Indeed. Congress though is different than people. https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/tucker-carlson-appeasement-vladimir-putin-nato/2022/02/03/id/1055382/
I merely observe that no swamp drained, no wall built, and Pfizer at warp speed and Trump administration has no interest in even keeping up appearances when it comes to the revolving…
I merely observe that no swamp drained, no wall built, and Pfizer at warp speed and Trump administration has no interest in even keeping up appearances when it comes to the revolving door and ethics. In Common Cause’s 2017 State of the Swamp Report, we highlighted the administration’s rejection of an ethics course for senior White House staff, Cabinet nominees and other political appointees.
The move was fitting, as the president’s Cabinet had more former corporate leaders than any other in U.S. history.
A study last year found more than 160 former lobbyists serving in the Trump administration—and those industry ties point to an administration that puts the priorities of large corporations over those of the American people.
Sometimes it's unfortunate we have presidents with limited powers, not kings with unlimited power. Trump spent 4 years besieged and outnumbered. Those who preferred different outcomes could have lent a hand. Few did. As they say in the swamp, some days you drain the swamp, some days the swamp drains you. Maybe he'll do better next time. No one else will.
Buck stops where exactly when you are not an "Apprentice?" I recognize we want a hero. The guy from Queens is not even an anti-hero. Pal of Epstein, Clinton, owned a building with Soros, fired the guy who got him in power, appointed big business lobbyists and in general only looks good because we like fake meat between the two slices of fake bread Obama and Biden. There is no one coming to our emotional rescue. We must govern ourselves or stay on our knees praying this time it's different. We are fooled again and again just like Charlie Brown.
We shouldn't expect heroes. Heroes are just ordinary people thrust into extraordinary circumstances. We shouldn't expect others to rescue us. If there is rescuing to be done, it's up to us. As always, we'll hire people to administer things for us. If we stay on our knees, we'll take whatever they give us. The best we can do is choose the best we can find, and support them the best we can. If we're fooled, that's our fault. If we demand perfection, we'll be disappointed. If we participate, we'll make things better.
I concur. On the other hand participate is exactly what Soviet citizens did. In our type of one man one vote system machines and corrupt officials and corrupt courts determine outcomes, not the voter. And before the machine vote fraud was rather common. As were political machines like LBJ ran in Texas and Daly in Chicago. So it seems to me each electoral cycle is fraud and we go along because we want to be "Administered" or think it necessary. Perhaps participation politically is not useful in this fashion of choosing which crook is best for us. Maybe it lies in social participation. Voting might be the least important, or it might be much less important than fully engaged civic participation. We have voted for a couple hundred years and arrived right here in a very bad place.
Everybody is relatively crooked. It's our nature. Ever drive 66 mph? Yeah, me neither. That would be crooked. The way to keep opportunists from becoming outright scofflaws is accountability. If we watch our rulers closely and speak out when they misbehave, they won't stray too far. Others haven't done it well enough. We have to do it better.
I am not the State. If I break a law the consequences are slight. If Congress breaks the law the consequences are not. Elected representatives are not representing us. Which is why the droll idea arose: The idea of forcing Congresscritters to wear NASCAR-style coveralls with the logos of their financial backers has been bandied about before, but here it is in official White House petition form.
Since most politicians' campaigns are largely funded by wealthy companies and individuals, it would give voters a better sense of who the candidate they are voting for is actually representing if the company's logo, or individual's name, was prominently displayed upon the candidate's clothing at all public appearances and campaign events. Once elected, the candidate would be required to continue to wear those "sponsor's" names during all official duties and visits to constituents. The size of a logo or name would vary with the size of a donation. For example, a $1 million dollar contribution would warrant a patch of about 4" by 8" on the chest, while a free meal from a lobbyist would be represented by a quarter-sized button. Individual donations under $1000 are exempt.
As funny as this is, it would be easy-ish to turn this into a browser plugin that looked for politicians' names in the pages you looked at, and automatically surrounded them with a semi-opaque halo of corporate logos that you could click on to see more.
Require Congressmen & Senators to wear logos of their financial backers on their clothing, much like NASCAR drivers do.
NASCAR uniforms are only visible to those who look closely. Logano won yesterday, and I don't remember who his sponsors were. I'm fairly confident his sponsors didn't directly alter the outcome. The best way to identify corruption is vigilant observers. We used to rely on journalists to do that for us. Some of them gave been bought off, too, so we need to focus on those still willing to do their job diligently. And most fortunately, nobody can hide misbehavior from the internet. Every corrupt act gets exposed. The important task for the public is to care.
Our language has improved considerably in the intervening hundred years. But our visibility of the actions behind the curtain of the circus has also improved.
A little yes and a big maybe. I think our average person is absolutely more able to enquire and find out more if they so choose. Do they so choose? Almost never. Just as in the days of Mencken we laugh, cry, curse, shrug and play dead. We choose lesser evils according to partisan bias, but as was said "I do not know if the people of the United States would vote for superior men if they ran for office, but there can be no doubt that such men do not run."
Indeed. Congress though is different than people. https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/tucker-carlson-appeasement-vladimir-putin-nato/2022/02/03/id/1055382/
I merely observe that no swamp drained, no wall built, and Pfizer at warp speed and Trump administration has no interest in even keeping up appearances when it comes to the revolving door and ethics. In Common Cause’s 2017 State of the Swamp Report, we highlighted the administration’s rejection of an ethics course for senior White House staff, Cabinet nominees and other political appointees.
The move was fitting, as the president’s Cabinet had more former corporate leaders than any other in U.S. history.
A study last year found more than 160 former lobbyists serving in the Trump administration—and those industry ties point to an administration that puts the priorities of large corporations over those of the American people.
Sometimes it's unfortunate we have presidents with limited powers, not kings with unlimited power. Trump spent 4 years besieged and outnumbered. Those who preferred different outcomes could have lent a hand. Few did. As they say in the swamp, some days you drain the swamp, some days the swamp drains you. Maybe he'll do better next time. No one else will.
Buck stops where exactly when you are not an "Apprentice?" I recognize we want a hero. The guy from Queens is not even an anti-hero. Pal of Epstein, Clinton, owned a building with Soros, fired the guy who got him in power, appointed big business lobbyists and in general only looks good because we like fake meat between the two slices of fake bread Obama and Biden. There is no one coming to our emotional rescue. We must govern ourselves or stay on our knees praying this time it's different. We are fooled again and again just like Charlie Brown.
We shouldn't expect heroes. Heroes are just ordinary people thrust into extraordinary circumstances. We shouldn't expect others to rescue us. If there is rescuing to be done, it's up to us. As always, we'll hire people to administer things for us. If we stay on our knees, we'll take whatever they give us. The best we can do is choose the best we can find, and support them the best we can. If we're fooled, that's our fault. If we demand perfection, we'll be disappointed. If we participate, we'll make things better.
I concur. On the other hand participate is exactly what Soviet citizens did. In our type of one man one vote system machines and corrupt officials and corrupt courts determine outcomes, not the voter. And before the machine vote fraud was rather common. As were political machines like LBJ ran in Texas and Daly in Chicago. So it seems to me each electoral cycle is fraud and we go along because we want to be "Administered" or think it necessary. Perhaps participation politically is not useful in this fashion of choosing which crook is best for us. Maybe it lies in social participation. Voting might be the least important, or it might be much less important than fully engaged civic participation. We have voted for a couple hundred years and arrived right here in a very bad place.
Everybody is relatively crooked. It's our nature. Ever drive 66 mph? Yeah, me neither. That would be crooked. The way to keep opportunists from becoming outright scofflaws is accountability. If we watch our rulers closely and speak out when they misbehave, they won't stray too far. Others haven't done it well enough. We have to do it better.
I am not the State. If I break a law the consequences are slight. If Congress breaks the law the consequences are not. Elected representatives are not representing us. Which is why the droll idea arose: The idea of forcing Congresscritters to wear NASCAR-style coveralls with the logos of their financial backers has been bandied about before, but here it is in official White House petition form.
Since most politicians' campaigns are largely funded by wealthy companies and individuals, it would give voters a better sense of who the candidate they are voting for is actually representing if the company's logo, or individual's name, was prominently displayed upon the candidate's clothing at all public appearances and campaign events. Once elected, the candidate would be required to continue to wear those "sponsor's" names during all official duties and visits to constituents. The size of a logo or name would vary with the size of a donation. For example, a $1 million dollar contribution would warrant a patch of about 4" by 8" on the chest, while a free meal from a lobbyist would be represented by a quarter-sized button. Individual donations under $1000 are exempt.
As funny as this is, it would be easy-ish to turn this into a browser plugin that looked for politicians' names in the pages you looked at, and automatically surrounded them with a semi-opaque halo of corporate logos that you could click on to see more.
Require Congressmen & Senators to wear logos of their financial backers on their clothing, much like NASCAR drivers do.
NASCAR uniforms are only visible to those who look closely. Logano won yesterday, and I don't remember who his sponsors were. I'm fairly confident his sponsors didn't directly alter the outcome. The best way to identify corruption is vigilant observers. We used to rely on journalists to do that for us. Some of them gave been bought off, too, so we need to focus on those still willing to do their job diligently. And most fortunately, nobody can hide misbehavior from the internet. Every corrupt act gets exposed. The important task for the public is to care.
Yes the public. Mencken's public. https://monadnock.net/mencken/american.html
Our language has improved considerably in the intervening hundred years. But our visibility of the actions behind the curtain of the circus has also improved.
A little yes and a big maybe. I think our average person is absolutely more able to enquire and find out more if they so choose. Do they so choose? Almost never. Just as in the days of Mencken we laugh, cry, curse, shrug and play dead. We choose lesser evils according to partisan bias, but as was said "I do not know if the people of the United States would vote for superior men if they ran for office, but there can be no doubt that such men do not run."
Alexis de Tocqueville