Did you know that the 27th amendment took over 200 years to ratify?
The amendment basically says that congress can’t vote itself a raise – any compensation increase must take effect after the next election.
We, as a country, completely forgot about it until a law student in Texas found and revived it.
It passed in, I believe, 1982, and has done exactly nothing since then.
Why? Because our wonderful congress doesn’t consider Cost Of Living Adjustments to be compensation. So they’ve continued to vote themselves raises.
I’m not exactly fiscally conservative, but that just annoys the crap out of me. It takes 20 years for someone to turn around and realize the minimum wage hasn’t moved an inch, but our representatives have a solid eye on their own bottom line.
*mutter grumble*
I think what keeps me so very cynical about governmental politics is that it never, ever seems like public service. That’s the name we give it, but all I’ve ever seen is self-interest and greed.
In nearly every debate, all I hear is survival rhetoric. Even people who are engaging and direct at the beginning become corrupted by their writers and their political advisors (I’m looking at you, Obama).
And who can blame them for that? When anyone expresses their true heart-felt beliefs, we crucify them for it. Al Gore became an automaton because that was who his advisors thought was electable – a passionless reflection of the will of the people as expressed in poll numbers. I think Hillary Clinton epitomizes this – she irritates the hell out of me in debates because she can’t ever actually say anything specific.
I once went to a Nader rally in 2000 (you know, before he went all lunatic), and it is the only time I’ve ever heard a presidential candidate (even a hopeless one) talk about specific laws he would repeal or enact. None of this “help our nation grow by making our health care strong again” bullshit, but actual language for what he’d do.
Hell, I didn’t even agree with him on everything he said, but he got me to vote when I was against participating in that part of our culture.
Yes, I’ll vote in the next major election, but my cynicism about it hasn’t been this high in a decade.
I think we should stop deluding ourselves. Anyone truly interested in serving the public need does not make it past the PTA – it’s incompatible with “successful campaigns”. And it’s our fault for letting it happen.
Hehehe
You know what I find hilarious?
It’s all about the democrats. 95% of the stories in the news, are about Obama and Opera, Bill Clinton and how he thinks Obama is a “roll of the dice”, and the fight between those two.
Well, there’s an obvious reason for it, and it makes me hate being a registered republican: The Republicans have no one worth voting for! Fred thompson literally puts me to sleep, Mit Romney is getting caught in lie after lie, And Huckabee, well.. that sorta speaks for itself.
And, for the record, I don’t view John McCain as a republican, or a democrat, or even really an independent. And he’s my candidate of choice.. now.. if only he’d say something of real substance so I could go “Yeeeeeah, your a real cool boy John McCain.” But, alas, I don’t know if thats going to happen or not.
Re: Hehehe
Ahh, McCain is one of the worst! He had so much potential as a guy who stuck to his convictions and seemed to speak his mind, no matter the repercussions, and in the past six months-year he’s seemed to back-pedal furiously.
Until the recent rise of Obama and even Edwards, I was pretty certain that the reason Clinton was so heavily saturated in the media was that most republicans understand that she’s the easiest (major) candidate to defeat, due to the emotional reaction most people have to her.
I think it’s a genius move, to get all the talk shows talking about how all the republican pundits care about is Hillary, but it seems both Obama and Edwards have found some legs of late.
I’ve heard it said that the three factions of the republican party can be seen duking it out in the candidates chosen to represent them, and I think it’s true. Huckabee may be a lunatic, but when it comes to being a knee-jerk evangelist, he doesn’t just talk the talk like Bush, but clearly follows through, and that’s already splitting away the normally lock-step fundamentalist from the rest of the party.
(if you’re curious, I consider myself an independent voter, and I can find a good solid reason not to like any candidate.)
Re: Hehehe
Yeah, I know, poor poor McCain, but at least he isn’t as robotic as the others are, nor as creepy. I guess it’s a “better the devil you know than the one you don’t” situation with all of them.
And as I was watching Oberman last night, they were talking about how the Clintons are worried about Obama, and they’d rather come in 3rd in the poles to Edwards at first, than 2nd to Obama.
Apparently everyone’s looking at Edwards as a sort of place holder in the race. And, I’ll admit, I haven’t heard anything spectacular on my end from him.
But, in all honesty, it’s because I’m very very worn out already. I mean, they’ve been campaigning for the last year ALREADY!
I’m seriously considering writing my fathers name in this year, because they all, in one way or another, utterly disgust me.
Re: Hehehe
Depending on your state’s laws, it may be illegal to write in your father, if he’s not a qualified candidate.
Re: Hehehe
Well, firstly it’s florida, and secondly, Illegal or not… Private Ballet and all that.
Have you really listened to Edwards? I think he clearly cares about the country and wants what’s best for it.
But yes, I am tired of the Republicans and some Democrats who are only interested in lining their own pockets with gold.
Minion was saying earlier that he wished he’d known me before I got bitter and cynical…
I told him that he’d need to have known me over 7 years ago – back when I thought that politics still could potentially do good and when I was rather political. The reasons why I no longer believe that and have no hope for the human race in general should be abundantly obvious – you even outline some above.