Get beyond rhetoric, take back government

I can’t wait for the intolerant lefties to get on here and start raging against this article and about tea parties, etc etc etc…. All the while, not realizing how incredibly idiotic, irrational, hateful, and intolerant they are being.

Isn’t blindness great.

Kyle – Not sure I understand what your comment is about or how it is related to this article.

Eric – You have made some great points here. Perhaps you are unaware of the National Initiative. It is, in fact, exactly what you propose. Please check it out. www.vote.org.

Hopefully your ideas will not be chuckled at. There was a candidate who ran for the presidency in 2008 that ran on exactly the same idea that you are suggesting in this article. He was a longtime Senator from Alaska who pushed the construction of Alaska Pipeline through Congress, ended the Military Draft, and also informed the American people that their government was lying to them as he leaked the Pentagon Papers. His name is Mike Gravel. The media “blackballed” him from debates because he spoke the truth and against the military industrial complex and the corporate takeover of our nation. But, the best thing about Mike was that you didn’t need to agree with him on his solutions to the many problems facing our country. What he was hoping for is a “new” american society, where americans could vote for the changes they deemed necessary, even if it meant not agreeing with their elected leaders. I met Mike on a couple of occations and he made it clear to me that direct democracy IS the solution to our nation’s problems. Look at Switzerland. They have a direct democracy sicne the mid-1800’s and the Swiss live happy lives – their politicians have NEVER pulled them into unjust wars or done anything besides what was in the best interest of the people because if they did, the people would overrule them as they have the opportunity to override their elected leaders by a majority vote from the people.

What we need to do is call a new Constitutional Convention, form a true parlementarian style government with real politics, and chuck this old system that doesn’t work well. After all, that’s what the Republicans do when they go out “nation building” abroad!

Sure, Nah, let’s hold a “ConCon”.

But, before we do, let’s remember that EVERYTHING is on the table at a ConCon. You don’t get to hold your First, Second, Fourth or Fifth Amendment rights. All that gone and what replaces it will be negotiated by America’s pathetic “entitlement” generation.

We’ll get “rights” to education, housing, health care and anything else the populace can fleece from the pockets of its citizenry.

Great idea.

I am TOTALLY queer-horny for you right now!!!!

Remember, people only make fun of us because they are jealous that we are smarter and better looking.

I agree that the two-party system is doing more harm than good, but for different reasons than the ones you cite here. Don’t get me wrong — you’re still certifiably insane for believing that the Democrats are pushing for socialism. That claim calls to mind the despicable images of President Obama defaced with a Hitler mustache.

Rather, I believe the two major parties are far too beholden to private interest groups. The breadth and scope of corruption is immense at the federal level, and Democrats and Republicans are equally guilty for allowing it to flourish.

President Obama, a man I voted for and whom I respect on many levels, received nearly $1 million in campaign contributions from Goldman Sachs during the 2008 election cycle. That bank — a primary example of all that is wrong with our financial system — donated the second largest amount of money of any entity to the Obama campaign. That should tell you something, Eric. Do you think Goldman Sachs is in favor of socialism? Doubtful. More likely they were trying to buy off Obama to protect the status quo.

Time will tell if real financial reform is feasible in our culture of political greed and corruption. For the first time in my life, I’ll be considering third-party candidates during the mid-term elections.

I admire your idealism, Eric (if you don’t have it at 22, you never will). But I’m afraid the two parties have a stranglehold on our system. We’re about to witness the latest chapter in that sad saga.

The Tea Partiers hold the promise of coalescing into a viable third party, but come November one of two things is going to happen: The Tea Partiers will join forces with the Republicans, helping the GOP by giving them conservative votes; or they will run as a independents, helping the Democrats by siphoning off the conservative vote. Either way, they lose — either their independence or their morale, and start the slow slog to irrelevance, as all third parties do in this country.

Sorry …

To SigP226: Like they couldn’t write the Bill of Rights into the next document — directly this time. The entire document would still have to be radified, you Smuck!

Nah,
The word is “schmuck”.

Pay attention to what I wrote.

Again, this current generation of entitlement-minded feebs couldn’t comprehend the concept of rights left to us by a much more enlightened generation. Look for the words “iPad” and “weed” and “beer” in the next Constitution.

With a constitutional convention we could also write very succinctly that companies are in fact NOT people and get rid of that disastrous Citizens United ruling.

Good article, its the truth, no doubt about it.

Guys, lets not argue, we have one cause, lets stay on that! I appreciate you more than you know.

Ed, you may be right, but what the T Party can do is take ‘hold’ of the Republican party. Instead of the Republicans getting ahold of the T Party.

Looks like Europe is a step ahead of us, once again.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1978069,00.html?xid=rss-topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed: time/topstories (TIME: Top Stories)&utm_content=Google Feedfetcher

For sure check out National Initiative for Democracy http://ni4d.us This brings in the citizens as the 4th check in our system of checks and balances… The People feel the pain of wasteful governement spending ex. $2trillion on oil wars when a minor fraction invested in green energy would solve the oil wars and global warming…but the corporations in power that control the pres. and congress profit from war…The People would correct that… The Representatives don’t suffer the consequences of their policy…The People do. Read Senator Mike Gravel’s book Citizen Power…or check him out on Youtube.

Seriously, this guy gets riled up anytime anyone even remotely suggests that poor and/or brown people aren’t subhuman trash. Guess what, there are working poor who try to make it but don’t get healthcare despite how much they tug on bootstraps. Gee, shouldn’t we help these type of people. Or what about the fact that most people in poverty are children who can’t work? Naw, fuck them, they could escape the ghetto if they just tried harder hurf durf glorble. It doesn’t work like that. Stop wanking it to Reagan and try having concern for your fellow human beings. Read up on some Delpit, Anyon, and Macleod (they are academic writers, not idiots like Ann Coulter so they probably won’t interest you). I know the social sciences present pure data in a boring form and not in exciting circles complete with a screaming buffoon like Glenn Beck, but you really should try using this university for learning instead of dude bro dude fuck poor people pass me the beer bong frats yeah!

“We the people…” This profound statement gave the right of people of This country to govern them selves. This has been translated into “party’s”, “groups” and “Ideologies” with the citizens of this country scapegoating responsibility to vacuous symbols.

It is not time to create new parties, new ideologies and new ruling classes. It is time for the “American Dream” to be, what is always should have been, “We the People…”

http://vote.org/

http://ni4d.us/

http://philadelphiaii.us/index.htm

“Each One, Teach One”

Just a tip, you lose a lot of credence when you start off your article with an accusation that dems. are leading the country towards socialism. You might want to start out with something a little less crazypants.

And, point of interest, you do realize exactly how socialized America was before Obama the Anti-Christ stepped into office, right? Roads, police, emergency fire systems, public education… Any of that ring a bell?

You’re actually bringing up the failure that is the American public education system?

And roads, police and fire have never been considered “socialist” because they’re “public goods”. Look it up.

Mr. Thieleman makes some good points, especially when talking about how politicians from both parties only have interests in accumulating their own personal power.

The soundness of his argument dissipates, however, when he starts talking about a true democracy being the solution. You can’t get a majority of the electorate to study the issues associated with electing a particular candidate. How do you expect them to vote intelligently on individual matters? Besides what will we be voting on? Two thousand page pieces of legislation (like healthcare)?

Further, the politicians have done a masterful job of creating a dependency class who often become reliable voters to the party who offers the most “gifts”. We want these folks casting direct ballots in issue elections?

I have a few, among others, of less drastic solutions: 1) figure out a way to implement true term limits (get rid of politicians who get reelected because their extensive seniority gives them preference in “bringing home the bacon”); 2) require any politician running for higher office to resign from the office in which they currently serve; 3) require politicians to be truly subject to any law they pass; and 4)make any politician’s pension contingent on the deficit being lower than when they were first elected.

I agree with Mr. Thieleman’s general assessment of the symptoms of the problem. It is high time our politicians answer for doing what is right as opposed to doing what they think will get themselves [re]elected.

Wait a minute, SigP226… So why is health care NOT a public good? Or social security? Or parks?

And you mention the “failure of public education” while reading a paper that is produced by a STATE COLLEGE!!! Are you for real?

DebbieKat,
You have to look up and understand the definition of a “public good”. By their nature, public goods cannot be consumed.

With health care, you have direct, specific outlays on behalf of individuals. Those resources are most definitely consumed by one person, limiting the availability for another.

Same thing for social security and medicaid. They’re socialist constructs that are consumed by individuals. They’re also complete, bankrupt failures.

DebbieKat,

Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution allows for road building, not social security or health care. If you want these goodies at the federal level amend the Constitution.

As for your “direct democracy” would you throw out the Constitution? If yes, would you respect the law of “the people” if 51 percent wanted to bring back slavery? Just sayin.

Re: Sigpi should move to freep

SigP226 never characterized brown or poor people as “subhuman trash”, and people cannot legally be denied health care in America.

The rest of your comment is too incoherent for analysis.