I have to ask: why do people get so obsessed over politics and most recently our last Presidential election? What is the point of debating (or even worrying) about politics and government actions if people in this country do not ever get to vote on anything?
It is quite laughable when people in this country preach about how we have democracy when reality shows that is not the case. What democracy do we have in this country, really? Every two years we get to vote for our congressmen and every four years we get to vote for our President. But really, this is nothing more than voting for our own rulers. Once we vote for our President (ruler), the person that is "elected" can do whatever he/she wants and only has to abide by the Constitution (which a lot of times is also ignored). But where is the accountability in our "elected" officials?
Another myth is that the people we elect serve to "represent" us, which again is super hilarious!
In response to a question about how 2/3 of Americans say the Iraq War is not worthy fighting, former Vice President Dick Cheney was quoted as saying, "So?". The Interviewer followed up by asking, "You don't care what the American people think?" And Cheney then responded by saying, "No. I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluxuations of the public opinion polls."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SypeZjeOrY4
This disregard of of public opinion by Dick Cheney should just further prove the lack of care our "representatives" have of our opinions. In addition, to say that our new President Barack Obama does not think the same as Cheney would be very naive, in my opinion.
So, I ask everyone here: why bother debating any kind of political issues if we as a people do not hold any power to vote on laws and policy?
While I respect your opinion and arguments, I must also disagree on the matter of politics in this country. Even though the American people are not able to make the decisions on every bill or law passed, we all still play a crucial role in shaping the government. If citizens chose not to become involved in political affairs just think of the countless scandals that would unfold. By voicing our opinions, citizens challenge laws that seem unjust and help to change them to accommodate the needs of the people. If everyone decided to just leave the big decisions to Washington, the media wouldn't have the need to criticize the government and the congress could get away with just about anything. If nothing else, political awareness keeps the senate on its toes and makes the leaders think twice about decisions.
The United States is NOT a democracy, silly. Have you read the Constitution recently?
We have what can be called a constitutional federated republic: The form of government is stipulated by a constitution, which provides for a central government balanced by the relative autonomy of the states - and the leaders of the government represent and are elected by the people. That's why they're called representatives.
The point of having representatives is so that we do not devolve into democracy. The public elects people who know enough to be able to lead. This prevents the majority from becoming a tyranny - go read de Tocqueville. Democracy is bad, and the founding fathers wanted to avoid it. They also wanted to avoid political parties, but to that in a moment.
Anyway, the entire point of our government is that the people themselves do NOT lead. They don't know enough. In fact, their leaders usually know better. It is the mark of a GOOD leader that he or she IGNORES the public sometimes, because the public doesn't know what's best for it. We do need INDIRECT public control, so that the government works for us and not against us - as it has in the past and did before the American Revolution. But to argue that our representative government is bad or failing misses the point entirely. Arguing that it is dictatorial is ridiculous.
The problem you are trying to point out lies in our two-party system. The party line is sacrosanct, no one from one side listens to the other side, politics gets stuck, and debate is impossible. The media makes it worse. For the media, big companies, and the two parties, money and power have become more important than our country. That is the problem - not our system of governance. The only solution is some third party - without Ralph Nader, preferably.
And finally, the fact that you do not seem to understand our political system frightens and disappoints me. I didn't think public schools were doing this badly at teaching history and government. All your blog post has done is show how ignorant young people are in these subjects.
MADISON -- you make a strong point in which I did ignore and shouldn't have. it was wrong of me to say that voicing opinion and political dissent has no value because it truly does. In democracy's most simple form, voicing opinions is what it is all about.
JAKE -- I have to say that I am quite dissapointed in your post.
I understand that the United States is not a democracy and that is my point!
I understand why our "elected" officials are called "representatives", but I simply think that they do not represent us.
I understand that the Founders did not want Democracy for us, and again I disagree with them. You do realize that a majority of our Founders believed in SLAVERY, right? Now, it is not to say that I don't admire a lot of the Founders (for instance Thomas Paine and George Washington), but a lot of them had a poor -- or at least hypocritical -- view of liberty.
In addition, you claim that big corporations are a problem in how they have bought off our "representatives". And this is what I am talking about -- it is fairly simple to buy off 535 people, but not so much 300 million.
Your last comment insulting my knowledge of the American political system was nothing more than un-called for. I shall refrain from being nasty, but I will note that it is my understanding of the American political system that leads me to reject it. It is an elitist system and it does not value the concept of democracy or liberty. The Constitution is a fine document, but our leaders have failed and oppressed us for too long.