partisan politics how/ when will it end

[Strike For The South]

An armed revouiltion is a little extreme but sadly not out of the question and Id be willing to fight to protect my god-given rights

[Aenlic]

You're halfway there. The first step is figuring out the questions. The answers can come later.

[PanzerJaeger]

There has always been viscious politics in this country and most democracies.. hell, even duels. A powerful politician tried to coup the government. There was huge corruption in the big cities. Coersed voting, and people voting several times. Andrew Jackson beat someone(to death?) on the steps of a government building, and a prominent senator beat someone badly on the senate floor! All of this occured in the 1800s.

Today its all rhetoric. Theres no real passion anymore. There are no John C Calhouns debating Websters over the very principles of the democracy, its all for show. Apathy rules the day.

I really dont think politics will be the downfall of America.

[Aenlic]

You must admit it's much easier to appease the voters and then get back to the real business of running the country - which just happens to be running the country for business. Makes it all so nice and neat. Tell the people what you think they want to hear, which is discovered by polling. When that doesn't work, tell them what they should want to hear, which is accomplished by using the media. If that doesn't work, demonize the other guy so people will hate you less. Don't bother mentioning that when they all get to D.C. and begin doing the bidding of the campaign money on real issues, then you couldn't fit a razor blade between the two supposedly different parties. If people start questioning what is being done, then just manufacture "issues" for them to sink their teeth into which aren't really important or even issues; this keeps their attention while you loot them for the benefit of business and the rest of the people who finance the politicians. If the public notices your hand in their pockets, then just manufacture a war or two and everything will be rosy.

Amazingly enough a geo-synchronous satellite was able to capture a picture of the entire U.S. population in the act of exercising their democratic republic rights:

[Aenlic]

I don't know, GC. I'm not feeling very optimisitc lately. Then again, I discovered my old copy of Murray Bookchin's The Ecology of Freedom, the emergence and dissolution of heirarchy while digging though by book collection today. So maybe I can recharge my enthusiasm for the inevitability of people pulling their collective heads out of their collective nether regions.