Save America

Well, it is a democratic-republic in the works with the very wealthy being the ruling/donor class with nearly all the power. WE will obviously always struggle to get what we as a people need much less want. When is the last time you really felt that if you did something to get your needs heard that those needs would be met? How's about we stand up and hold our politicians' collective feet to the fire? Do not let up until they start listening to what we need and represent us.

With the way things are in Washington these days it is scary. How many times do people need to pull their hands away from the stove until they realize their getting burned? Just think about the things that this country's people have to ask for, yet never get because we're told it isn't workable? Health care? Affordable housing? Better schools? Protecting our workforce and providing jobs...how about making it so that jobs stay in this country. NO one anywhere should have to compete with each other until wages are driven down to the lowest amount possible. Workers should never have to surrender pay and/or their benefits especially when the money that is saved is then given to the higher ups. That's how things are. Think about that. The people are constantly asking just for the basic things to live and are told that either the government is at fault or told that the government wishes that it could, but can't help. Well who can help? It certainly isn't the people looking to take advantage of everyone and everything to increase their bottom line.


The government should always be scared of the people and not the other way around. The government should always be of service to the people. You are right though goinfor11x7 there are good people out there representing us, and I could name a few,( however around this time I wouldn't name anyone on this forum just as a precaution), but the system right now is as broken as it has ever been and it is somewhat the people's fault. We need to take better care of our government's institutions. It starts by becoming as informed as can be and standing up, speaking up and out for the things you hold dear. If you don't do anything then the chances of change occurring is zero just like the chances of your vote counting is zero if it is never cast. Whether it is counted if you do vote is another problem. This country as others have always had problems with the voting process. It only hurts to pretend like everything is just as fine as it was in such and such time. What the hell kind of attitude that is I'll never understand. You wouldn't do that if your car was messed up. You'd do something about it I would think or would eventually have to fix or replace it otherwise your ass is walking or taking the bus/train. I think we've been seeing the alternative to not doing anything about "it" when it comes to voting. Our asses have been walking for a WHILE.
 
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I agree with you wholeheartedly. The problem is people don't act unless they're in deep shit!! I'm hoping that the shit is deep enough this time for people to start caring. And not bury their heads in fear.

I marched on Washington, D.C. in the 60's--three times--for Civil Rights--to end the war in Vietnam. I watched untrained National Guardsmen shoot down innocent students at Kent State, Ohio.

I also watched how the returning Vietnam Vets were treated--like lepers. I pray that never happens again. It's going to take 800 billion dollars to care for the vets from Vietnam, the Gulf War, and Iraq. And they're closing the Veterans Hospitals. For shame!!! I'm ashamed of my country and what these people have done to it. They've used these young men and women--the best we have to offer. They've used them. Along with religious groups--the whole 9 yards.

It's hard not to become cynical!! Look at the Senate race in Tennessee!! I want to vomit when I turn on the T.V. and watch these gutter commercials. They've sunk to a new low. I truly believe that these international corporations want to alienate as many voters as they can, through whatever means at their disposal, so that they can continue to put their puppets in power.

We are condemned to repeat history if we don't learn its lessons. And I'm sure Bush never took history at Yale, or if he did, he probably had someone sit in on the exam for him. He talks a good talk. But he never walked the walk.
 
Gosh, what I wouldn't give to have been there marching in D.C. in the sixties. I'm no stranger to the movement, but it's interesting how much passivity there is when it comes to actually standing up for our rights and excerising them even when it comes down to when such rights are threatened or erased.

I want my family members out of Iraq NOW! I wrote letters before the Iraq invasion to my representatives in my state. Nearly everything I cautioned about has come to life particularly the long drawn out war, the cost, and that the people weren't being told everything they should know. I don't trust my government to begin with, but when I knew they were blatanly playing politics with these men and women's lives I knew I couldn't stand down. I need to say something about it until my voice is heard and my thoughts are received. How others who share my sentiments can sit idly by I cannot understand.

I know one of my family members is even going back again because he now has a family to think of, but couldn't find steady work and plus he still has friends there. He's been to Afghanistan when they first went in there and Iraq three times all ready. Who knows where he'll end up by the time his service is up again.

I would think we would honor our servicemen and servicewomen with a fuck load more when it comes to education/career opportunities and healthcare at least. I think it just reflects what Presidents mean when they say that they have a military at their disposal. As privatized as this war has become from the "Reconstruction" to the interrogations, and the security we're basically telling them all that their interests/lives are second fiddle even in war.

While they are fighting with their lives on the line we should be fighting for them and looking out for their interests here at home with the rights we are born with. These rights are the very kind that our military is supposed to protect us from enemies abroad. We should use our rights. We should always keep in mind that no matter what the times are like that we should keep these rights close in mind and protect them from domestic enemies alike.

The scary thing is that most people in the U.S. who support our miltary campaign in Iraq can't verifiably articulate why the invasion happened in the first place much less why our troops are still there. I'd take a look at the profiteers first for the answer to the latter. There have been very very few altruistic wars. To think that the Iraq invasion and subsequent occupation is such one righteous war flies in the face with the West's history in the Middle East. The interests are no different today.

I'm all for moving the debate forward to what we should do now with the present conditions and reality of the current situation while keeping in mind the safety/morale of our troops and safety of our homeland whether the decision is to keep troops stationed there ( which I think is the incumbent's stance as well as the Pentagon's and VP) or to immediately begin withdrawing troops. I don't see how we can continue to stay there. It's hurting the efforts against terrorism for one and its costing this country too many lives in addition to money. When it comes to our money it has not even been utilized appropriately/responsibly. The reconstruction phase was not paid attention to and greatly because of that "here we are." Unemployment has been unbelievable in Iraq since the invasion. Efforts to restore critical infrastructure key to maintaining liveable conditions have been woefully inadequate for obvious reasons.

Waging an indefinite war against an enemy we cannot seem to pinpoint or weaken with military efforts is an unrealistic and down right insane foreign policy. The war on terror is our foreign policy and just like the war on poverty and the war on drugs we aren't implementing solutions to correct the actual problems. Perhaps we could get our troops out of there all the while helping out financially and politically the Iraqi government while simaltaneously working to combat terrorism by cutting off resources/severing or weakening relations with their allies/contacts by infiltrating and gathering intel in Al-Qaida. Right now it is obvious that Al-Qaida is benefitting from the Iraq war by using our military presence there as recruitment material.

As for why our government needs all the "tools" that threaten civil liberties to fight this war on terror I don't know and I don't think we'll ever get more of a complex answer than, "Well, if we don't get these powers signed into law then...THEY'LL GET YA!"
 
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I notice the money flow, i.e., power, is moving toward the Dems. Is this good? For the Dems, maybe. But for uncorrupted government, hardly.

Let's say you don't have a lof of $ and this guy gives you quite a few bucks. He says, "No strings attached, buddy. Use it to the best of your needs." How do you feel? You're owin' to him, aren't you? You want to pay him back, don't you? But how?

Well, if you end up in public office, duhhhhhhh!!, all of a sudden he reappears.

He's the devil in disguise. Mr. Corruption U.S.A. with a capital C.
 
goinfor11x7 said:
I notice the money flow, i.e., power, is moving toward the Dems. Is this good? For the Dems, maybe. But for uncorrupted government, hardly.

Let's say you don't have a lof of $ and this guy gives you quite a few bucks. He says, "No strings attached, buddy. Use it to the best of your needs." How do you feel? You're owin' to him, aren't you? You want to pay him back, don't you? But how?

Well, if you end up in public office, duhhhhhhh!!, all of a sudden he reappears.

He's the devil in disguise. Mr. Corruption U.S.A. with a capital C.
Click to expand...

You are correct. There is no doubting it and many a good men and women have fallen to such tactics. I don't know who I want to win. It just seems that election reform and campaign financing reform really needs to be addressed for starters. Corruption will always be there, but it's the way the system makes for the culture of corruption itself to exist that bothers me most of all. Ethics have gone out the window and being swept up in the allure of money/power can happen to anyone in any party regardless of the times, but particularly when there are no rules so as long as you don't get caught and you keep your mouth shut if you do.

As far as the campaign financing is concerned you have to wonder how Congress can usually be found sitting around a 30 percent job approval rating during less radical and corrupt times and yet most return to their jobs. I'd say it is much to do with our country's absolute disinterest in politics and our subsequent ignorance of our own politics (much less globally). Some of that ignorance can be blamed on our educational system and some of it on a plethora of other things having to do with a lack of emphasis on explaining the actual importance politics plays in society(and this could be achieved any number of ways and there are plenty of people trying to do just that at the local community levels), our pop culture, and the mass media's exploitation of our youth's disinterest in anything that is not trivial or pitched to them on TV.

But I ask you all how can this be that the very people who you elect and place trust in to represent your interests can be elected again and again despite such low approval? If it's any other job or anyone else then those people are out looking for new work. We understand it's a difficult job, but that is the job you campaigned for and claimed you could do or even excel.

I think it's a little too obvious that we vote most often based on which candidate receives the most exposure or which candidate's campaign ad was the most amusing. Perhaps it was that the incumbent's hair was shinier or looked like a good man or woman while the challenger just didn't seem right for the job.

We ought to bring back the stump, but add something to it. I'm calling for an agenda that is as widely publicized as the candidates themselves. Make known what you propose to stand for and what you will work for and then SHOW US HOW you will do just that. Then once you are elected you must work toward those goals on that agenda and if you do not meet a certain percentage of goals then we should know about it the next election cycle. It becomes quite a task for any challengers to overcome the money the incumbent has at their disposal all the while trying to expose what a poor job their opponent has done since being elected. Some people who were disappointed and at times greatly affected due to all the broken promises turn out to be the minority when it comes to those who know exactly what little the incumbent has accomplished or rather has not accomplished.

If we could level the playing field at least in that way we could turn the tables on all those agencies looking to turn their candidate into some crystalline figure of justice who stands for all that is humble and good. We could make these popularity contests into elections that are about the issues and about how we can resolve the problems our society faces. Only then will we start to fix the accountability problem we have right now.

How can we improve as a country when more than 40% of the people who are old enough to vote/register stay home on election day because they do not register or do not care? Often people say that they were too busy or had work and could not make it. It has been long since clear that we should have a national holiday for the Presidential elections or at least make it on a weekend each time, but it too is clear that we have a population of people who don't even feel like they can make a difference. Why else would they stay home or not even register? They obviously have to work, but if they were aware of the importance of not just their vote but of their awareness to how they can actually make a difference in fixing any problems they have by engaging politicians or joining up with community action groups they might then register/vote. "What's the point," is the other most frequent response to why people do not vote. If this many people feel powerless then the government obviously has neglected quite a few people. If you are repesented well and see results then you'll obviously feel empowered. Take for example motor voters or the attempt at registering the prolitariate of this country. In the last few elections they were disenfranchised in any number of ways you could fathom and while this is no change from the norm you would think if people were working together as was the case with moter voting that the two major parties would attempt to swoop in and at least woo them into their camps. Instead of having these poor people becoming encouraged voters they were let down by caging list and purge list tactics, letters telling them they wouldn't be allowed to vote, and the ultimate reason was the over-vote/under-vote or spoilage of votes by mainly black voters. Both parties have deployed their own dirty tricks, but this time in 2004 in particular it was the Republicans, who have been in charge for far too long if you ask me. My state, largely thanks to our Republican secretary of state happened to ensure that Ohio was the only one that did not sign a deal to rid itself of those "hanging chad" voting machines that wreaked havoc in Florida, which helped disappear many other poor votes. It all begins with education namely making sure we improve our educational system to begin with by making sure it doesn't completely erode at the foundation and by also emphasizing history/government/politics and classes devoted to civic responsibility. We also obviously need to make sure we are providing the best environment possible to nurture/produce high-school graduates and making higher education more accessible. It'll take more than that obviously, but it does start with our kids and by making sure we do the best to shape their futures regardless of where they live.

I am tired of hearing these Dems talking and behaving as though it is all about how to win elections. NO IT ISN'T! First of all you DO NOT abandon those who placed their trust in your party to represent their values and interests. Secondly, you don't sell your soul to win elections unless you are just about the power, authority, and the money. We need leaders who can actually show that they can lead and work together to form a network devoted helping the people improve society. I don't care which party shows that they are devoted to that and only that.
 
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I am watching this film now, I have watched many like it and I need to agree with those who feel an under atonement is happening as we progress in our day to day life, ignorant to the blandisHydromaxent that goes on around us. I have tried, with great discord, to ignore this...tell my associates that I have no interest in politics, but this has never settled acceptably in my mind. I try so hard to ignore politics, embrace physics, mathematics, biology, theology and any other deterrent from what is going on around us but then I realize I am like the blind sheep that follow these policies with no mindfulness or belief. I know that my input is important, my thoughts are credible, my gut-wrenching disgust has value in this circus of deceit and ultimate evil but to date I have been confused by my own fear of seeing what is truly going on around me, around you, around us. I use so much of my energy towards Penis Enlargement and how my learned knowledge can help them men who search for more sexually but there is so much more we need to be concerned with....let me watch this film and digest it's content. I hate to respond on anything until I have understood its complete content and intent.
 
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