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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: epicure who wrote (137860)	6/24/2004 5:40:16 PM
From: cnyndwllr	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

X, I like to think that you confuse the failure to exercise power with the lack of power. In many ways the American public is a sleeping giant lying quietly in the sun and dozing. That's our preferred method of spending our time; relaxing, enjoying our families, working playing etc., but if we ever feel we're endangered or being harmed then we have all the tools to exercise democratic power and change the leadership, the laws and the "way things are." That is, we have such tools as long as the judiciary is in place to protect our constitutional rights by enforcing our wishes and as long as the executive branch police and military arms respect the decisions of the judiciary, and, as long as so many of us own guns. In the meantime we are becoming more and more the "oligarchy- run primarily by the wealthy and for the wealthy." They must remember, however, to walk lightly and leave us dozing in peace. That means that they can't get too crazy overseas and sacrifice too many of our children and our dollars in the pursuit of opaque goals.

To: epicure who wrote (137860)	6/24/2004 8:44:15 PM
From: ManyMoose	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

For starters, it's a republic. Run primarily for the wealthy? Well, a lot of us ARE wealthy, and by some standards (including my own) we are ALL wealthy. And we all have an equal vote. We can all express our opinions without fear. Fragmented? Yes. Clinton gave us the salad bowl and put the melting pot on the back burner -- no off the stove. It's pretty unmanageable, and though Jefferson left us with an ethic that suggests a little revolution might be a good thing, we are a LONG way from needing it. Corruption is relatively a MUCH bigger item in smaller countries, maybe even most countries of any size. Name me one that has a better, more ethical and dedicated civil service. The courts, I think, are our weakest link. Check out your Reader's Digest for a list of America's worst judges. Trial Lawyers have great access to them and great benefit for themselves, marginal benefit for the rest of us. I suggest counting your blessings. Message #137861 from X the Unknown at Jun 24, 2004 5:26 PM I don't think of what we have as a democracy. The "people" in this country have very little real power, nor, I think, could they get much power if they wanted it, short of a revolution. What we have in the US is an oligarchy- run primarily by the wealthy and for the wealthy. Of course the people in power keep in power by "safeguarding" those socialist programs that lull the electorate into a sense of well-being, but the real power is shared between people in positions of authority in government, wealthy individuals (who overlap significantly with people in government- due to the incestuous relationship between money and access to political power) and the individuals who run large corporations. I agree with you that the courts are the best avenue of access to power for a citizen in this country- but even the courts are manipulated by money and power. If we lived in a smaller, more manageably governed country the corruption would probably be less extreme- but America is too large, and too fragmented a society, to be governed in any way approaching "democracy," imo, of course.

To: epicure who wrote (137860)	6/25/2004 12:55:42 AM
From: Dr. Id	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

I agree with you that the courts are the best avenue of access to power for a citizen in this country- but even the courts are manipulated by money and power. And speaking of the courts: thesmokinggun.com Here Comes The Judge State: Bounce Oklahoma jurist for "pumping it up" on bench JUNE 24--While seated on the bench, an Oklahoma judge used a male enhancement pump, shaved and oiled his nether region, and pleasured himself, state officials charged yesterday in a petition to remove the jurist. According to the below complaint filed by the Oklahoma Attorney General, Donald D. Thompson, 57, was caught in the act by a clerk, trial witnesses, and his longtime court reporter (these unsettling first-hand accounts will make you wonder what's going on under other black robes). Visitors to Thompson's Creek County courtroom reported hearing a "swooshing" sound coming from the bench, a noise the court reporter said "sounded like a blood pressure cuff being pumped up." Thompson, the complaint charges, even pumped himself up during an August 2003 murder trial. The AG's petition quotes Thompson (pictured above) as admitting that the pump was "under the bench" during the murder case (and at other times), but he denied using the item, which was supposedly a "gag gift from a friend." DrId@justtryingtolightenyouguysupalittle.com