[hellosailor]

Rick-
"We live in a democratic system of government and people can change what they don't like at the poll."
SURELY you're not that naive. Even Al Gore (who I've never been fond of) openly came out about that on the Charlie Rose show some weeks ago. Charlie said something about the way surely everyone can't keep blaming "that man" (as Hillary & the Dems refer to Bush) for everything, and Gore up and openly committed political party suicide, he said something like "Charlie, let's all be frank about it, the problem is not that man and the problem is not that party, the problem is the whole system".
Vote at the poll? For who? These days, the onyl folks who run for office in any big way (i.e. federal) are folks who are owed enough favors--or have enough dollars--to bankroll a very expensive campaign. And every one of them has an agenda, all too often along the lines of "Vote for me and I'll set you free" (as the song goes) or better yet "Vote for me and I'll save you! From guns, terrorists, republicans, mexicans...." fill in the buzzword you choose to replace any of those.

Let's face it, the average voter can't do squat. To put someone in office--aside from a few flukes--you need corporate entities, lobbyists, bankrolls. And then, a candidate who can buck the system and still get anything done. Which might be impossible--the system is firmly entrenched and designed to grind troublemakers into the dirt. The voters don't want to be bothered by issues. They can't handle the math for budgets. And they are SO impressed by the promises that they will be SAVED if they vote for the right person. (Yeah, right.)

You know why Bush won, twice? Well, as a lot of the Democrats who voted for him said, "He was the best candidate the Democrats [sic] had to offer." Not because they wanted to vote for him--but because the other party could't put together a platform of any kind besides [as they actually said in the Democratic debate last time around] "it doesn't matter who you vote for as long as it is not that man". Some platform. Real impressive.

The system simply is not working, and has not worked in a long time. The folks who control it are quite happy about that. The voters? Are vaguely aware of it, but they figure if they vote for the right people, they'll be saved. Just like those people promised them, time and again. A democracy can't work that way. Neither can a Republic--which is what we are contracted to have.