Somebody Needs His Ass Whupped!

Mike Thompson Detroit Free Press March 26, 2006

What ever happened to the Marshal Plan? I guess the world is a lot different since 9/11. How can we expect the Iraqi people to re-build their entire infra-structure while in the midst of a civil war, (yeah, I know, it's only a slight factional disagreement), and pay for it all? Oh, yeah. Oil revenues! You see, they'll be paying for it with their only natural resource we're interested in, while their other natural resource, their youth of both sexes, either blow themselves up in order to kill as many innocents as possible in their factional disagreement, or become statistics in our reports on collateral damage. But the administration isn't interested in that natural resource. In fact, if it dried up tomorrow, I'm sure no one in the White House or Pentagon would lose any sleep over it.

Did we re-build Hanoi? Nah! We were the losers! How could the communists hold their heads up during party functions if they'd demanded war reparations? Besides, it allowed them to appeal for sympathy from the rest of the world while we licked our wounds and faced high inflation without having to pay war reparations. What the hell happened?!

What's gonna happen? I dunno. All I can see is the Dems are going to win big because of the war and the economy and the environment. They're going to take their mandate and run with it, like a pair of scissors, and trip over their own egos, stabbing themselves in the heads. Of course, I could be wrong. It all depends on who gets elected, and the advisors they get. However, when 2008 comes around, watch out. There is going to be some definate backlash from the immediate turn of direction the country will take when that happens, so whom-ever does the best job of seeming Presidential in the next two years will have to be careful to only align them-selves with the changes that do the most good for the most VOTERS, and not just the most democrats. Let's face it. Had the rank and file dems gotten off their asses when it mattered, W'd be gone now. But then, we'd be stuck with Kerry, and he was simply the wrong man for the job. Not to say he's a bad man, just not the right man. But, that's another story altogether.

So who will re-build Iraq? Wouldn't it be nice to be able to choose where your tax dollars go? I know I'd like to be able to decide whether they go for bombs or feeding kids, but let's be realistic. I mean, this blog does have REALITY in the title. It's beginning to look like W is just now being told by somebody in his usually screwed up administration that there's something wrong with the treasury. That somehow or other, someone's going to have to come up with a whole lotta money, and he's starting to feel like his Daddy did after mouthing off about reading his lips, and then having to eat his words. There may not be any NEW TAXES, but there'll most certainly have to be NO NEW TAX CUTS. Well, that's just positively UNAMERICAN! Can you imagine all those Mom & Pop conglomerates out there that'll have to pony up their fair share of the load, and pass on the cost to their employees? Oh, let's not forget their customers too, unless sales begin to take a nose-dive and they have to lay people off in order to lower them again. Heaven forbid passing the cost on to the stock holders. At least not the ones with preferred stock.

Now would be a good time to sell out to Haliburton. Globalization is a fact! All those people who've been screaming about how the ONE WORLDERS were ruining this country didn't bother to look past the tie-dyed t-shirts and muu-muus to the boardrooms where the huge multi-nationals were deciding that for everyone already. It's the multi-nationals that will inherit the Earth, not the meek. Sure, nationalism is still going strong at the moment, but when these companies become truly huge, we'll see people start to cheer on their employers first, and their neighborhoods last.

Big Brother, Where Art Thou? Have you noticed lately how surveilance is ever-present? Phone calls; e-mails; libraries; GOOGLE! are all up for grabs now. Well, it's only 20 years late, but we've been expecting it, and now that it's here, we should be thankful, because once we take care of our perceived enemies, and we're all under one roof, so-to-speak, we people who live in the geographical area once known as the U.S; won't be stuck with the full bill all the time. But then, what price freedom?

U.S. Navy Attacked By Pirates?!

Yes, that's right, pirates. I guess there are some places where the world isn't safe for civilized people. This happened off the coast of Somalia, where pirates are picking apart the U.N. effort to feed the people there, by stealing the food and then selling it on the black market, and they tried to hightail it out of sight before sunrise while a group of war ships that were on a Dutch-run maneuver were cruising nearby. Unfortunately, there are things at the U.S. Navy's disposal that pirates could only dream of having, like satalite surveilance and night vision, not to mention radar, which I'm sure the pirates do have, since it's readily available off the shelf, or some poor unfortunate's yacht or fishing boat that's been requisitioned, and the U.S. ships pursued the smaller fishing boat that was towing a bunch of smaller skiffs behind it. One of the alert American sailors noticed that some of the pirates were carrying RPGs, and when the pirates were ordered to heave to, they truly fucked up by opening fire. Needless to say, the Americans made short work of the pirates, killing one and wounding three, igniting a fire on the boat with fire from their ship-mounted machine guns.
Why are pirates still active today? I can understand how pirates were able to operate in those waters, since Somalia doesn't really have a government, so no navy, but with all the other nations in the region, which do have navies, why aren't they doing something to asuage the situation? Hell, if Liberia just sent a tenth of the ships flying its flag to patrol those waters, there wouldn't be room left for pirates. I can only imagine it's the old "NOT MY PROBLEM" that kind of invades the minds of people who aren't suffering themselves, or who might have a few too many other problems on their plates to handle one more.
Why aren't there any pop stars writing songs about piracy? Oh, yeah. They have enough problems with piracy at the moment to concern themselves with the violent type. The big problem is that when you see these people on TV wearing their designer clothes, (if you can call some of it being clothed), and their jewels, pimping out their mansions and Hummer limos, the COMMON people have no sympathy for them when they hear about people pirating their so-called intellectual property, but they do have sympathy for starving people who are being kept hungry by warring warlords.
Governments need to make a difference, not Bono. Nothing against Bono, but, let's face it, why's he meeting with world leaders begging for debt relief for poor nations? Why's it take a meeting with him before W realizes that there's a whole bunch of really poor people in the world? Talk about Out of Touch! Is it that most of these poor people are darker in skin color than the majority of people living in the creditor nations? I can't help but think that it might have something to do with it. After all, how do you attract really cheap labor if there aren't a whole lot of really poor people willing to work for a pittance?
Would someone please discover oil in Somalia, or Ethiopia, or Sudan? I'm serious! It's the only way anybody's going to notice the place exists! If there were oil there, the U.S. would become the chief benefactor to the people and there'd be hell to pay for anyone trying to slaughter them, (well, at least while we were watching). When Rwanda exploded into tribal genocide, the world sat back and sipped our lemon aides, trying to figure out how to pronounce the country's name. When the White House became engaged in a battle of semantics with the press corps over whether or not genocide, or simply acts of genocide were occuring, it became plain to anyone with half a brain, (W still hasn't figured it out), that it was because they were simply blacks, (I won't even dignify them by calling them niggers, because we didn't even care for them that much), killing each other off, thus making fewer of them to think about, as if we ever really did. Because we lost a couple of Black Hawk helecopters and some troops in Somalia, we basically pulled out of Africa like dogs that had been singed on the behind with a flaming newspaper. Oh, but let some white people start some genocidal war in the Balkins, and Whooooooaaa Nellieeeee! Can't have that! Let's bomb the crap out of them and have round the clock sorties flying over to keep the fighting down. There's a heck of a lot of people of eastern European background in the U.S., people who actually vote! We gotta keep them quiet and appeased. Of course, we did let the Christians rape and murder as much as they could before it got really loud, so there was some collusion on the part of the west.
We spend more on war than all the rest of the world combined! Yep. We're just so much better equiped and trained that there isn't another army in the world that can stand up to us, unless we're already hung up on the ropes and our legs are starting to give. That's what's going to happen soon if we don't start pulling back in Iraq. Our troops are stretched to the limit, our material is top heavy with crap we don't need. Excuse me, but $15,000 sixty inch plasma screen tv's in rec rooms! When I was serving in West Germany in the mid seventies, we were lucky to have a 19 inch color tv in our rec room. Hell, they could've spent that money on Two toilet seats! Or ten hammers, or some screws. Now I know why our troops didn't have adequate body armor. Couldn't we find better uses for our military budget? I'm not saying cut it in half or even by a third, but that money needs better stewardship over it, and somewhere in this bloated federal bureaucracy there's someone who's job it is to make sure that the supply sergeants aren't padding their requests. I know that there have been reports about misspending on the part of the military, but nothing gets done about it. When the troops have to buy their own armor and wear it while watching a government supplied plasma screen tv, there's something wrong.

Turn Of The Century

adapted from a song by
Jon Anderson/Steve Howe/Alan White
(copyright)

The chips fell from the chisel, making a mound of marble bits at his feet. The sweat mixed with tears in his eyes, so as to make him blink hard and wipe away the pain.
"Now, Roan, no more tears. Set to work." He said aloud as he moved back to the stone figure he had labored long and hard on for the last weeks. His mallet swung again, striking the chisel just so, causing another rain of dust and bits to fall onto the pile beneath. He worked on a statue, a figure of great importance. This would be his most beautiful, for there could be no other more beautiful than his model, his late wife. She was his one true love, the only being so perfect in his eyes that even religion had become less important to him. If there were a God, why would he deem it necessary to take her from him so early in their lives? He stepped back once more to survey his latest changes. His gaze rested on her face, the features so exact, so perfect. Could She see him? He wondered. He looked into the marble eyes that seemed to look right into him. They were Her eyes. Able to see just what he needed to make him happy. Able to soothe his angers, calm his worries, ignite his passion. Could She see him? His gaze went lower, to her torso, to her arms, the left one already done, swept up, arcing over her head, as she so often did while dancing. This took him back...
...The New Year's Eve gala was in full swing. He was in great demand by most of the guests, as his work was becoming more well known. His latest had only just been placed in a prominent square off the Champs-Elysees. His commissions were growing by leaps and bounds. This made things easier financially. Still, he tried not to put on aires, as he knew himself better than that. From meager stock he had sprung, and it was only his talent that brought him to where he was now. Talent was superficial at times, as it was always in the eye of the beholder. Eyesight goes bad with the changing of the times. While he had been mingling among the other guests, he had noticed her dancing with several different partners at several differing places during the evening. There she was again. So beautiful! Her gown was a silken-lace in a shade that defied definition. The way the lights played on it, with each new twist of her body, the hue shifted in its intensity, causing it to either grow darker, lighter, or change a shade altogether. At this moment it was a lavenderish-blue. No, a light rose. No, there, it changed again. Reddish now.
Her hair was so blonde it was nearly white. Lips so red they perfectly framed her smile, which was so sincere he knew she was totally enjoying herself. He found he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. The way she pirouetted with her left arm over her head, her fingers in perfect plumb with her nose. The music stopped as he politely excused himself from the group of well wishers who had steadily grown and changed with each passing minute. He wanted to get closer to her. He lost her! Where had she gone! The crowd had shifted to allow him passage, and he suddenly lost sight of her. He circled about, scanning the room for her blonde hair. There! In the midst of a group of young men, she sat with a glass of champagne, looking up at each as he spoke to her. Charming was an understatement. She truly seemed to enjoy each encounter. He walked over to the little gathering, his eyes firmly fixed on her, so as not to lose her again. Just then, their host began to call for everyone's attention.
Roan noticed her stand to see what was happening, and followed her gaze to the bandstand in the corner of the room. There, the host held his pocket watch just below his face, a half-drunken smile affixed thereon. "One minute 'til the 20th Century!"
Roan turned to find her again. He moved closer, not knowing if he should eavesdrop or not, but wanting very much to learn what the conversation was about. He was within earshot as he slowly turned, not wanting to look too eager to overhear.
"...not alone. I'm here with someone." It had to be her voice. How much like an angel's it was. How it captivated him.
"I've seen you with several gentlemen, but not one in particular, my lady," one young man said.
"I'm sorry if you've been misled by my apparent lack of a constant escort, Messieurs. I assure you it was not intentional. My escort has been busy with business talk, and I dislike those conversations. I do, however, love to dance. If you'll excuse me." She turned away from them with a smile. He looked over at her as she made her way in his direction.
"Ten seconds!" The host was nearly beside himself as he watched the second hand on his chronometer tick down to the last seconds of the century. Suddenly he threw his hands in the air, "We have turned the century!"
Just then, the band struck up La Marseillaise, and she was next to him. Smiling, he turned to her, "Happy New Year, Soleil!"
"Happy New Year, Roan!" she said as she kissed him. It was a warm, soft kiss, only a second in duration, but a lifetime in his heart.
"Would you care to dance?"
She looked at him again, causing his eyes to blink uncontrollably, as if he were staring into the sun. He gained control of them as she answered him. "I would gladly accompany you at the next dance."She smiled. "They've seen your sculpture, Roan," she said as she looked about the room. "The work is magnificent. I wish I had talent, to be able to make a thing of beauty for the world to marvel at."
He couldn't believe his ears. Here this woman of infinite beauty and grace wished she had talent. "I may shape stone, Soleil, but it's still stone. My wish is to someday create something as beautiful and alive as yourself. However, I'm afraid my talent is far too minuscule for that." She only smiled as they waltzed across the floor...
...He had to wipe his eyes again. The memories had flooded back into him, making his work seem distant.
He stepped back again, looking over his creation. He traced the line of the statue's garment with his finger. This part had already been polished. He wanted to make it as perfect as Soleil. After each section was finished, he polished it, leaving only the unfinished sections rough. Soon he would be polishing the right arm and hand. Just a few more touches here and there. He took the hand in his, how rough it felt, but how he longed to hold it. He remembered how they had held hands on the bank of the Seine, so long ago, so far away...
...They walked among the artists hawking their wares. Paintings; jewelry; pottery; sculpture. Several of the artists acknowledged him, acting glad to see him, but jealous of his fame. He had been there with them not so long before.
Her hair had a touch of yellow from the sun, and the parasol spun on her shoulder, not really shading her.
He walked beside her, and taking her hand in his, stopped. "Soleil, are you happy?"
She seemed a bit taken aback at this question, but smiled back. "Of course, Roan. I'm always happy when with you. Why do you ask?"
"I know that since meeting you, I, too, have been happier than I can ever remember. I want to ask for your hand, and will approach your father, but only with your permission." He was aware that she loved him, but wanted her to say it again and again. He loved her beyond words.
She blushed, but the smile never faded. "Oh, yes, Roan. I'm happy!" She kissed him sweetly. This was his defining moment in life. An angel was going to marry him! He squeezed her hand, bringing it to his lips and kissing her fingers...
...The tears made steady streams down his face. Looking up into her eyes, he asked aloud, "Was the sign with a touch as I kissed your fingers?" Memories when we're young, he told himself, love lingers so. Could She hear him?
Just then, a clap of thunder sounded, startling him. He turned to the windows, tall and undraped. A flash of lightning shown through, and another clap of thunder shook him. Another autumn storm. The leaves blew about outside the windows. He turned back to the statue. Winter called. He had not left the studio in days, sleeping little, and with no appetite. He would starve all but to see the stone become life.
He felt the rough stone arm, all the way up to the shoulder, and then to the polished breasts. They showed their silkiness. The shape of his heart was there, in her bosoms. He could almost see them rising and falling, as if she were breathing. Oh, how they used to shake as she laughed. She laughed so easily. Life was her joy. But he could remember times when joy escaped her for the moment...
...He melted when she wept. "Soleil, what is the matter?" She had been to see the doctor. Their marriage was two years old, and no children. She had gone seeking advice. Her mother had passed away years before, and no other close female relatives were available to consult about such a topic. Her tears told him more than he wanted to know. "No children, Roan. I'm barren." She collapsed against him, crying uncontrollably.
They sat in the sitting room of the doctor's house. He was a kindly middle aged man with a heavy mustache. He too wiped a tear from his eye. "Here, Monsieur, give her two pills to calm her until this passes. If she is still despondent in the morning, give her two more. No more." He patted Roan on the shoulder. "I'm sorry, Monsieur."
Roan helped Soleil to her feet. "Come, darling."
They returned to their apartment, where he put the little bottle of pills on the bedside table. "I don't need them, Roan. I'm just sad. I'm so sorry," she sobbed.
He bent to her, taking her chin in his hand, making her look into his eyes. "Soleil, I love you as much as I ever did."
"I'm afraid you won't look at me in the same light, now that I'm unable to provide you with children like other women could." She stifled another sobbing attack.
"My love, if children are what you want, we can always adopt. There are many waifs to choose from in Paris and beyond. I love you, barren or not. You will always shine in my eyes, Soleil." She wiped her eyes and nose with a kerchief.
"I love you, Roan."
He bent and kissed her mouth, the taste of her tears on her lips. The two embraced and fell together on the bed.
The next day, as he was getting ready to open his studio, the doctor appeared. "If I may have a moment of your time, Monsieur Trouffe`. I have news of your wife. I didn't want to tell her, for it would only make her more despondent."
"Doctor, she is aware of her barrenness. She has already recovered from her depression. We are thinking of adopting a child. Thank you for your attention."
"Monsieur, her barrenness is only a symptom of what is really wrong with her." The doctor was nervous.
"What are you talking about? She's in perfect health other than being barren." He was getting scared.
"Is there some place where we can sit down and talk, Monsieur?"
"Come in, Doctor," he said, opening the door, and leading the way into the studio strewn with clay and marble. It was a mess, but he knew where everything was. He led the doctor to a small chair he kept for his models. "Have a seat."
"I think you should be the one to sit, Monsieur," the doctor said gravely.
"I wish you'd get on with it, doctor. My wife is fine, I tell you!" He was getting angry with the little man. Soleil was the picture of health, and for this quack to come and say anything different was ridiculous.
"Fine, Monsieur. Your wife is barren because she has a consumptive disease. She is unable to sustain a pregnancy because of this, and I fear she has not long. Maybe a year, not more. I'm sorry."
Roan slumped down into the chair. "How...?"
"No one knows, Monsieur. But I do know that she suffers from it, and will die. I wanted to tell you privately to prepare you. I don't like to tell my patients they are going to die to their faces. I know it is a hard blow to take, so I merely told her she couldn't have babies. She will remain outwardly well for a while longer, but will deteriorate slowly until she dies of the disease. There is little else I can do for her except sedatives at this time. Come see me when her pain becomes apparent. I am sorry, Monsieur."
At that, the doctor let himself out, leaving Roan holding his head in his hands.
After sitting for hours in the studio, weeping, he walked home. He wiped his eyes before entering the apartment. There she was, his angel.
She rushed to him, "Roan, I talked to Father Jacob today about adoption, and he said..." Turning away, he took out his kerchief and wiped his eyes and nose.
"Have you caught cold, darling?" She asked, taking his shoulders. "You must have worked hard today. Your shoulders are so tight. Let me rub them."
Be brave for her, Roan, he told himself. Let her be happy...
...He shook the tears from his face, his hands busy with polishing the right arm. The dust fell from the arm, joining the rest at the bottom of the pedestal.
The work kept him warm. The fire in the stove was low, and the wind outside was whipping the leaves. He looked up at her face. "Like leaves, we touch. We learn." He once knew the story. He finished polishing and looked at his hands. Helpless hands, soul revealing...
...Soleil lay in the bed for weeks now. Her pain was great, but she tried to keep a smile handy for him. The doctor had left to get Father Jacob. The Last Rites would be needed soon. He sat beside her, stroking her hand and arm. She felt cold already. It was the dark of winter. He had a warm fire in the stove, but it didn't matter how much coal he piled in there, his Soleil was dying.
Her eyes fluttered open, and she half turned to him. "Roan, I love you. I'm so sorry for having to leave so soon. I know we'll meet again, Roan, in heaven."
He didn't want to speak of heaven or a God who could take her away from him. She was HIS angel. "I know you believe it." He didn't want her to know his feelings.
In the still light of dawn, she died...
...He lay on a cot he had put in so he wouldn't have to the leave his work to sleep. The room was as cold as it was outside, the fire long gone out of the stove.
He had finished the statue. It stood at the foot of the cot, polished and reflecting the slight glow from the street lights outside the windows. He was too weak to rise, having eaten not much more than a bit of bread and cheese in the last ten days. Realizing a form out of stone, his work, so absorbed him.
He looked up into Her eyes, pearl deep. Could She see him?
He kept drifting into a sleep, only to wake now and again, but now only infrequently. His eyes were as heavy as stones. Somehow, though, he could see through them now. A bright light shown through.
Was it the sun through the haze that made all her looks as warm as moonlight? All aglow was his room, dazed in this light.
In his room, his lady danced, she sang so completely. He would touch her. He would hold her. Laughing as they danced, highest colors touching others. Like leaves they touched, they see. They knew the story. As winter called, they both remembered all those many years ago.

Nine Trillion?! Is That Right?!

We are living in interesting times. As the old Chinese curse says, interesting times are not the best of times. Why should interesting times be worse? Well, can you honestly remember a time when the country was divided into red and blue? I think the last time was after the southern states seceded from the union. It's a topsy-turvy world we live in when the so-called Conservatives run up higher debts than the Liberals! The Senate voted today to raise the debt ceiling nearly half a trillion to $9 trillion! Are we to now come up with $30,000 from each man, woman and child in this country in order to satisfy this debt? Or are the Republicans going to hand this problem off to the Dems who are obviously going to win the next cycle of elections? The vote was close, 52 - 48, and the Dems know that this is going to be their baby to have to care for, that's why they were steaming mad about it. This administration inherited a surplus of nearly $5 trillion, and through it's tax cuts for the super-wealthy, disasters both natural and pre-emptive, have left us with a debt that will still be staggering 10 years from now.
So where is the money going? Well, some might think the troops are benefiting from this by having their material needs met, but when soldiers need to ask their families to hold raffles and bake sales to furnish them with body armor, and units have to salvage armor from junk yards to weld onto their humvees so they'll at least stand somewhat of a chance when hit by a road-side bomb or a missile, we have to ask ourselves that question. When the troops get to watch their morning briefings from Qatar on 60 inch plasma screen TV's that cost $15,000 each, (one unit has gone through 9 of them so far because the ever-present dust in Iraq gets into them and they don't work any more), and Haliburton gets $40 to ship a case of Coke to Iraq, when it could be purchased locally, and another Haliburton subsidiary gets paid $2.1 billion for shoddy work on the levees in New Orleans, (the government did contest $50 million of the bill, but wound up paying all but a small fraction of it because the rules say that a contractor still has to be paid even if their work doesn't measure up to the government's standards), and the Marines, who've borne the brunt of the war in Iraq, and are traditionally the least funded branch of the military, have to fly missions in Vietnam era helicopters because the funding for their replacement helicopter has been cut off, we still have to ask ourselves this question.
Isn't fiduciary malfeasance a crime? I know that if I were intrusted with someone else's money, and spent it on silly things, or passed it around to all my friends instead of taking care of it, investing it wisely, spending it on the things that the someone else needed, I'd be hauled into court and thrown into jail! Why hasn't anyone in Congress, (that's both the House and Senate), issued a call for impeachment?! I know that there's been a call for W's censure, but that's a slap on the wrist! Are we supposed to go through another 3 years of this?!
Time for the 3rd American Revolution. That's right. It would be the third. The southern states called their effort to remain the CSA, the 2nd American Revolution. The fact of the matter is that NOBODY in Washington D.C. is going to be able to take the reigns of power if the entire executive branch were thrown out. The whole place is thick with losers, wing-nuts who worry more about whether or not some billionaire has to pay taxes, or a gay or lesbian couple gets to have a ceremony and a piece of paper from the government saying that they can sleep together, or a woman gets to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, than how to carry out the true functions of government. It's not to force others to conform to YOUR will, but to protect them from the vagaries of life. We need to throw the entire government out, including the Supreme Court. There needs to be complete reformation of our republic. Thomas Jefferson himself said that a healthy democracy needs to have a revolution every 20 years or so to get rid of the bad blood. I'm not endorsing violence, or anarchy, but that we merely exercise our rights under the current government's rules, to vote them out.
Grass Roots. Honestly, it seems that Americans care more about their lawns than their government! We need to stop watching Reality TV and start watching CSPAN! We need to see what's really going on. Because Bill O'Reilly says that he's giving America a Fair & Balanced look at what's going on doesn't mean that he's telling the truth! The common people need to take charge of their political parties again, invent new ones if the current choices aren't what they want, and take back control of their future. Our posterity rests on what we do today. We need to stop putting off 'til tomorrow, because tomorrow never comes! It's always today. We can plan for tomorrow, but we can't implement the plan until today. As I see it, Today's Hope is being crucified between two thieves - Fear of Tomorrow and Regret over Yesterday. Would anyone in their right mind burden their children with a debt so large that they'll never get out of its shadow?
Operation American Freedom. Vote the idiots out! Take back control of the Congress and then impeach the entire Executive branch, install an interim Executive branch and call for special elections. Just like we do in other countries. Why should we be the only ones living under a dictatorship?

An Extemporaneous Look At Why The Two Party System Isn't Working Today

Are we really supposed to have political parties in the U.S? I'm sure there isn't any mention of them specifically in the Constitution, but then, they didn't start until after it was ratified and Washington was trying to get things rolling. It was Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton who started the party system, as each had very different ideas on how the Federal Government was supposed to be run, thus putting into motion the gridlock we face today, whereby the only means of getting anything done is by way of compromise, unless, of course, your party has a clear majority and can bully the country around with little recourse on the part of the party in the minority.
Is that democracy? Well, let's look the word up... - Democracy (from the Greek δημοκρατία (demokratia), δημος (demos) the common people + κρατειν (kratein) to rule + the suffix ία (ia), literally "the common people rule") is a system where the population of a society controls the government.
Hmmm... Common people? Let's see what the word Common means - As an adjective, common may denote:
Ordinary or most frequently occurring; prevalent. The property possessed by those who are vulgar, especially those who are working class. Well, I know I'm supposedly considered a working class person, but am I also to be considered vulgar as well? We all know what the Upper Crust consider as working class, those who have to work for a living, instead of simply continuing to draw breath in order to rule over the masses. But let's see what they refer to as vulgar - The term vulgar originally meant "of the common people", from the Latin vulgus. The term is now commonly used to describe things that are, from the viewpoint of the person using the word, in bad taste, indecent, or profane.
It is starting to look like the framers saw their creation as something that was a bit less than monumental, when you stand back and look at it. Government of; by; and for the Indecent and Profane? I think that the current administration has been reading their dictionaries! Can we really describe W or Cheney as anything but Indecent & Profane? With the White House in so many scandals and the rest of the Republicans running scared, distancing themselves as much as they can from the administration and its policies, it appears that neither Indecent nor Profane are welcome in the halls of Congress. When Indecent lies to the congress about WMD in order to start a war for nothing more than oil, his administration awards no-bid contracts to Haliburton, (a company which Profane has a large financial stake in), to re-build the infra-structure that his military just destroyed to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars, he comes to Congress and delivers a State Of The Union Address in which he states that we're too dependent on foreign oil, after awarding American oil companies more tax breaks after a record quarter profits, and the right to drill for more oil in an Alaskan wildlife refuge, refuses to allow stem-cell research by American scientists, thus opening the door to record profits for foriegn scientists who don't have the same controls over their work as here, describes the first female Chancelor of Germany during a joint news conference as "Really smart", brags to a graduating class during a commencement ceremony that, "Even a C student can grow up to be President", etc; etc; he basically earns the label INDECENT! When Profane tells a U.S. Senator on the floor of the Senate to "Go fu@k yourself", has a hunting accident, (he waited until the next day before even reporting the incident to police, or even the White House), travels throughout the country giving speeches in which he tries his best to scare the hell out of people by telling them that the only thing keeping mushroom clouds from filling the sky over America is the administration of INDECENT & PROFANE, then he also deserves his nickname.
So where does the two party system come in here? There are more than two political parties in this country. There are even more than two parties represented in Congress. There are even members of certain parties who identify more with the other party than their stated party of preference. There are those who change parties after being elected by the voters of the party he ran on. Does such a person really represent those who've elected them? Do the elected representatives really do our bidding in government? Or are they simply filling a seat and marking time 'til the next election, time spent more fruitfully standing on corners with their hands stretched WAY out, than actually drawing up legislation or even voting on it. When the leadership of the party in control of government is under indictment, on trial, or being investigated by the Justice Department, is there really true representation going on? If you take the meaning of democracy literally, then YES! Indecent and profane people take pleasure in being represented by like-minded people, don't they? How else could we be truly represented by these representatives we've elected to speak our minds than that they be truly representative of us? We have to ask the simple question, "Are these people who run for government truly representative of us?" I've asked myself, and have come to the conclusion that none of them are representative of me. I know that we can't each have a personal representative in government, or else we'd have the same problem they had in ancient Greece. What we have to rely on is finding some COMMON ground, a place where we can at least agree on a number of issues that need addressing, and then elect one of our own number to take those issues to the halls of government and address them, work with the other representatives who, likewise, have been elected to address these same issues, or even others, and fix the problems beseiging this country. When these issues have been addressed, these representatives can then return to their lives and we'll elect others to address new issues. Political parties would obviously still continue to exist, since very few of us can completely agree on everything, but the party of affiliation shouldn't be the final arbiter of what is accomplished in this country, but should merely be the platform on which certain issues are addressed. When the COMMON people begin to take their government seriously, actually learn how it works, (or, rather, how it's supposed to work), and then make their voices truly heard by taking back their right to vote, to truly vote, not push a button on a CRT screen which is programmed by companies affiliated by the very political parties that are vying for the votes that are supposedly being cast, hoping to continue to rule by fiat and not by true representation, then we will have representative government in this country. If it takes fourteen different parties to make a coalition government, then that's what it will have to take in order to have truly representative government.
So... Do you feel COMMON?