Politician vs. Pile of Shit = Same Thing

[txcwby6]

I've concluded--and perhaps I'm the only one that's done so--that our choices regarding elected officials are all bad...at every level and shows no sign of getting any better. You wonder why voter turnout continues to decline? Quite simply actually; why go to the polls when your choice is one pile of shit vs. another pile of shit? It truly doesn't matter if you're Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Tea Party or reformed party witch, the best person for the job never runs. Why would they?

If every elected official in D.C. were to suddenly catch a fatal disease and drop dead would anyone feel a sense of loss for our way of life? Probably not since every one of them is agenda-driven and only expresses empathy towards the citizens he/she represents when (a) money is required; (b) a favor needs to be granted; or (c) it's his/her turn to run for re-election. We'd caucus, find some replacements and pray they'd do better than the shit we just buried but who knows and isn't that sad. I'm beginning to believe that unless there's a fiundamental change it's only going to get worse. You can't keep dropping one or two idealist souls into this steamy pile of crap and hope it doesn't cause them to stink too. Unfortunately, once the mentality took hold and politicians lost sight of working "for the people" instead of their own ego and self-preservation the game was over. Just like the homes built with that stinking, sulphur-laden drywall, you have to gut the structure and rebuild it from the ground up.

Sadly, even the newly-elected will soon acquire the shit-like odor of whomever he/she defeated as they're educated in "how things get done" in D.C. (or even Austin for that matter!). We need to eliminate terms. In other words, any elected official shouild face removal when/if they're no longer fulfilling their responsibilities. How do you do that? I haven't a clue but we need to be able to say "You're fired!" way sooner than the end of any term of service.

[CenterLock]

Sorry Tx.... but if you're just now coming to this conclusion, you're a Tad on the slow side.


Just saying...

[txcwby6]

Originally Posted by CenterLock

Sorry Tx.... but if you're just now coming to this conclusion, you're a Tad on the slow side.


Just saying...

Nope CL, just a bit more tolerant than most; especially when it comes to hope that the nature of politics is cyclical and momentum shifts when sufficient resistance is applied. Thanks for the contribution.

[CenterLock]

The only way I see politics getting any better is if we can get people in office that don't want to be there. Oh, I always hope... but haven't seen much change in anything.

C'est la vie....

[b2flyer51]

Good read and good points -- specifically the inclusion of Austin in the equation.

At the point where you've become a career politician, your primary interest is your career and not the issues or the people that gave you the opportunity to represent them.

Not exactly sure how we got there, but the Roves of the world (on all sides of the spectrum) will never let us go back -- and no one ever went behind the curtain in the voting booth to give them the power they've acquired.

But, then again, I'm an anarchist -- what would I know?

Flyer

[LazurusLong]

Change must start at the bottom. Find local candidates that you can strongly support, whether school board, justice of the peace or even councilmen.

Get to know them as much as you can.

IF you don't like who is running, go look for someone that you'd prefer in office and begin to recruit them and talk them up to friends.

Just take ONE small local office. You can make a difference.

[CenterLock]

I fear I came across more flippant in my first post than intended, so why not shove my other foot in my mouth.

I agree LL that "change must start at the bottom" and "you can make a difference". I cannot see change being possible above the bottom or any difference lasting. Call me a cynic - I view myself as a realist.

Do I continue to vote? Yes. Do I know my lower echelon elected officials more than casually? Most of them, yes. So why the pessimistic attitude? They all must bend. They all must take the bile with the laudable. And they all must "fit in their hole".

For every city there are county issues that have financial and economic impacts to it that can be fought but not entirely defeated. For every school district there is a region and state that must be placated. This list goes up, down and sideways.

Hence my belief that only when people are put in charge that have no desire to be there can true "change" occur - they go in to do a job and get out. Run the office as a business - piss off who you have to to get the job done - then go back to work. Don't feed everyone a line about what you'll do since you're new. New means you're in for a rude awakening.

Soapbox over. Good post Tx and LL.

[Truckertom]

We deal with them the same way that we dealt with king George and parliament. Off with their heads.

[txcwby6]

Anyone that desires to be or becomes a politician has an established agenda; namely self-preservation. Self preservation requires a litany of compromises regarding ethics, goals, loyalty to the constituents and a steady conversion into an agenda-driven, "us against them" dogma that corrupts all of them. Unless you raise your hand and swear a loyalty oath to the RNC or DNC (similar to the one every member of the SS took) your deotion to the party is in doubt and the money will not flow as easily (i.e., you have to make it the hard way and get donations from the voters instead of the RNC, DNC, lobbyists and corporations). Again if the walls collapsed and crushed everyone in attednance at the next State of the Union I doubt it would cause us to do anything more than find some true patriots to take their place while we dig one large trench along the Potomac (perhaps the same place where Union troops used to squat and take dumps).

[Lust4xxxLife]

Believe it or not, I heard a great suggestion from Jesse Ventura the other night. He rightly pointed out that both parties have become hopelessly corrupted and that we need a change to flush the doctrines and replace them with good candidates. His suggestion was that ballots contain names only – no party identification. A simple step with potential to force people to become a little bit more educated. No more voting Republican – no matter who is the candidate – simply because it's the usual redneck choice. Same goes for the Democrats. Thoughts?

[CenterLock]

I believe this would be a good idea - On the front end.

On the back end you'd still have the same politics.

In truth I figure people would stay away from the voting Booth if that were the case - or they'd learn the names of the candidates in their party.

[Truckertom]

If I remember right the founders warned against parties.*
What we need is free ballets so any one can stand for election without having to be a party dog first.*

[cptjohnstone]

I am friends with former US Senator Don Nickles from OK brother in law, Nickles told him he was leaving the senate to start making real money as a lobbiest

[repairman]

In politics....the end ALWAYS justifies the means

The life blood of a politician is the poor memory of his constituants.

Nuff said

[Par_Shooter]

The fact this dumb bitch is even let on a ballot shows how far this country has fallen in the last few generations. We as a country are more like her than a lot us of want to admit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgbBP9Em00A