Okay, I know it is new comics day. But before I retreat into the comic world a quick rant on politics and some of the reasons why I hate the system we now have in place. As a side note I was greatly bummed out that the fine comic book store I deal with (http://www.cosmiccomix.com/index.htm) was not sent their copies of Wasteland today. This seems apropos as what I'm ranting about is a wasteland.
My home state had their primary and in Maryland if you aren't registered Democrat you might as well not vote in the primary and until recently the primary was the de facto election. I'm not a Democrat and have been registered as a Republican and a Democrat at different times in different states. In my mind their is almost no difference between either party. Both continue to inure power to themselves. The campaign Finance Reform bill of a few years ago actually makes it tougher for an independent party to grow. The Republicrats all suck. It seems very, very few really care about public service, it is about power and money.
Special interest and corporate America own most of the government. In ways both small and large they control the money, which controls who gets recognition and ultimately controls who gets elected. The occasional outsider who makes it in is either shut out by the people controlling the governmental bodies or plays their game and becomes an insider.
How can we continue to throw money at problems (education the number one thing) and assume this will fix the problem. Building a building out of gold cost more and has less utility then a building made out of bricks and mortar.
So many people seem to agree that we have problems, yet they elect the incumbents time and time again. Are we daft or is the whole system rigged. How much of a difference would Kerry have made over Bush? Both are of the same cloth. Yet, we are ready to anoint royal families. In 2008 will it be Clinton (Hillary) v Bush (Jeb)? Is that even a choice?
Last election I voted libertarian, this election I want to vote for none of the above and if that wins we have a new election in 90 days with a new slate of candidates.
My tactic at this point is to vote against all incumbents in the Federal and State government levels for legislatures. I figure at least try someone new.
Our system is badly in need of leaders and people who want to be servants of the people, instead we now have a ruling elite, who believe they know best what is good for the people. Call me a cynic, but then prove that I'm not a realist.
The last time I went to the DMV, I registered as a libertarian. Though not 100% in agreement with the party's various beliefs, they are certainly closer to what I would like to see than either the democrats or republicans can provide.
ReplyDeleteWe need more people with the integrity and courage of Grover Cleveland. Sadly, it's quite unlikely that we'll ever see another politician with his qualities elected to be president.
If I'm forced I have to say I'm closer to a libertarian then anything else. My core beliefs are less government, more social liberties and fiscal conservatism.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I can start my own political party.
Now I'll have to read up on Grover Cleveland.
Grover Cleveland? Other than being the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms, I couldn't tell you the first thing about the guy. Most people citing integrity in a president look to Harry Truman. At least he was president within the lifetime of some people still alive.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I heartily disagree about Democrats and Republicans being alike. If anything, they're more divided than ever. Democrats support abortion rights, civil rights, international alliances and generally trying to help the little guy make it in the world. The GOP, on the other hand, is all about protecting the wealth of those who already have it, restricting civil rights and abortion rights, and damn the rest of the world, we're doing whatever we want.
Just on the international scene, there would be vast differences in where we are today if Kerry had been elected. For one, our European allies would have looked to us to cooperate with them and been more willing to assist in ending the Iraq quagmire as best possible. We also wouldn't have John Roberts or Scalia lite appointed to the Supreme Court. Just watch how that ends up with you in prison for speaking your mind. Or would you like more eavesdropping on your private conversations?
If you really want to make a change and have libertarian outlook, the Democrats are the most realistic chance for that change. The GOP has certainly shown it no longer has any interest in fiscal restraint and, paradoxically, the Democrats have taken up that call. It's the Democrats who want less government interference in people's private lives, too. The only area where the GOP now supports less government interference is in corporations running roughshod over their employees and investors.
Oh, and I don't think we'll see a Clinton v Bush run in '08, though Mo Rocca did a funny bit on that a little while back. I think Hilary has to wait until at least '12 because she hasn't sufficiently established herself as a centrist in the Democratic party to have the nationwide appeal for a general election.
Also, you're not a cynic. You're an idealist. Read some of your other posts about doing the right thing in adverse situations. It's why you're angry about politics. Politics are never a good thing for idealists. Far too much compromise involved.
I disagree that the Democrats are any better. The Democrats have a history of raising taxes to the nth degree and push for the nanny state to grow ever bigger. The republicans used to say they represented smaller government, but now seem to want to spend as much as the democrats, wihtout paying for it.
ReplyDeletePlus regardless of the surface differences all I have seen during the Bush-Clinton-Bush era is a selling out of the American government to corporate interest. There is no sense of service to the people in these people. I just think that some Democrats are better at selling that they care and the neo-cons especially come across as arrogant almost dictator type rulers.
1984 is slowly coming to America and parts of it are already here.
Thomm, you're either very young or very naive. The dems and repubs are almost exactly the same. Both are for abortion rights, the repubs just want limits on late term abortions. You can't take the views of some hard right nuts who want to abolish abortion all out as the view of the party as a whole. The dems are not about civil rights at all. They pretend to stand for the little guy so that the minority vote will swing their way come election day. There are just as many rich fat cats, beholden to big business, on the left as there are on the right. And both parties are for alliances with other countries. Just cuz we didn't wait for permission to go into Iraq doesn't mean that we don't work well with others.
ReplyDeleteIt's always been the same---dems want you to give them all your money so they can spend it wiser than you ever could on social programs that even out the wealth divide, a la Robin Hood. The repubs are more in favor of a hands off gov't, but that means they let big business run roughshod all over everyone and the rich get richer.
The true pity is that both sides are so corrupt now it's laughable. Both sides only bicker with each other as our country sinks deeper into a hole it's gonna be tough to get out of. They are more concerned with making the other side look bad than they are doing what's best for the country and it's citizens. We have a bunch of millionaires running for office and you really have to ask yourself why someone making millions a year would give that up for a job paying only a couple hundred thou. It ain't altruism. Both parties are broken. They either need to be fixed or by some miracle have a third party emerge. Right now us Joe Six-Packs are just pawns getting pushed around by the gov't. How long are we gonna let emminent domain remain the law of the land? Both sides hate this ruling, but do you see any of them doing a thing about it? No, not in an election year. The only time candidates show any passion for anything is right before November, then it's back to politics as usual post election. Something's gotta change.
I was also largely unfamiliar with Grover Cleveland until reading one of his biographies:
ReplyDeleteAn Honest President: the Life and Presidencies of Grover Cleveland
It's an excellent biography, and shows that Cleveland was a rare man in politics. Honest, very fiscally responsible, someone that believed being president meant serving the American people...
I highly recommend picking this book up (I got it through my local library, but at some point I should pick up my own copy).
Airelle - Looked it up and it sounds like a terrifc read, now I have something else to add to my reading list. Just what I read on the book makes me wish we had people like him running the country again. Thanks!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteGlad to be able to pass on the info. =) I think Grover Cleveland deserves better than to be just one name among many!
ReplyDelete