[olug] OT: evil poll

[T. J. Brumfield]

In theory, Republicans and Conservatives are supposed to stand for
small-government.  Some real hard-core "true Conservatives" and
Libertarians believe strongly in a strict interpretation of the
Consitution in which the Federal government should have no power
unless it is given to them in the Constitution.  In theory, I find it
hard to argue with this concept.  In reality, we as a society have
come to expect, no demand government services for which the
Constitution makes no mention.  The Postal Service and Air Force come
to mind.  Heck, after we established a precedent with 9/11 victims,
people now believe the government owes you money if bad things happen
to you.

Liberals are supposed to stand for individual liberty.  They are known
more for large government because they are supposed to stand for
government services to take care of the individual, and make sure the
individual is not abused, lost or forgotten.  Joe Biden and Hillary
Clinton are two of the biggest figures in the Democratic party right
now, and both have been under fire from Liberal watch groups for not
being Liberal.  Obama has come under fire for crossing party lines as
well, but his voting record does rank him as being very Liberal.

In reality and practice, the two major parties are far more similar
than you would believe.

Both parties voted to go to war.  Both parties overspend.  Both
parties abuse earmarks.  Both parties lie.  Both parties protect
special interests and large corporations.  Neither party hardly ever
touches upon any major reform.  Both parties receive heavy
compensation from the financial district, and oil companies.

Not to bag on one party, but rather to prove the above point, the
current Democrat controlled Congress was elected on the promise of
fixing the economy, ending the war, restoring civil liberties, and
ending the wiretap program.  None of these things happened.  Is that a
slam on Democrats?  Well, the same problems existed under the previous
Republican congress.  Neither side kept promises when in office.
Neither side had our interests in mind.

While we focus so heavily on President, most Americans can't tell you
who is going to Washington from their state, or anything about their
candidates.  We pay almost no attention to Congress, where most of the
real power is.  We pay little attention to the fact that almost
everyone in Washington is letting us down, and that party lines are
only a pretext for partisan bickering while neither side is addressing
the problems the country is facing.

I know this sounds very cynical, but what the country need is serious
reform, and that is extremely unlikely to happen with either candidate
so long as the current two-party system controls Washington.

-- T. J.

On Wed, Oct 29, 2008 at 6:29 PM, Dave Rowe <dave at roweware.com> wrote:
> T. J. Brumfield wrote:
>> Ron Paul is a very good speaker with some very interesting ideas.  He
>> isn't a Republican by any means however.  He is very Libertarian, and
>> in some ways I find their views a bit extreme.
>>
>> I've always thought it would be a great tool to have a survey that
>> suggested candidates based upon how well your views matched with
>> theirs.  In the internet age, can't we provide something like this at
>> the polls, especially when we have more candidates on various ballots
>> than we usually know anything about?  I'd rather not vote a straight
>> party ticket since no major party represents my beliefs.
>>
>> -- T. J.
>>
>
> Personally, I'd take Ron Paul's brand of 'Republican' over the current
> mainstream brand any day.  I think his perspective of 'small government'
> is more in line with my beliefs than the current Republican idea of big
> spending.
>
> We now have Republicrats and Demolicans.  Too much gray.
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