Recently in Assumptions of Democracy Category

No journey is ever begun until hope fills the first steps for reaching the destination.

The American people want a capable government, able to bring back a robust economy, and healthy future for all American's benefit. Poll after poll reflects an approval rating of Congress in the teens or low 20 percent range. It is a gross distraction under any president's administration to accuse the president of being responsible for the incompetence and ineptitude of Congress. Our Constitution stipulates that Congress legislates and our President executes what Congress legislates.

"To destroy this invisible Government, to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day." --Theodore Roosevelt. 

There is a general perception among the majority of Americans today that our political system is corrupt and our government is failing as a result. Most recently, the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators speak to the very same kind of corruption which Theodore Roosevelt spoke of back in the 1920's. When government legalizes bribery and blackmail, these do not cease to be acts of corruption. This is precisely what has taken place in American government and politics, corrupting our system to the point of growing demonstrations in our American streets.

American voters and their democracy are under attack, as politicians seek to change election rules to benefit incumbents, regardless of the will of the majority of voters. America's workers are under attack as American corporations and companies, who contribute to election campaigns in record amounts, seek cheaper labor overseas. America's political system is broken. And it is ruining the the government which made this nation great. If voters do not remove these politicians responsible for America's decline, our democracy will be lost, and our vote rendered ever more meaningless.

The demonstrations in Wisconsin continue, and represent something great about America, and something horribly broken. The Wisconsin demonstrations are a testament to the brilliance of our Constitutional design insuring the right of the people to publicly voice their opinion about government without fear of retaliation or necessity of violence. They are also a symptom of the gridlocked and grossly ineffective political system that governs America's present, and ill-fated future.

Having a political voice in a nation's government is one of the most disarming and undermining weapons against groups advocating revolution. Political voice results in political evolution, not revolution, in nearly all cases. Iran and Egypt are opposites today in how they respond to their people's demand for a political voice. The outcomes are likely to be just as opposite. But, the U.S. must take care, now, as well.

Egyptians are undertaking their final lap into the 20th and 21st centuries. The people of several Middle Eastern nations including, Yemen and Tunisia, are also pushing to finish this final lap toward political modernity which, marked the 20th century in other places like Japan, Germany, South Eastern Asian nations, and the Eastern Communist Bloc nations, after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Former U.S. House Majority Leader, Tom DeLay (R) of Texas, is scheduled to stand trial in Austin, Texas. The charge states he illegally sent $190,000 in corporate money through the RNC (Republican National Committee) to help elect GOP Texas legislative candidates in 2002.

Dear Sen. Cornyn,

In your reply to my petition regarding the Citizen's United case, you said:

"I agree with the Supreme Court's decision to strike down a law that violates the intent of the First Amendment, which reads: "Congress shall make no law...abridging the Freedom of Speech, or of the Press."

Put aside the finger pointing. Let's look to a permanent solution to British Petroleum's catastrophe and others which will surely follow if the status quo prevails. The heart of the problem is not difficult to grasp, and the solution rests with the voters.

Put a John Wingnut in a room with 6 doors. Every door leads back into the same room, paired to another of the other 5 doors. As John Wingnut approaches door #5, it dawns on him that the remaining two doors may be no more liberating than the previous ones. His anger and frustration are now building to high levels, but, doors 5 and 6 are tried, nonetheless. Now, John Wingnut is going crazy and is racking his brain for any other option. He wants out. All doors lead back to the same room. John Wingnut now so hates this room, he will destroy it to get himself free of it.