tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11122973.post210260622531457474..comments2024-02-08T05:04:18.484-08:00Comments on J'S THEATER: Illinois votes + Amazon vs. Macmillan + Tissue as commodity + Golden Girls grow gaysJohn Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08073378940347627766noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11122973.post-78428014534142433112010-02-07T22:40:44.478-08:002010-02-07T22:40:44.478-08:00Will, thanks for your comment. I didn't see it...Will, thanks for your comment. I didn't see it at first because the alert went right into my spam file (?). I appreciate what you're saying. One of the problems is that the US electoral system isn't built for a partyless structure. The two parties are the largest historical artifacts of earlier parties (the Democrats having been around since Jefferson), and they tend to switch ideological roles from time to time. That said, the major problem is the influence of corporations, outside and outsized forces, and the lack of any accountability, short of voting people out, to punish them from doing the wrong thing. Or, as in the case of Jesse Helms, they're doing in some part what the constituents want--upholding white supremacy in its various guises, while doing the bidding of corporate overlords. Because of the way our system is funded and structured, big-money interests dominate. It's been a problem for years, and worse in past eras (the Gilded Age, during Harding's presidency), but we saw perhaps one of the worst recent apotheoses during the 2001-2008 period. The country was literally robbed blind, alongside a wholesale violation of the Constitution, and the current administration basically was put in place to return the country to some semblance, at least financially (if not constitutionally) to the 1998-1999 moment. It's a serious problem, but there's such terrible inertia, disillusionment, and frustration among voters, and corporations and powerful interests have such tremendous power, that changing things is difficult. But it'll require tuning out a lot of the noise we constantly get (Lindsay Lohan blah blah, Brangelina blah blah, etc.) and focusing our thinking and our actiosn to demand and ensure change. We have to be the agents of what we want to see in the world.John Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08073378940347627766noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11122973.post-79425805217261885112010-02-03T05:40:51.585-08:002010-02-03T05:40:51.585-08:00You are right about how candidates are offering li...You are right about how candidates are offering little to the people and do not have any solutions – and they don’t even seek much input from their constituents. We have seen it time and time again. Candidates often make big leaping promises (some don’t even promise very much at all) and they get elected and deliver little to nothing. The puzzling thing to me is the large number of people who keep getting re-elected over and over and over and over and over and over again. People like Jesse Helms, Orrin Hatch, Robert Byrd, Barbara Mikulski, Arlen Specter, Paul Sarbanes, Elijah Cummings, Maxine Waters, are just a few of the names that immediately come to mind. I always ask myself why? In all of my circles, and my circles are quite diverse, people feel so very disenfranchised with the representation they get from their leaders. I know people of varying backgrounds, economic status, ethnicities, religions, and they all are dismayed with politicians. Why then are so many people re-elected so many times? <br /><br />I don’t even know if it’s the party ties that are to blame. Lately there have been people changing sides mid stream. That’s why I think we shouldn’t have the two party system like we do now. Political parties have changes from time to time since we have had the right to vote. I think it should change again. There should be NO party. People should get elected based on their ideals, their message, their past, and how they present themselves. But anyhow, I think it will get worse long before it gets better.Willhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10899405516558542239noreply@blogger.com