as long as you elect temporary kings, you're gonna get good ones, bad ones, and the occasional monster whose crimes are irreparable. if you really care about your kids, stop voting for kings, dictators, leaders, or presidents.

america has sufficient general education to be a democracy, and they come very close to democracy in several states. extend it to the federal system.

a nation with democracy will make mistakes, but they will be mistakes, not the working out of some one person's fantasies of power. mistakes can be corrected by citizens, while the madness of presidents can only be endured.

in short, stop complaining about bad luck or the short comings of politicians- you have in your hands the means to become masters of your nation. complaining while refusing to act is a weakness of character that dubya should have cured you of.

if cheney would knock-off more often, better still.

i thought the nazis were inhuman monsters. but it turns out, they were not so different from some americans, in the pentagon, and in the white house. the only real difference was that they lost their war.

when you reflect on the fact that that dubya's grandfather did time for his active support of the nazis, you can see a certain generational continuity. in that household, the nazis weren't psychopathic monsters, just 'misunderstood'.

nowadays, americans don't shrink from torture, shrug away bombing innocents, regard police-state surveillance as vigilance against some 'enemy' who is everywhere and omnipotent. how ironic that '1984' was worried about the soviet union!

until you start hanging some of these malefactors, or invite brussels to put them in a box, the stench of your nation's character will continue to make you unwelcome elsewhere, save among those who are willing to do business with the devil.

obama isn't going to save you, either. your problems need more than a children's crusade, more than mantras and wishful thinking.

.., the saints are down in the local soup kitchen.

you wouldn't leave your kids at a child-care center run by known pedophiles, but every 4 years you hand your nation over to known politicians. how dumb is that?

it's easier to complain about the character of pollies than do something about making them obsolete. this is not hard, mike gravel has a plan on his site, but it requires a lot of people to put down the racing guide, the tv schedule, and start acting like responsible citizens. maybe it is too hard, although they do it in california and switzerland.

people complain endlessly about political parties, but if america had citizen initiative, you wouldn't be captive to pollies, you could do it yourself. maybe taking responsibility frightens you? you should be more frightened of where the pollies are taking america.

politicians work for their self-interest? if this is news to you, you haven't been paying attention.

if you want your nation to be run for the people, it has to be ruled by the people. sorry, no philosopher-king gonna do it for you. that means citizen initiative referendum. it's called democracy, you ain't got it, you'd be better off with it, but-

it would require several million ignorant, lazy, dim-witted couch potatoes to become literate, active citizens. doesn't look likely, eh?

especially since dubya has demonstrated once again that those ignorant, lazy, etc. can be scared into giving up the simulated 'rights' that act as a temporary shoot-line against naked dictatorship in america. more likely the current accelerated drift into fascism will continue.

american society is incapable of facing the challenges imposed by living on a finite space. your momma probably told you about the 'emperor's new clothes', but instead of saying at the end: "so face reality, tell the truth", she said: "go along with the others, listen to the powerful, believe what politicians say, or you'll get stomped into the ground."

smart momma, in the short term, but the falling man hits the ground in your lifetime. not so smart, momma.

and politicians aren't philosopher-kings. expecting either situation to change is certifiably stupid.

the political system called 'representative democracy' selects for egotism, arrogance, and incompetence in any endeavor not connected with getting votes.

consequently, leaving your nation in the hands of politicians is as irresponsible as letting pedophiles mind your children.

why then do people do it? because we accept the mores, rules and laws of the society into which we are born uncritically. most go through life having no real opinion about fundamental politics, anymore than they wonder if gravity might be optional.

but political systems can be modified, and representative democracy can be bent into real democracy without violence. it just needs an electorate that wants to be citizens, rather than political pawns. mike gravel has a web site devoted to this goal, if you're interested.

is it likely to happen in america? i think not. it needs a wrenching disconnection from the national 'emperor's new clothes' psychosis to make the necessity evident. most will never wake up, and many are profiting from the ignorance of the sleepers.

but never expect any political party to be anything but a bandit gang. they are just human hyenas, looking for the next meal in the way humans have from the beginning: if it moves and it's not us, then it's dinner.

so complaining about the character of politicians reveals a childish understanding of society, or a cynical milking of support from those both ignorant and unhappy. i wonder which gg is?

the increasing acceptance of oral and anal intercourse makes the pill obsolete.

on the other hand, if someone points out that their actions are making oral and anal sex more attractive, perhaps they would be more generous?

like the quantum cat, you don't know what you're voting for when you vote. later you do, too late.

a nation with citizen initiative can fix this, but it needs real citizens. vast numbers of americans are content to be helpless bystanders as the beltway bandits drive the nation into the dust.

they're not citizens, just civilians.