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

[merrylander]

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

[OvenMaster]

Originally Posted by merrylander

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.

[cabinover]

Originally Posted by OvenMaster

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..

[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

[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.

[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.