You Had To Know It Was Coming....

WARNING: Opinions expressed here are my own and may offend some readers!!!! Parental discretion is strongly advised.

Last night I watched the second "Presidential" debate. As I sat listening to the unending drivel opined by each of the candidates, my mind asked "Haven't we heard this bullshit before?" My answer was a resounding YES. It was then that I realized that I was extremely tired of this campaign. Not physically tired, but mentally beaten down. It seemed as if I had been following this campaign for years. WAIT, I have been following it for years. This campaign has dragged on for way longer than necessary, and the result is the two candidates we have? Couldn't we have done better? Are these the two best we have to run the country? I hope not! But, they are the "Parties" representatives. We've been told, and they hope we are convinced, that Obama and McCain are the "heirs apparent" in their respective parties. Screw the parties. WHAT ABOUT US? WE THE PEOPLE? Where is OUR leader?

Besides being tired, I am SICK! I am sick of hearing all the talking heads discuss, ad nauseum, who won and who lost. It' obvious to me the loser is the American people. Do either of these guys represent you? Or, do they represent all the special interest groups, corporations, and other "Devils" they have sold their souls to? You don't have to answer that question, it's rhetorical ;-)
(Pretend you are a politician)

My opinion:

What's wrong with American politics is that we have lost the direction and idealism of our Founding Fathers. No, they weren't always right, but they were always responsible and dedicated. Their major point of dissent was whether we should have a strong Federal Government (Federalists) or a weak Federal Government (Anti-Federalists or States Rightists) . The Anti-Federalists believed the power should reside with the States. That way, the states, ergo the people, would control the real power. Unfortunately, the Federalists won out! Our leaders today are more concerned with winning reelection than doing the job they were elected to do, and the Federal Government wields power with dizzying ineptitude.

Our Founding Fathers could not even imagine the position of "Professional Politicians". Their view of government was that all persons with a stake in this nation would perform his civic duty by doing a tour of duty in that governance. Each community would send a representative to Washington to provide the input from his constituents. Yes, I know that their idea of a person with a stake in this nation was a white, male, landowner. But, think about that. At that time, white, male, landowners were usually the most highly educated, economically active, leaders in their communities. Farmers as well as scholars and industrialists.Who better to send to Washington? This perception has changed over the years and has been addressed through Constitutional Amendment. But, the concept of popular representatives doing their tour and then going home is still fundamentally sound.

That brings up another sore point. We DO NOT live in a Democracy! We live in a Representative Democracy! We elect "Representatives" to perform the day to day activity of government. Otherwise, "We The People" would be voting on every bill / law / appointee / budget / etc. required to run the country. In theory this works, but with professional politicians spending their entire adult lives in Washington, they lose sight of "We The People" and concentrate on "Me The Politician." Re-election trumps representation, and "We The People" have become so lazy and complacent that most of us don't even care, or really want to know, what is going on in our own government. Just parade some smooth talking, good looking, well dressed, financially supported piece of meat in front of us and we will trip all over ourselves to send him to Washington. AND, even if he looks us straight in the eyes and lies to us, fails to "represent" us, breaks the law, commits unthinkable acts, WE WILL SEND HIM BACK AGAIN! Go Figure!

So, let's put together a plan. "We The People" will form a nationwide alliance. We will all agree not to vote unless there is a candidate that actually meets our requirements. We have just two: 1. That they be completely open and honest, and 2. That they actually Represent the people.

WHAT IF THEY HELD AN ELECTION AND NOBODY SHOWED UP. Imagine the message that would send to Washington!!!!!