not useless, but why not do something that will fix the problem?

the problem is not the current crisis, the problem is that crises are re-current due to lack of citizen oversight and control.

why not sign up with mike gravel's citizen initiative plan, and establish democracy in the usa.

then you wouldn't have to plead with a politician, you could vote in a referendum, and actually participate in the direction of the nation. if you value your own opinion, make it of value to the nation.

because this one clearly doesn't work. it doesn't have to be a revolution, just a simple amendment establishing an accessible and effective power of citizen initiative. then, over time, the people can set limits on how badly their administrators can perform. politicians will have to turn their gaze from campaign contributors to the people who vote for them.

this 'bailout' was a scam on day1. the people who were supposed to prevent the periodic looting of the nation failed in their duty, as they often do, and demanded tax money to paper over their failures. they threaten economic catastrophe if they are not put in charge of transferring tax money to the scammers. it would be laughable, if so many people were not getting hurt.

the failure is not in congress for not going along with the scam, it is with the bush cabinet for unleasing the scammers. maybe a bailout is necessary, to minimize damage to the mug voters, but not a word has been said about preventing this from happening again. and it does happen again and again.

re-regulation is not, not, a solution. it's a temporary band-aid to pacify the mugs. re-dis-regulation always follows, and will always follow as long as the laws are in the hands of politicians.

the only cure for financial disruption that will last, is to regulate boundaries of behavior through citizen initiative. this will survive changes in party, changes in politicians, because the interests of the average citizen is simple and enduring: they don't want to have to wipe up the mess with their tax money.

until you hear a politician start talking about the need for citizen initiative, you can be sure that the only change he wants is his personal advantage. until the electorate demands democracy, the only change their going to get, is a change of faces.

by pointing to it's own?

for starters, there would be regulation and oversight of financial affairs.

party rule changes the laws and regulation according to the wishes of the big campaign donors, 'people rule' as democracy is known in english, is much less inclined to hands the keys over to special interest groups.

but if you think america is a democracy, you aren't interested in reality. what do think of the emperor's new clothes?

representative democracy is not.

california has a democratic constitution, with initiative and recall. it works. in fact it works so well that california has been the nation's center in science and technology centered industry and commerce for a long time. they can, and do, fire governors that don't deliver, so people who say dubya has been a cancer on the face of america ought to be saying "it's a shame america doesn't have recall."

the american constitution was a step forward in 1789. but an elected king is still a king,and it's time to take another step forward- to democracy.

democracy doesn't mean every detail must be examined by the electorate, it just means the people have the power to direct their administration by choosing plans, by setting policies, and by having public business done in public, where corruption and incompetence become quickly visible. there is no down-side to democracy, except to crooked or incompetent politicians.

you get the government you deserve.

you voted republican, cuz dubya sounded a little like you, ignorant and tongue-twisted, while that dem fella, gore, he sounded like an over-bright nerd, who would probably laugh at you, if he heard you thinking. then there was kerry, in his poncy wind-surfer suit. i mean, no man could vote for him, even if he was a war hero, unlike dubya who defended texas from the air, when he had time..

eight years of bush resulted: iraq ruined, economy looted to the point of collapse, getting into afghanistan again, this time indefinitely, and now you are asked to save the economy instead of those richos who raped it. "not fair!" you cry.

well, it is fair, folks. you handed the keys to the house over to your idiot son, and his weird buddies, and turned on the game. he's burned the house down, folks, and the neighbors houses, and it is your fault. no one cares what happens to you now, we all wish you'd move out of the neighborhood, but would you at least put out the fires before you join the trailer trash?

y, that's a good plan. we used it in the 1950's, that's how iran was made an ally. yep, "victory in iran". didn't last though. funny how quisling dictators don't seem to last. and when the iranians chucked him out, we got khomeni, instead. all in all, a real triumph in real politik for the cia and the usa.

there is nothing to be done in iraq, except get out. maybe the next time some would-be clauswitz in the whitehouse starts dreaming of immortality, he'll remember iraq, and cool down. probably not though- vietnam doesn't seem to have taught them a thing, either.

america will not escape the fate of past empires, and the costs of empire are already visibly sapping the american economy, while convincing americans their government is contemptible.