Reason #1: The Dance of the D.O.P.es
When I was a student at UCLA, I used to debate members of the American Communist Party in Pershing Square in downtown L.A. They tried to argue that the Soviet Union was a “worker’s paradise,” but I knew that was a fantasy. The USSR was nothing but a repressive dictatorship, with communist party bosses hoarding all the goodies while the “workers” beneath them barely got enough to get by. Back in those days I would have never dreamed that we’d wind up in a similar situation here in America. But that nightmare has come true.
We’re facing an almost Soviet-style manipulation of power in Washington now. Only instead of a communist elite stuffing their faces while their comrades starve, we’ve got professional politicians living like kings while they rig our democratic system to hold onto power for life.
The democracy game is damn near over in this country thanks to the dance of the D.O.P.es - our two Dead Old Parties. It’s a woozy waltz of the power-blind leading the power-blind. Around and around they go, one D.O.P.e guiding the other around Capitol Hill for a couple years before switching to the other. To keep anyone from crashing their party, they manipulate the electoral map so that incumbents never lose. They “box out” independent challengers by making it almost impossible for them to get on the ballot. And they mow down grassroots movements by forcing third parties to play by a different, and much more difficult, set of rules.
In the end, it doesn’t matter which D.O.P.e is in control, Demo-dope or Republi-dope. The results are the same. They grant themselves generous salaries and lavish benefits - on our dime - but they do nothing to earn their keep. They don’t solve our country’s dire, long term problems. They don’t listen to the people. They don’t inspire any hope. And instead of governing wisely and steering our ship of state towards safer waters, they spend all of their time raising cash for their next reelection campaign.
Dear Poppie,
Thanks for teaching me to be mad as hell! I am 11 years old but that does not mean that I cant be P O’d about the shit in the goverment. Yes, they keep us going but they=BAD DOODOO.
Your loving Grandson,
Brenten
The Democratic and Republican Party have been stagnant for too long. That is why I have converted to the Libertarian Party because their ideas coincide with my own. The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) only allows the two major parties while keeping the independent parties out. Both of the major parties offer the same thing, big government, big spending and more control on our rights. We need to kick out the “career” politicians and elect fresh blood.
If you still think your vote is being counted, you’ve never heard of Diebold or ES&S.
One of Diebold’s senior programmers was convicted of 23 felony counts for planting backdoors in software. As for ES&S, their former CEO was Chuck Hagel, a highly unknown individual at the time, who quit months before running for Senate and winning a “landslide” upset against a popular incumbent, during which his Nebraska election was conducted exclusively on machines from his ES&S company.
All the more reason, I stick with paper ballots. If you can apply for an absentee ballot, do so! I trust the paper ballots more than the voting machines. It’s been eight years since the Florida voting fiasco and we still don’t have voting machines that work properly.
The issue here isn\’t the ineffectiveness of the two parties. The issue here is HOW to break their grip on our democracy. Third parties have been trying over, and over, and over, and over again to rise up and battle the Democrats and Republicans, but they\’ve enjoyed dual control for more than a century. Doing the exact same thing over and over again and expecting a different result? I think that\’s the definition of something….
If you truly want change, a new strategy is needed. A strategy like this:
http://www.meltingpotproject.com/mpp/why-third-parties-lose-and-how-they-can-win.html
Dear Lee,
Let it burn.
The system is not worth saving.
Your friend,
Yankee doodle
Today I am lost.I am floundering and not a fish to be found. I am pretty depressed. Actually very depressed. What happened to a once great and full of promise nation call the United States of America. It is gone. No one has seen it for thirty years. I hear tell it was a wonderful land. not perfect. far from it. But it was always working hard to find it’s way through, misogony, racism, corruption. Thirty years ago in this place also called the USA. There were real reporters blowing the top off Watergate, Abscam and forcing the Church Committee to look at everthing from Watergate, the war and Nixon with great passion.Under very bright lights.
Now a President commits genocide, destroys our economy and sense of safety and well being. The new president responds to these felonies committed by Bush and retorts. Now is a time to look forward as a nation not back. See if that works on your next speeding ticket. “Officer, let us look foward and not back at my speeding and drunken driving” Good luck.
In the past week or so Obama has used the State Secrets Act and will take a year to close Guantanamo.Which houses only a few hundred men, while a new Super Max is built for 1500 men in Maryland. He has authorized the use of rendition by the CIA to continue and for the NSA to monitor all of our communications with supercomputers. Looking for patterns of speech that point to grandmothers that suspiciouly knit together every friday night.
Yesterday I ran into the slow boil frog routine. I asked my HMO “operator ” a, put on your seat belt,question that was not part of her script. If she had dug deep common sense would have flowed through her viens and she could have actually made the decision on her own. But noooo, she had to ask her supervisor Otherwise as she told me she could get in : think Frank Zappa—big trouble. Yes using your God given Common Sense and brain is now a liability in Fascist, Communistic, Corporate America. Can’t have people thinking for themselves. Insert the supervisor threat and you have Russia or NAZI Germany. People fearfully and completly controlled. Can’t think for youself. Need lunch gossip and do not want nurse Ratched up your butt for thinking , God forbid. On your own. The slow boil of the frog. Feed people crap for news, food and a supervisor at every turn and have agents everywhere. Just as they did in the Russia of old. Think for yourself and you get jailed in Siberia or shot.
That is how they are getting us. Lots of useless lawyers, who put fear into supervisors, who in turn, put fear in their underlings. Constantly changing policies, practices and keeping workers guessing about, rules and regulations. Keeps everyone out of their state as John Locke, of the Enlightenment Period put it. The state and Common Sense of Natural man.
The state of Natural Man beats the female perky nippled, teleprompter readers at the MSM any day.
In the next week I want you to keep a written record of how many times on the phone and in person , on a simple quetion you are told ” Let me ask my supervisor”
People are realy getting dumbed down by corporate ads, TV shows and politicians who speak but say nothing. I am running ot of hope for this nation. A shot across the bow would be good. Perhaps the giant ripofff of the treasury of us might do the trick..
Our ship is sinking fast and we must get the word and logic out fast. Time is of the essence.Truly!!!
Wow…I was reading this..and noticed my name and ID all ready for me to add my comments…great!
~~Here goes…I am a high school English teacher, mom, performer and am directing “Pinocchio” for Santa Cruz City this week…You remember, it’s all about greed…and then being honest, and having integrity & love in your heart….great lessons for these times. I am happy to teach this good story to our actors and audience. I’m also happy to leave for Fiji, New Zealand and Australia in April…to look for work…and perhaps a new country! I blame my parents (now passed on)…for not turning back all the illegals…30 years ago…and for not speaking up about deadbeat politicians when they could have. Now, WE must do the work..for our children….are we up to it??…or do we, cut and run? I’ll be back in May…after seeing two Parliamentary Democracies and a Military Dictatorship (Fiji)..and see if I’m ready to roll up my sleeves….take care….