Coming to the end of the umpopularity contest
I voted awhile ago and neither democrats or republicans should be concerned as none of their respective candidates got my vote, all the way down the ballot.
I don't remember anything quite like this election, anywhere. Perhaps in some tinpot single party election farces in various authoritarian regimes around the world. I'll be glad when it is all over, indeed it has even cost me friends, perhaps these relationships can be repaired, perhaps not. People I once respected as "free thinkers" have become so closed that it is damn near impossible to communicate with them on anything but the weather, even then you are taking a risk.
The Clintons whilst perhaps not committing anything strictly illegal, have sailed so close to the winds as to be embarrassing, playing with the letter of the law is not necessarily honest.
Trump, what else can I add but that he simply disgusts me on so many levels.
The downright nastiness of both sets of partisans has had me running for the hills, there is no point in trying to communicate other ideas, you just get shouted at and ridiculed along the current party "wisdom" memes. Not as bad as; not as disgusting as;not as crooked as;can we not just hope for merited?
All that matters is "winning".
Winning what?
All that I see from this election cycle is loss.
All I see to come is more bitterness and division.
I do see some winners and you can see them all on the Forbes Fortune pages.
Unless these two main parties and their supporters can change the way they behave and who the work for then they have lost my vote, my tacit support and what little money I can afford; forever. In fact I will do everything I can to work against them both.
The only thing in my mind that is desperately needed is campaign finance reform and term limits, then we might get people who actually represent us and not end up as puppets of the extraordinarily wealthy and their powerful tools the corporations [including the MSM}. The US is a very wealthy country that behaves as a poor one and greed distorts reality beyond belief.
All I get from this election is that party loyalty is highly toxic.
Comments
D or an R after your name? Forget it.
Only b/c I haven't Demexited yet
1)I've been really busy w/buying a house, and 2)honestly? I don't want to think about the party at all, at all. I know that's illogical, but I've been avoiding going down to the Superintendent of Elections and changing my registration b/c I don't even want to spend 5 minutes thinking about this disgusting pile of offal we call a political party. It's avoidance, plain and simple.
I haven't been so afraid of nuclear war since I was a teenager. And this horrific "candidate" makes me miss the pro-nuke Reagan guys I used to argue with back in those days....because at least they were making the deterrence argument. In other words, nukes weren't there so we could prepare to do something; they were there to keep anybody from doing anything. Not an argument I agreed with, but at least they weren't lunatics.
What we're seeing in this campaign is the power of propaganda in its ugliest form. Eddie Bernays, meet Stanley Milgram.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
G now after my name, subject to change
And I DO have a Green senatorial candidate to vote FOR and give a little FU to Schumer. Term limits, yes. How many in Congress are not millionaires?
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
Roll call - Wealth of Congress
http://media.cq.com/50Richest/
"Illusion of transparency" Good one!
Peace & Love
limits
Rather than term limits, I'd like to see wealth limits on all Federal and State elected offices. And a requirement that all Legislatures economically resemble the populations they govern. A cap on the proportion of lawyers and doctors, too.
Right now, as things stand, if you're a sub-millionaire, make less than $100,000 a year, or still have to do actual work to make what you make, you've pretty much got taxation without representation. And that's tyranny -- the same now as in 1776.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
I Think IRV is A Much Better Solution Than Term Limits. nt
“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu
I agree with most of you essay except:
There is no question that the Clinton's have violated many laws. Rudy Giuliani, not himself a sterling character but who was a federal prosecutor named 16 specific Federal laws Medusa has violated.
Trump is only marginally better. Since we won't have Bernie in the WH, at least Trump will end the Clinton mafia by throwing most of them in jail (Guantanamo?).
Naah, not Gitmo. FCI Danbury or fancier equivalent
Minimum security prison for nonviolent tax evaders, perjurers, people in contempt of Congress, etc.
Little-known fact: Some members of the Hollywood Ten were sent there, and eventually joined by the head of the HUAC committee that sentenced them (for fraud). He was afraid they'd take their revenge, but they simply ignored his existence.
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
Oh good one.
I didn't know this bit of history.
-Greed is not a virtue.
-Socialism: the radical idea of sharing.
-Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
John F. Kennedy, In a speech at the White House, 1962
That jumped right out at me, too.
They have violated the laws. Don't give them a pass on that.
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
How long have people been calling for term limits?
I've heard every excuse in the book on it, but it still makes sense to me, if we're going to keep this inadequate political system. Screw these career politicians, get em outta there. One and done.
When I call for term limits,
I get a lot of blah, blah, seniority, blah, blah, you won't get preferential treatment, blah, blah, it takes them too long to learn the job, blah, blah, bullshit, bullshit, bullshit.
If a Congressperson only has four or six years in office (Representatives can run for three terms, let's say), they need to start reading the legislation and understanding what it means for the country, for the people, how is it affecting EVERYONE? If a Senator gets 12 years (two terms) how is that not enough time to know the job? This person also need to read and understand what it means to be a representative of the people.
Right now, these dicks only know how to satisfy their corporate masters. Term limits will put a stop to it. I've been a term limit advocate for many years!
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
I had six weeks to learn my job as an airline pilot.
Five more years to move to the left seat and do it unsupervised.
If they can't figure it out in year or so, they aren't up to the task.
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
Precisely.
When I started my new job two years ago, I the learning curve was pretty big with lots of training to be done, but guess what - I got it done in about two months! Whaddya know!
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
The experience excuse is bullshit.
I think there should be one two or four year term and that's it. No more career politicians. I'm in favor of much bigger changes in our political system if not a completely new one, but there are obvious steps we could take to improve this one. Term limits is one of them.
I'm on board with you on this.
Career politicians have taken us to this place. It must stop and we are the ones to stop it by bringing term limits about. I also agree that if not, a new governmental system needs to be put into place.
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
How about term limits
and get rid of the electoral college bullshit. Make these wannabes go to every state and beg for votes...
Ever since Bernie dropped out
Ever since Bernie dropped out of the race, we have known that the next President would be distrusted if not hated by a majority of Americans. Not a hopeful scenario. At all.
"We've done the impossible, and that makes us mighty."
There is something we could do about the aftermath.
It seems clear to me that they're setting us up for an expanded race war, and possibly an ideological war as well. Those of us on the Left who haven't been fully propagandized should extend our hand to those on the Right, and come together in an agreement that we won't kill our neighbors or fellow citizens, whether they be white, black, Democratic, Republican, or whatever. Most of us know the powerful and wealthy are responsible for what's going on, and that nobody who lives anywhere near our neighborhoods actually has influence over what's happening in our country. It might not be possible to get the Trump supporters on board with this, but the rest of the Republican voters (not politicians) might be open to such an effort.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
I Like It.
We should all reach out and find the common concerns; there are a lot of common concerns. Even the "crazy" Trump supporters are worried about things like having a job, keeping food on the table and a roof over their heads, and being to access medical care. Then we should work to find and elect real people who share those common concerns and support finding real solutions.
I no longer believe in the religion of progress
Hillary is "ahead" in the latest poll...60-58
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/clintons-unfavorable-rating-hits-new-hi...
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X