wagenvoord Posted by: beffie
direct talk
Posted by: xenacat on Aug 22, 2005 5:48 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
We progressives tried to be "positive" and the apathetic whined we were too wimpy and spineless. There are no postives to spout anymore because our situation is dire and needs to be addressed as such. The apathetic need an upleaseant wake up call because current political conditions are horrendous.

Whining that a liberal is not being nice to a couch potato while an extreme right wing regime is installing a theocracy is ridiculus. The couch potato's excuse to continue to do nothing is weak at best and should be confronted in no uncertian terms. It is time for some very blunt talk to those inactive folks who have helped ruin our nation with their lazy passivity.

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» WHY Posted by: lionhead
» RE: WHY Posted by: davewuxi
CC
Posted by: lionhead on Aug 22, 2005 6:58 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Samantha hits the nail on the head, pehaps answering my own "WHY" question earlier. Americans, it seems, are obsessed with conspicuous consumption: Big cars, Big homes, BUY-BUY-BUY. And, in fact, our schoolchildren care more about their iPods, clothes, and other more or less body acoutrements that require spending money than they do about developing critical thinking skills. As adults, critical thinking skills are used in trying to remember the argument the tv ad proposed for why you should buy the product you're about to buy.

Is it that there seems to be no (immediate) gratification for honing critical thinking skills? Well, to be sure, does anyone remember being encouraged to think critically about anything in their first 18 years? Nope.

In fact schoolchildren were and still are punished for thinking outside the box.

As adults, we continue to eschew critical thinking about anything, preferring to hold sway by bluster, ridicule of the opposing viewpoint, or physical action that gets everyone's attention.

Yet, this still doesn't explain why the right holds sway. I can only surmise that it is the money that gets their representatives in positions of power.

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» RE: CC Posted by: Maryanne
» RE: CC Posted by: Scott
We need both collective and personal responsibility
Posted by: maxpayne on Aug 22, 2005 6:59 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Without one or the other, the cheating culture of winner takes all and laziness will continue unabated.

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American Corruption
Posted by: TruthPrevails on Aug 22, 2005 7:49 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I agree with the article...it is the apathetic majority who are responsible.

I invite readers to an article I wrote earlier this year entitled American Corruption at my website of political articles for an examination of the cause and the solution:
AMERICAN CORRUPTION

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» RE: American Corruption Posted by: ScottP
Here's an example of how Democrats have "lost touch"
Posted by: sausage on Aug 22, 2005 8:03 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
And I don't know if it's corruption, laziness, misplaced priorities or a combination of all three. Anyway, in 1998*, the year Tom Vilsack was elected Iowa's governor, the legislature okayed a one cent local option sales tax for public school infrastructure repair and new construction.

O.K. this is longwinded but stick with me.

The very next year, 1999, the Des Moines Independent School District pused this regressive tax scheme on the voting public, as prescribed by the law. I, personally, was opposed, and yet am, however my friends in the South Central District AFL-CIO supported it, the Polk County Democrats supported it and the school board and the teachers' union supported it. They all told me "it's for the kids."

It turned out that it was more for the building trades unions and the Master Builders of Iowa, the contractors' lobby, and the self-aggrandizement of the school superintendent than "for the kids." Moreover, said school superintendent conveniently forgot the pledge he made to the AFL-CIO of not awarding contracts to scab contractors.

At this juncture the Des Moines Independent School District finds itself with a projected $200 million shortfall in tax revenue, in part due to the superintendent's spendthrift habit of starting new projects not in the original budget. Thusfar the Democratically dominated school board has not held the man accountable. Moreover it has rubberstamped his plan to partially get back on budget by closing schools, but not selling any of the property.

Personally I think the guy should be a greeter at Wal-Mart about now because, rightly or wrongly, he is the symbol of a regressive tax policy gone bad. But the only solution than anyone has offered to get the DMISD out of this budgetary mess is to ask the voters to extend the local option sales tax another ten years. And that's a position that's not too popular right now.

Now Des Moines is a Democratic island in a Republican sea, so almost every elective office in the city and the surrounding county is Democratic. But that's changing. I mean, I'm so frustrated with what's happened with the local option sales tax revenue situation that in upcoming school board election I'm seriously thinking of voting for the wacko black conservative in the race!

*I think this bill was passed and signed into law by Republican Terry Branstad before the '98 election.

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Good Analysis, but weak on suggestions...
Posted by: lobdillj on Aug 22, 2005 8:26 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I love Joshua's essays. I think his analysis and background are very accurate. However, in this one I think he's a little weak on how to solve the problem. We need to do more thinking about how this happened and what needs to happen to remedy the situation.

Eternal vigilance was missing; that is why this happened. It was missing because those who are now on top had a common goal that was so visceral that it needed no recruiting efforts to develop a sufficient base of enthusiastic followers willing to pay to build a winning combination. GREED-- it isn't even necessary to mention the word. A conspiracy is not needed to win.

Progressive goals do not have a visceral attraction or simplicity. The principles have to be taught. When public education is dominated by corporate values progressive ideas are absent. Instead we have indoctrination designed to make the poor and middle class willing participants in their own demise.

The trouble is that we are on a fast track to a fascist system. There isn't enough time to rectify our systemic problems, revive public education, and build a strong base of progressive thinkers.

We also need to be aware that even with the gut level attraction of greed it took the right wingers about 30 years to build its propaganda machine to the efficiency it enjoys today. I don't think we have 30 years to turn this ship around.

I don't see a gentlemanly way to change things, do any of you?

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How we have all lost touch
Posted by: kelly.nickell on Aug 22, 2005 8:36 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
If you would like to get an idea about how a couch potato is grown, then take a look at this:

johntaylorgatto.com/chapters/index.htm
This from a man that spent a long time trying to figure it out; a good read.

Then take a look at this one:
tripzine.com/articles.asp?id=corporate_metabolism
Paco says some things that make you go Hmmmm?

Then finally, for a little religious relief, try this:
othersheep.org/index-02.html

After you have spent say, 20-40 hours digesting some of this, lets talk about just how well this potato cultivation is working. Kind of makes me want to be a littler smarter, a little more watchful of the guys that are cutting me up for french fires.

KN

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» RE: How we have all lost touch Posted by: lobdillj
Touche!
Posted by: humansfirst on Aug 22, 2005 9:21 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I quite agree here. "Politics" R us. We can't escape the fact that we must participate as a routine en masse to have any power against the corporate machine. The corporate machine is essentially powerless to prevent itself from world destruction as it can only look to daily, even hourly, profit. It's up, it's down, it is profit and only profit that corporations can respond to UNLESS otherwise FORCED. The corporate power structure is a machine. We're humans and we must remember that especially now when our very existence is at stake. Indeed, we need to pick the machine up and put it where it belongs because it's clearly in the wrong room! And if it can't behave itself at all, then it's on the wrong planet!

I understand the dilemma of non-participation since it was only in recent years that I came out of denial myself. There's a lot to learn, there's a lot to do; but people can start by signing up for email alerts with various organizations of their liking. ACLU, CodePink, Moveon, the number is endless it seems and it can get a person started to daily respond to an alert. Listening to Democracy Now! everyday and checking out the websites of the people on the show can provide good places to hook up to. Then we can move into going on the websites of our representatives and emailing through their email form system our own personal letters regarding our own personal concerns in our own personal words. The representatives will either email or snail mail a point letter on the subject back. We can then use that to respond and express concerns further.

Making a habit, a routine, will get the ball rolling and we can then design more ambitious efforts around that. Reading Howard Zinn's "Declarations of Independence" is a good start, and going to the library's "new non-fiction" section to get a few informative political books every month is an excellent way to get more in-depth understanding of various current events.

If we can eat a can of almonds a week, we can read (or speed-read) a book a week; if we can brush our teeth every morning, we can read some news on the internet or at the newsstand every morning; if we can complain, we can participate.

Initially, it can be very painful because coming out of denial is painful, but eventually it becomes a habit and our muscles of political participation get stronger and we begin to see ourselves as integral parts of the whole.

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» RE: Touche! Posted by: lionhead
Dems have been challenged on corporate greed
Posted by: sanitysojourner on Aug 22, 2005 9:25 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This received very little press back during the 2000 election, but is noteworthy. During the LA Dem convention, Russ Feingold (D-WI) was treated as the "bad boy" of the Dems. Why? Because he was protesting the corporate greed of the dems, critical of the pandering and catering to corporations that was taking place during the convention.

Feingold was relegated to an early morning, non-televised speech time -- and he is a moving and articulate speaker. He and his staff were picketing the convention, eschewing the cocktail & grub parties while the other dem cronies bellied up.

So there is someone out there who cares about campaign finance reform, who was the sole Senate vote against the Patriot Act and who is now demanding (for the 2nd time, I might add) a withdrawal plan from Iraq.

To repeat, there are some politicians with the cohones to stand up for principles and willing to take the consequences. Feingold is one and should receive high mention, if not praise.

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Well, finally someone is calling "like it is".
Posted by: Pepper on Aug 22, 2005 9:29 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I have been around for a very long time. I can remember when much less than this would cause the "greatest generation" to get up off thier duffs and hit the utilities commission meeting in massive numbers, or the city council meeting or the county council meetings to express their OUTRAGE at some pernicious slight to the good citizesn of that town.

No more!!!! We are putting up with more than we have ever put up with. Rebellion would have been the results of such activities that are blatantly going on now. We are becoming slaves and allowing it. We are more dispicable than the tyrannt and I am sorry if those of us who are guilty can't stand to hear the truth.

Ask yourselves "What have I really done that has made any difference?". Writing, petitioning, posting, complaining, but not ACTIVELY ATTACKING those who are harming is, is not the way to be effective. WE need to be in their faces. Look at what Cindy Sheehan is doing and did with no support in the beginning.

Its the OUTRAGE that drove her those many miles to confront the lizard who killed her son. That is what we should be doing but we don't. Face it, own it, and quit patting yourselves on the back for "writing" to your congressman who ignores you since you don't have the kind of money he/she is looking for.

Lets get mad for real. I am glad this author opened up the flood gates on the truth, IT SHALL SET US FREE!!!! Here is something to ponder:

"Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress."

Frederick Douglas

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Edicate Me, please
Posted by: laime22 on Aug 22, 2005 9:38 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I agree wtih this analysis, but although it addresses the problem, it is very short on offering solutions.
Imagine (this will require enourmous talent for imagination) that in 2008, progressives are swept into power in both the executive and congressional arms of the government. Let's also imagine that everyone (including the far right on economic and religious issues, the bigoted and the very rich and elitist) are fully engaged in following the news and watching the government. What, then, would be done to address the myriad problems in our nation, which is trying to survive in an evermore complex world? What would be done to create jobs for a fair wage? How would the enrgy crisis be resolved? How would international terrorism be addressed?
The progressive ideals have always been my ideals, but given the mess in the global economy and politics, I'm waiting for someone to point to practical solutions.
It's really not enough to point out what all is wrong with those in power and the 'couch potatoes' condoning their actions. Progressives need to descend to the realm of practicality: what will work.
So, what are the specific solutions?

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» RE: dicate Me, please Posted by: ConnecttheDots
» RE: dicate Me, please Posted by: Lincoln fan
» RE: dicate Me, please Posted by: ConnecttheDots
National Voting Day
Posted by: sugarmagnolia_fl on Aug 22, 2005 10:21 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Something that I've discussed in my circle of friends would be a national voting day. This would be the day every 2 years when our Congresswomen/men are voted for and also when our president is voted for every 4th year. It would be a national holiday similar to July 4th when everyone would have the day off and have the opportunity/time to vote, and then enjoy the rest of the day with friends and family and an "I'm proud to be American and I voted" feeling. I also believe that our primary elections for president should be held on the same day. Those of us in Florida should be able to vote in the primary on the same day that those in Iowa do. That would eliminate one state deciding the party candidate for the whole country before anyone else has the opportunity to vote in their primary.

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The Discouraged Generation
Posted by: nakis on Aug 22, 2005 11:53 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Discouraged, disaffected, disenfranchised, call it what you will. I grew up (mainly in the seventies) in a time when everyone I knew knew that the government was corrupt. And that we could do nothing about it.
Sorry. I'm not saying we can do nothing. I'm just saying that my generation grew up in a hopeless state of mind. Living daily under the fear of globally assured mutual nuclear destruction. The powers in the federal government had just finished a war on humanity that made the divide between the people in the US much more apperant.

And it seems that the succeeding generations have not faired too much better.

It's true that many people don't know squat about our government. What do you expect from an education system that is severely underfunded and extremely lacking. Making it so far behind every other first world nation. Why? By design.
Apathetic. Why? By design.

The author makes good points. And you can't really fault the author for not making suggestions. The onus is on us.
And it would seem as a previous poster states, that writing, petitioning and every other action except getting in someones face is going to get anything done.
Should it be that way? No. Is this a case of great betrayal by our leaders? Yes.
You can pin some of the blame on the people. Yes it is true. But no one made Delay do the crimes he's done. No one forced Bush to lie to get us to go to war. No one has made Cheney the corporate whore that he is. No one has twisted Rove by torture to be the underhanded knifer he is.

Sure we let the foxes into the henhouse disquised as chickens. But the blood bath that ensues falls on the foxes (chickenfoxes to be more accurate).

There's this big antiwar rally that's going on Sept 24 2005. It's a good place to start.
And as I keep saying. Talk to your friends, neighbors and family. Keep showing them what's really happening. There are the ones whom you'll never convince but there are a lot of the disaffected out here. Help make them aware and as one of the previous poster states, storm the bastions of injustice.
As the protesters of South America can tell you, it doesn't work all the time and people end up dead, but sometimes it works. And in the long run it keeps the wolves circling and not closing in as often.

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» RE: The Discouraged Generation Posted by: Lincoln fan
II
Posted by: nakis on Aug 22, 2005 11:53 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It's hard. It's scary. But what's going on is pretty scary too. These people have taken over. The World Bank, IMF, WTO are preying the peoples of the world right now. How long before our slipping position in America is attacked the same way the rest of the planet is being attacked.

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» RE: II Posted by: Scott
Its The Death Squads
Posted by: pjrsullivan on Aug 22, 2005 1:49 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Recently here in Des Moines a new stadium was built on the basic political premise that it is always a good idea to fleece the mopes. One fellow was opposed to building it and proposed that the issue should be put to the voters on the ballot. He took his fight to court and before the decision arrived, died of pancreatic cancer.

The reason many Americans have a difficult time making our Democracy work is because the murdering rich insist upon their right to employ the use of death Squads against us.

The activist Andy Stevenson made it his lifes work to go about the Nation and explain how the voting machines are a rigged box and a fraudulent count is not a mistake or error, it is the way the machine was designed. Andy just died at 42 of pancreatic cancer.

The murdering rich consider the use of death squads to be the "True law." Of course when you suprise one of them and give them what the Cardinal got, oh how they scream about terrorism. Yet, when they murder a citizen who is engaged in the peaceful pursuit of a lawful objective, they consider that to be an example of "Cost Effectiveness."

The Predators or parasites or the murdering rich, whatever you call them, understand that their games have a certain time frame to operate within and to extend their cannibal activities they must conduct wars, so as to cover their real malign existence. They also understand that their time has ended and they must either throw down the nuclear missiles and come out with their hands up, or we are going to come in and get them.

This is one of the root reasons why there is such a press on to get WWIII underway; they have got no plans of being brought to tribunals to answer for their "Crimes against humanity."

The greatest crime ever committed against humanity is the plan to destroy the human race with nuclear missiles. It is still in effect, and would of been a case of "Mission completed" except for the continuing intervention into our world by the "Higher level Powers."

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» RE: Its The Death Squads Posted by: lionhead
All potatoes need not run...
Posted by: NoLandGrab on Aug 22, 2005 1:57 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This is a terrific article. For all couch potatoes who are not quite up to actually running for an office, it's good to note that many good people with good ideas are running for local offices. They don't have the advertising funds and party machinery to go out and find you, but a quick web search or discussion with your local politically aware friends should help you find them. They need funds and volunteers! There's an election coming up in November!!!

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What to do?
Posted by: Lincoln fan on Aug 22, 2005 2:21 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
My answer is to pick what you think is the worst problem and try to solve it. Then try to convince people that it is a problem and that your solution will work. In my case it is campaign finance reform. Visit my website and give me the benefit of your ideas.
http://www.lincolninitiative.org

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"I'm a Democrat, and I'm Fed Up!"
Posted by: monkeywrench on Aug 22, 2005 3:13 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Mr. Holland exposed the problem with Democrats when he mentioned that the fundamentalist Christian right pushed their agenda in the Republican Party by toeing the line they had drawn in the sand of American culture: Democrats don't know how to draw a line in the sand, they don't know what sand to draw it in, they don't know what to draw it with, they don't know where to draw it, and they couldn't decide who should do the actual drawing if they DID make a decision. And, of course, if they did finally draw that line and (God forbid!!) actually TOE it, they'd just let the Repuglicans kick the sand in their faces, anyway.

I've been a Democrat for 35 years, and I feel like I'm on my own. I might as well be a registered independent. Actually, though, if we all wait long enough, neither party will have any meaning, as our democracy succumbs to what seems at this point to be inevitable: a Theocratic Corporatocracy (Unified Sales of America –– praise God and pass the profits!)

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Now more than ever, we need a viable new/third party
Posted by: drSooz on Aug 22, 2005 10:06 PM   
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I have no faith in either party anymore. The last time I voted for the better candidate, instead of for the lesser of two evils, was when I voted for the peanut farmer from Candorville. He may not have been an earthshaking pres, but he was honest, and didn't blatantly and disdainfully shit all over the little guy. Not to mention, he's used his ex-presidentialness to do great good for humanity.

We can no longer depend on either party to look out for the interests of John and Jane Q. Public. We need a new party for the ordinary working folks; the last remnant of the fast-disappearing middle class. I'd be glad to run for pres myself as an Honest Working Stiff... except for the assassination factor. I'd love to throw an inauguration party with the proceeds going to the workers bilked out of their retirement by crooked CEOs. I'd get a kick out of telling Congress, "No, you can't go out for recess til you get your work done!" I'd love to run a campaign kissing babies, not kissing asses. I'd enjoy making Congressional pay raises based on merit, not muscle. ...but then, I'm an idealistic dreamer who can only do one good deed at a time.

sign me, the optimistic pessimist and a reality-based cynic who holds on tightly to hope because it's all I've got left.

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tribalbeat
Posted by: tribalbeat on Aug 22, 2005 10:29 PM   
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We have the power. We can simply stop buying the crap. It doesn't matter where we get our money/resources from, what is important is how & where we spend them. Wherever we put our energy and resources, growth happens. Unfortunately, many of us make the mistake of thinking ANTI. It actually drains our resources worse than being a couch-potato-consumer. There is only one way to create what you desire...you must grow it WHERE YOU ARE. Consistently and relentlessly. You must desire it above all other options. Otherwise, might as well hang out on the couch. There is nothing "wrong" with that. Yeah, really. It is a predjudice to condemn those who do so. It divides us and that is never good. In this life you are not required to do anything. You choose to do what you want. Sometimes bad things happen. We spend a lot of time AVOIDING bad things but it only makes us weaker. Adventure and open-mindedness free the spirit. NOT being negative and condemning lets the spirit be free to love...to move toward beauty. Fear of death and loss must not drive your soul. Those who wait and stay true are often ready when called (Mandela, Ghandi, etc). Waiting on the couch is OK. Just don't believe THEY have the power or that you must conform. If each of us just loved one another - without having to AGREE - then progress can happen. I don't mean this in a silly way. To have love in your own heart gives you a power greater than money or rank. Imagine yourself filled with love for another...and another loving you. Now that is a beautiful feeling - it will inspire and expand, spreading hope and dispelling fear. Our natural world does not guarantee freedom from pain or the "right" to anything. We are just BE-INGS. In the sixties, we let go and trusted our future could be manifested. There are no guarantees, only moments of opportunity. It's the millions of little choices that create the fabric of our lives. To enjoy all challenges gives us the energy to persist. We spread the seeds of our dreams through love and support, cancelling out the fears. We will all die, but it is how we live and love that becomes us. Look at all your wealth and see all the possibilities. No winners or losers. Look away from the negative and keep your eyes on the prize. Oh yeah !

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Here's a chance to do something....
Posted by: shadow7 on Aug 23, 2005 11:27 AM   
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Read this editorial about the Cowards in Congress...whom WE voted it. Download it and send it to your favorite Coward...if the show fits. Or, sit back and let the country deteriorate further....

It starts out:
What shameful toads you are! Yes you, our elected lawmakers. Yes you, the folks we sent to Washington in our names. Yes you, the most spineless, cowardly and craven Congress people in history. Yes you, the most bullied, gutless and shameful herd of legislators ever elected. And you know exactly who you are.

For the full article:
CLICK HERE

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