If you could re-invent the political system...

[simi]

... what would you do different?

I'd first off make NO position a career... 60 year senators... That's only in one person's interest...

I'd spend more time chasing scammers than hookers... for obvious reasons...

I'd do away with parties... or at least make rules that made the playing field fair so that smaller parties could build and compete, instead of get swept to the side.

I'd rethink this whole Police The World attitude... We need to take care of more of our own...

....Your ideas? What's wrong with mine?

[soundhound]

I'd spend more time chasing scammers than hookers...

but hookers are much easier to catch!

:D

[simi]

Sometimes it's the thrill of the hunt... Anyone can shoot fish in a barrrel...

We like to make the people of this country think we can catch Osama, yet we can't catch some dick war dialing trying to sell extended car warranties..

Eschelon seems to be paying off... :no:

[hillbilly]

You been gettin' those damn calls to Simi? Every day they call my cell and house phone as well, and the other day I cussed the hell outta him. He called me right back and called me a homo for being rude, then hung up. Damn shame his number don't show up on the ID .... rotten assed pest, bet if he met me at his doorstep he'd be glad to lose my number :mad:

[simi]

I carry two phones.. work and home (cell)

Two days ago, I got 4 calls on my work phone, from car warranty, to credit card services, to new siding... and then 3 on my personal phone..

I've only had the work phone for a month now... EEERRRrrrrr...

SUPPOSEDLY, Sept 1st they will be passing a law that you can't call with recordings... but like that will help since they call the numbers on the do not call list...

FRUSTRATING!

[Reel 2 Reel]

The Indians had it rite to begin with...

WHERE DID THE WHITE MAN GO WRONG?


Indian Chief,'Two Eagles,' was asked by a white government official, You have observed the white man for 90 years. You've seen his wars and his technological advances. You've seen his progress, and the damage he's done. The Chief nodded in agreement.The official continued, 'Considering all these events, in your opinion, where did the white man go wrong?'

The Chief stared at the government official for over a minute and then calmly replied. 'When white man find land, Indians running it. No taxes, No debt,Plenty buffalo, Plenty beaver, Clean Water; Women did all the work, Medicine Man free. Indian man spend all day hunting and fishing; All night having sex.

Then the chief leaned back and smiled. "Only white man dumb enough to think he can improve system like that."

[Sandy G]

Boy, ain't THAT th' truth, Gary !!

[merrylander]

I found that with the car warranties and the one that promises to lower your interest rates you need to punch 2 to cancel them forever

[merrylander]

All jokes aside the Iriquois Nation had a darn good system.

I would stick by the Constitution and outlaw lobbying.

[OvenMaster]

When I become king, I'd make darn sure that there were more than two political parties to avoid the lurch to the other side when said side trounces the other after an election. I'm pretty much a centrist, and it forces me to be independent and to quite often hold my nose when I cast a ballot for the lesser of two evils. Fringe parties just don't do it for me.

I've lived through and seen plenty of examples of alliances and government coalitions of multiple parties working together for better results. They have to, or a coalition will fall apart and a new election is called.

On the other hand, look at Italy. They have a fresh election, what, every couple of months because they have so many parties? A happy medium would be perfect. Maybe four to six parties.

[merrylander]

Canada has, or had, four parties and according to the paper they seem to be doing quite well.

[Charles]

Perhaps I'm living in the past, but I'd go back to following the Constitution as the law of the land.

If you don't like it, there are means of changing it. And I'm not referring to jackoff judges who believe it's a living document.

Chas

[OvenMaster]

Canada has, or had, four parties and according to the paper they seem to be doing quite well.
Canada was precisely who I had in mind when I thought of multiple parties. Having two or more parties allied to constitute a majority in a lower house forces them to work together for the common good.

Of course, another alternative? A complete BAN on political parties. All members of Congress would be independent, and would simply represent the wishes of the majority of their district's constituents. Instead of a Representative of the House representing Big Government to the people, the tables would be turned, and the Representative would be the voice of the voters in Congress.

Well, I can dream.

[merrylander]

There have been studies done (I believe by the Brookings Institute) concerning one of my pet peeves. This is the strange practice here of having the incoming president appoint something like 2500 or more people. Then the Senate has to 'advise and consent'. In Canada's parlaimentary system all the people below cabinet level are career civil servants, possibly why their system works.

Here we get people who quite possibly get appointed with absolutely no qualifications for the position. For the regular civil servants they see their managers chage direction every four or eight years. Under such circumstances what is surprising is not that government can be inefficient, but that it even works at all.

[JJIII]

I think Charles and Merrylander are on to something. The founders saw serving as a necessary duty. Now politicians see service as a way to gain power and therefore money. I would be against enforced term limits, but I wish more people would think more about how they vote.

[merrylander]

An American was visiting SCotland and dropped into one of the locals for an ale. Discussion got around to politics and the young American says;

"My Grandad was a (insert party here), and my Daddy was a (....) and I will always be a (....)."

Voice from the back of the pub.

"Whist laddie, hae ye nae ambeetion."

And that is likely why some people vote the way they do.

[merrylander]

Fresh in from my cousin in the UK, names changed to suit our situation.

Man dies and goes to heaven. He notices a wall full of clocks behind S.t Peter.

Man; What are all those clocks?

St. P: Those are the lie clocks.

Man: Lie clocks?

St. P: Yes, everyone has one and they move everytime the person lies.

Man: That one does not seem to have ever moved.

St.P: That is Mother Theresa's clock, she never told a lie.

Man: That one seems to have moved twice.

St.P: That is Abraham Lincoln's he only ever told two lies.

Man: Where is (John Boehner's, Nancy Pelosi's, Mitch McConnell's, Harry Ried's) Clock? (Pick one)




St.P: Jesus has it in his office, he is using it as a ceiling fan.:D

[Sandy G]

Aww, chit, Rob ! (grin)

[merrylander]

The way cousin MaryRose had it, she wrote Gordon Brown's clock, seems pretty universal these days.

However I think a little levity is in order now and then.

[Ozmoid]

The founders saw serving as a necessary duty. Now politicians see service as a way to gain power and therefore money.

+1. Politicians (yes, I'm painting with a broad brush here) no longer serve their constituents, only themselves.

[cabinover]

Of course, another alternative? A complete BAN on political parties. All members of Congress would be independent, and would simply represent the wishes of the majority of their district's constituents. Instead of a Representative of the House representing Big Government to the people, the tables would be turned, and the Representative would be the voice of the voters in Congress.

Well, I can dream.


The problem I see with that, and I think our current system is broken as well, is disseminating information to the masses.

Winston Churchill wisely said, "The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter."

I know personally that I don't have time to watch, nor the capacity to absorb and understand, everything that politicians do. I can't even keep up with my local dirtbags and their shennanigans on a semi-weekly basis.

My life, like many others today, is busy trying to stay on top of bills with the hopes of someday being able to relax. Just surviving now takes two people working full time as you know. Who even has time to read the newspaper anymore?

What I'm saying is there is no informed public anymore. Want proof? Hit Youtube and find Howard Stearn's guy questioning folks in Harlem about the upcoming election. People were fine with Obama's VP, SARAH PALIN! Duhh..

[merrylander]

Jefferson spoke well about the need for a free press and it would be nice to have but I am not holding my breath. Today's networks, or rather their owners, all seem to have a political bias.

Watching the news you get to know more of what some hollywood starlet has been up to or some other meaningless trivia. It has been said that democracy requires a well informed electorate, but if they allow all media to fall into the hands of the Rupert Murdochs of this world that is not going to happen.

[noonereal]

We no longer have news. We have right and left wing propaganda that purposely withholds info to slant stories. Our politicians as we know do this as well. I believe this is a serious situation as we are left to make decisions more on our preconceived beliefs than on facts.

I'd like to see some kind of law enacted that made it illegal for a politician to lie during a campaign. Millions of votes are swayed on outright lies.

[Charles]

Merrylander and Noonereal are correct, the press, and especially the teevee news, is nothing but propaganda, IMHO. Unfortunately, it has been like this for a long time.

Were he alive today, there is no doubt in my mind that Joesph Gobbels would have considered the teevee as the greatest device since the oven. I tend to suspect that although Herr Gobbels is no longer with us, they're plenty of Gobbels wannabees running loose.

I've come to the point that I'm really disgusted with the television. The news is nothing but maniptulation, and the rest isn't much better. I used to enjoy the History Channel. Then it became the Revising History Channel. Now it's the Speculating on History Channel. May as well just call it the Bullshit Channel.

I don't give a rats ass about a bunch of loggers seeing just how fast they can cut down trees without killing themselves. Or a bunch of guys driving trucks across a frozen lake. I don't want to hear that our founding fathers should have been on Prozac. And I sure as hell don't care what happens to the earth once all of the people are dead. As a self centered person, does it really matter what happens once we're all dead? I figure everything will be just fine, and the critters that survive won't have to keep an eye on us.

Can't stand reality shows (reality????), the new movies by and large stink (gotta have a PC message), and they keep showing the same old movies over and over again.

But my wife insists that we have a stooge box, with all of the channels, even though she never watches it.

The powers that be are working hard at keeping the general population as dumb as a stump. And I'll give them credit, they're doing a fine job.

Chas

[Sandy G]

Effin' A, Charles ! The Hysterical Channel lost me more or less when they quit having stuff on planes on it...Or cars. Why can't we have something on the automobile ? Also, I get pretty fed up w/the inane, whooshy, "Matrix" style graphics a lot of the shows seem to have nowadays..Oh, yeah, I lusted mightily for a modern version of both "Twilight Zone" & "Outer Limits"...Imagine my dismay when they finally granted my wish, that they BOTH were by & large PC-crapola. A kindly, caring woman who's wise & wonderful & In Touch W/Her Feelings is the leader of a bunch of survivors of a crashed spaceship...Aww, Bullshyte ! That's NOT what either one of them shows were about...They were about 1st rate storytelling, first & foremost, & having the CRAP scared outta you by some blood-blanching, fulgurating monster, second. If I wanna get preached at by a bunch of kindly, caring women who are wise & wonderful & in touch w/their feelings, I'll watch Oprah...Can the PC-bullshyte, 'n' bring on the "Bears" !! (As Joe Stefano called 'em)

[noonereal]

I don't give a rats ass about a bunch of loggers seeing just how fast they can cut down trees without killing themselves. Or a bunch of guys driving trucks across a frozen lake. I don't want to hear that our founding fathers should have been on Prozac. And I sure as hell don't care what happens to the earth once all of the people are dead. As a self centered person, does it really matter what happens once we're all dead? I figure everything will be just fine, and the critters that survive won't have to keep an eye on us.



Chas


I agree x100. There are a few channels that have serious material like the Science channel. In my area they are only available with the top tier service.
So I get about 50 movie channels to get a handful (about 4) serious channels.

[Ozmoid]

...they are only available with the top tier service..

Because they are way down the list for "most watched", they cost the company more to carry... so even fewer folks get exposed.

[Sandy G]

Don't EVEN get me started on cable companies...We have Charter here, in my "basic" service, I'm forced to have 3 shopping channels, & 5 or 6 "Religious" channels, which are little more than some fat crook rolling his eyes, screaming "GEEEEEE-ZUS !!" every once in awhile, & then shilling for "contributions" for 25 minutes..When I REALLY get to be the Benevolent Despot, TV evangelists are the 1st bunch I'm gonna "Terminate With Extreme Prejudice"....(grin)

[Ozmoid]

Sandy, in general the channel line-up for your "basic" service are simply the cheapest ones for the cable company to carry. :o

[merrylander]

Verizon is getting ready to run their FIOS down our street so they had Miss Utility running around painting the grass. What she did not do is mark out the Comcast cable runs nor the 4800 volt lines that run under the ditch out front.

The Comcast chap who was here replacing a box told me they are digging up their cable all over the place. I asked how deep do they go and he said about 4 feet, gonna be some nice fireworks when they hit that 4800 volt line.

They called about a week ago and asked me if I was interested in FIOS, told the youngster that I would be more interested if they could make my phone work properly. We get noise on the line, called April 4 to complain, got a April 21 appointment for them to look into it. One month later we are still waiting for the repairman.