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I agree tha we need to press our government to open up elections to ALL parties so that We the people have more options and angles to consider. However, that being said...Until We the People kick out the corporations that have hijacked our government over the past 40 years and take back OUR government - a Democratic System that is Of, For, and By We the People, and not corporations - they (the corporations) will continue to write and enact policies that are designed to keep us down and limited.
I wish people were as outraged and passionate about overturning Corporate Personhood - the supreme courts ruleing that acknowledges Corporations as a People and calls money a voice - as they are about issues the media sensationalizes, i.e. Treyvon Martin, New Town Conn. Rolling Stones Magazine Cover, Boston Bombing, etc....If people put that kind of energy, protesting, boycotting, strikes, sit inns, overtaking public office, etc., into taking back our government then maybe, just maybe we could have better representation of the peoples voice.
In other words; Start local...Demand better from those you elect. Hold them to their "campaign promisses". And when they fail DON"T RE-ELECT THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FIRE THEM!!!!!!!!
Palindromedary ~ Perfect! But, wait! Take your time downloading it. I'll look forward to seeing it in the morning. Something to look forward to. This is one small step for Anthony Weiner, and one giant leap for Palindromedary!
DAnneMarc: Well, I do have the latest sexting photo of Anthony Weiner...would that do?
Palindromedary ~ I though you would have a field day with that one. it is a shame about wet fluffy. It just goes to show you that you can never turn a back on those evil Teddy Bears. Nevertheless, posts as cerebral as yours deserve a visual of equal provocativety. May I suggest the ominous eye from Hal in 2001, the all seeing eye from the great seal, Robbie or the Lost in Space Robot, an impressive statuette of an Owl, a portrait of Gandhi, an arrangement of roses, any Mountain Lion posed for the attack, a Supernova, a canon being shot off, a Queen Bee sitting in a hive, The Tom and Jerry cartoon with Tom looking at Jerry with a bib around his neck, and finally. any cat taking a dump in a litter box. Come on my friend, a little imagination can go a long way. Surprise me!
DAnneMarc: Fluffy? My evil Teddy Bear ate him!
Carson L: I agree that Obama is "floundering" alright. And since he is a "father", I guess one could call him a "floundering father" but I wouldn't say he is a "founding father". He can't even seem to "find" enough fortitude or dedication to follow through with the things he made us all believe he stood for. He certainly doesn't stand for the majority of people..he obviously stands for the wealthy and powerful. In fact, Obama may be a "flounder"...a fish out of water. He has the skill, to say nice sounding things but can never manage to actually follow through with getting those things accomplished. It's not just that he has had a lot of opposition from the "obstructionists" and that's why he can't do anything... Obama is actually part of the illusion that we have a democracy. He is just another tool of the wealthy ruling elite, Wall Street. His whole purpose, was to peddle false hope to the masses to keep them from boiling over into the streets with revolution on their minds. He was a pressure relief valve to keep us all distracted long enough for the ruling elite to continue squeezing us all till our heads pop off while they continued to steal from the nation.
The bad old Republicans are not making Obama rabidly prosecute Whistleblowers are they? Or, perhaps he is afraid that he would be soft on "communism"..excuse me..(that was the bogey man excuse for ripping off taxpayers of ages past)...I mean "terrorism" which is the new excuse for ripping off taxpayers..the ones who actually pay their taxes...the workers. Who knows. Maybe he is afraid that the Republicans will claim he is soft on Whistleblowers. And that is such a sin...to tattletale on criminal misdoings of politicians and others in high places.
With regards to Dems, I certainly think it is better to be wimpy with respect to the 1% than to salute them as the Repugs do.
SHFabian -- I think I hear Thom talking more about the cases you describe more than about race cases with the exception of his blog today.
Give 'em hell, Eric Holder!
We whipped this kind in 1865, 1945 and dozens of other times.
We can do it again!
Palind -- I don't believe there was a rebellion to put FDR in office. We should copy what ever happened then. FDR policies created the greatest economy the world has ever known.
anobene -- how are those homeless families going to contribute to the campaign of their representatives? You know, it is the only reason a representative will vote for something.
One area of apparent voter suppression that is ignored occurs in small low-income rural communities/towns. What happens is that voting sites in Dem-voting communities will abruptly bemoved tyo thr end of the county. Many of the poior, elderly and disabled don't have cars, and there is no public transportation. There is also rarely an excuse for moving the votuing site. I think we could get a clearer idea of voter suppression (and a number of critical issues, such as poverty, opportunity, etc.) if we didn't restrict the discussion to race.
Palindromedary ~ Don't forget, some nice felines have a kung-fu, choke hold grip capacity.
Oh, Palin-drone ~ Did you know your president is a founding father? OTFLMFAO!! ;-)
Palin-drone, I consider President Obama to be a founding father. There is no job harder than that of our presidency, this is why every president, other than the ones with the last name Roosevelt, never cared to do more than two terms. Our government is not here to secure each individual's best interests because 'best' is merely subjective fiction. You know like that stage name you got there, mere fiction.
The answer to that question is yes and it can be done quite easily.
First I would like to pose the question that answers itself and ends every economic arguement that someone wants to propose.
Would you rather spend $9 Billion on a pipelene (that won't help us) or create and pay for 360,000 salaried jobs for 1 year?
Take any billion dollar waste/subsidy useless government program or military project and instead redirect that money to a jobs mandate that hires and trains people in the residential trades AND gives homeless families houses using what we throw away everyday, unwanted houses.
I am basing my proposal on bringing this country to full employment and how that goal would shut the republicans up and fix out economy.
Now if the President wanted to moot the republicans he could outflank them on all the points they could bring up.
The proposal is on the web and is ready to go at www.TheJobsMandate.org
Palindromedary ~ Cat people are much less likely to take a lot of bovine excrement than dog people or people without pets. People are like their pets and cat people demand perfection in their environment.
Speaking about cats, may I ask what happened to that wonderfully cute little wet fluffy avatar of yours. I hope you didn't accidentally delete it? If not, when can we hope to see it debut again?
Right on, Carson L! All that sweet talkin' is enough to drive someone borderline crazy! That's all that politicians like Obama are good for sweet talkin' and cajoling people out of their best interests. Nice Feline you have there, Carson L!
Fantastic agenda Palindromedary! I'm with you! Let's get out the shouts, "ELECTION REFORM! ELECTION REFORM!" Democracy is founded on principals of 'the people choosing who leads the people" correct? Not "the money choosing who's least terrible at public speaking"
Republican definition of 'vote' = noun, qualified individual's perception of truth
Democrat's definition of 'vote' = verb, a census process used to derive qualified truth from the masses.
DemonCon's definition of 'vote' = adj, FUBAR
We can all fight this fight, Check out http://adopt-a-voter.com/
A great idea hopefully many will join and adopt voters !!!
I wonder if they will be just as forthcoming in making it possible for the participation of third party candidates in future debates...re: the CPD (Commission for Presidential Debates) shutout of any party except the Democrat and Republicans...and the disgraceful Gestapo-like treatment of Jill Stein when they arrested her for trying to participate, uninvited. We all need to show up, uninvited, and show these bums what real democracy is all about.
http://www.policymic.com/articles/16794/jill-stein-arrest-why-the-cpd-sh...
As long as they "fight voter suppression" where it is a sure thing that either the Republican Party or the Democrat Party is the winner (both tools of the ruling elite) then they have no problem with that. But when they obstruct real democracy, suppress voters rights to hear equally from outside of the two party clique, they are not so forthcoming.
There are other "filters" for sidelining complaints, even suggestions. I decided to skip the letter-writing and phone-calling and go directly to my representative's office, to ask what was being done to prevent Republicans from tampering with the next election. He wasn't there (in DC) but I spoke to his staff. I told them that there was good evidence that the 2004 presidential election was stolen, and not just for George Bush, but for several down-ticket races. In fact, the tactics used to steal that election were tried in numerous smaller and local races before being applied to the national races. That Republican majorities have taken over state legislatures, or gained power in otherwise Democratic or even moderate states is an indication that there is still plenty of election (NOT voter) fraud.
Although my rep was a Democrat, it was over a month before I received a letter. It was a "form" letter that addressed some vaguely related issues with elections - election fraud was not mentioned. It was clear that no government office-holder wanted to say anything blunt, much less accusatory, about what actually goes on in our elections. Although the guy's staff was concerned about my issue, and even agreed with me, it was obvious the staff had communicated SOMETHING to him, but since there was no pre-written response to my specific concern, I got only a distantly related, bland, generic reply.
The cult currently has some pretty powerful tools with the likes of, Fox, Limpbaugh, ALEC, and the House of Norquist. These all make intervention quite a challenge....I should know, I have family members who with just a box of donuts in front of FOX TV have been tragically swept away to a real bad place. It really feels like the North and South drama I watched back in the eighties. In my opinion Obama stands little chance of representing the 99.99% unless we purge the Teabaggers in 2014.
"just another" poll question, with your choice of: YES -i'am right vs YES -you're wrong. *here's a Thought: if you can't afford to buy an ID, to Vote....perhaps You don't have the knowledge of issues & candidates to VOTE !