Joe wrote: Major Bean, I agree with the basic conclusion of your post. Neither side is winning victories, the losers are being kicked out, The 2-party system is not serving America, they are self-serving and have been for awhile.
Social safety net programs are not inherently bad, they are sometimes badly managed, over promised and underfunded, strain the existing private system, and create a dependent class of people who are trapped in mediocrity as they lose benefits with increasing wages. People expect too much from gov't and then wonder later why "govt has failed us".
CG, the pendulum analogy is good. Obama is not up for re-election in the fall though, so the oil mess may not be a factor, they still have time to write the rest of that one.
These sentences here are illustrated in the Jon Stewart video I posted (see Redefining Success...and Still Failing thread). It was depressing hearing 8 separate, Republican and Democrat alike, presidents spew the same speech over and over about "America obtaining energy independence" first by 1980, last by 2025. Politicians merely say what they think the public wants to hear, not what they actually intend to do, or want to attempt to tackle b/c it's a difficult and complex issue - no one has LED this country in quite some time. I'm not sure that it's entirely the fault of having a 2-party system, but certainly think that all the money that flows in Washington from corporate interests, lobbyists, overseas interests, etc has hastened the corruption. We've pendulum'd back and forth between parties in power because people are sick of the lack of effectiveness, the pervasive lying and scandals, and self-serving politicians and don't know of any other way to effectively deal with it other than voting to switch from the party in power to the one not in useless hopes of creating progress and forcing out the bad. We need to end our apathy and make our voices a bigger influence in our representatives' actions.
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill
"America obtaining energy independence" and clean energy is a tall order though, I think most educated people understand that. Maybe it is shameful that the elitists in DC prey on the fact that Joe six pack is easier to fool and they want his/her vote.
A realistic roadmap over several decades would make more sense than election cycle promises.
If you want to be, press one. If you want not to be, press 2
Republicans are red, democrats are blue, neither of them, gives a flip about you.
