Originally Posted By MPierce >> Strangely enough, we're not an actual democracy << That is correct. We are a Republic.
Originally Posted By Sara Tonin I don't think anybody wins when the main topic of conversation with you is "Who's the worst president?".
Originally Posted By MPierce >> I must confess I'm a bit confused. It sounds like you're unhappy with the Executive Branch, which executes the laws and is headed by the President. So are you saying you're upset with the President? Or perhaps the Legislative Branch, which passes those laws. Is that where the trouble is? << Yes you could say that I disagree with both the Executive, and Legislative branches of the Government. I have been disagreeing with them on their fiscal responsibility or their lack there of for approximately the past nine years. I don't confide my rants to these boards, I let my legislators know via mail. I really don't know why you're confused about that Socrates. I think I've made myself quite clear that I think those 2 branches of the Government have been fiscally irresponsible for a very long time. It has absolutely nothing to do with party affiliation. It has everything to do with how the government is, and has been, handeling my money, period. I would be more than happy to clear up anything else that remains unclear to you about my feels or why I feel that way, if you just tell me what it is. I hope everyone will pleas pardon me for being way off topic. I felt that I should answer question though when they are directed at me.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> There was a time when I hated government corruption (and that covers 80% of ours on a good day) more than Big Business/Wall Street and the morons who run TWDC ... now, I'm so disgusted with all of them and everyone, I think I'm just gonna decide to hate George Clooney, Tom Hanks and Jennifer Aniston instead. << Why hate actors, especially good ones. They have completely different views both socially, and politically from mine for the most part, but that doesn't change their acting ability. They have absolutely no effect on my life other than to enrich it with a great job of acting, and then only if I choose to participate. Government on the other hand has a grip on my lower extremities, and I have no choice but to participate. My only recoarse is to speak out with both word, and vote. Thanks for the opportunity to reenforce my beliefs, my good friend Spirit, I also know you are very much involved in political ideology. Now snap out of your funk, and go snort some Pixie Dust, and go dream of Disney Fairies. >> Don't eat eggs before bed! << But I love deviled eggs with a dash of Tabasco at bedtime!
Originally Posted By MPierce >> I don't think anybody wins when the main topic of conversation with you is "Who's the worst president?". << I must have missed something in here. Who brought up the topic of Who's the worst President?
Originally Posted By Socrates I think I understand now -- when you say "government", you're talking about the Legislative & Executive branches. I'll try to remember that. And that's a good point that we're actually a republic, although I'm not quite sure what the practical distinction is. In any event, I prefer to think that the government is really us, since we elect our leaders and they come from our ranks. In fact, all government employees come from our ranks, making them no smarter (or dumber) than the population as a whole. Socrates "I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance."
Originally Posted By MPierce >> In any event, I prefer to think that the government is really us, since we elect our leaders and they come from our ranks. In fact, all government employees come from our ranks, making them no smarter (or dumber) than the population as a whole. << I think they start out being us. That is exactly what the Founding Fathers had in mind. A limited Government with representitives of the people serving limited terms, and then being replaced by other duely elected representitives. Somehow the mindset of Washington D.C. takes over, and they become blinded by the power they now possess. They become full time politicians, and serving the people that elected them takes a back seat to being reelected. I guess in the end we are truly at fault because we continue to return the same people into the office they've held for years. Look exactly where that has gotten us to at this time in History.
Originally Posted By Socrates So would you agree with the statement "Under our system, we get the government we deserve."? Socrates "The unexamined life is not worth living."
Originally Posted By MPierce Well not completely. While campaigning politicians sometimes make promises that they end up not keeping. Sometimes because they are just outright lying, and sometimes it becomes impractical because of unforseen problems. I guess you could say we get the chance to elect the person that we feel is right for the job. Sometimes they turns out to be different than what we expected. The good thing is, we have the chance to vote them out of office when their term is up. Personally I would like to see us get away from the electorial college system. I also think it should be a requirement that you receive better than 50% of the vote to win. While our system is not perfect, I still think it's pretty good.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Strangely enough, we're not an actual democracy >> You can't be an actual democracy, or anything even close, when the system is tilted toward Big Business and money and power (almost) always is allowed to trounce the little man/small business owner. As a pinko Commie pal of mine is fond of saying 'When you have to constantly tell the rest of the world that you are the best and no one comes close, you come off sounding like the blowhard in the bar preening about his sexual conquests, which largely consist of alternating between his left hand and his right'.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Somehow the mindset of Washington D.C. takes over, and they become blinded by the power they now possess. They become full time politicians, and serving the people that elected them takes a back seat to being reelected.>> It's never the 'people' that elect the officials. That's a HUGE problem. It's the special interests, the lobbys, the lawyers, the corporations. And, to be fair, the officials largely do a damn fine job of representing THOSE people who got them elected! ;-) <<I guess in the end we are truly at fault because we continue to return the same people into the office they've held for years. Look exactly where that has gotten us to at this time in History.>> Are we talking about real history? Or Texas history where we write school history textbooks to make certain folks happy?
Originally Posted By alexbook >>I don't think anybody wins when the main topic of conversation with you is "Who's the worst president?".<< Warren Harding?
Originally Posted By MPierce >> Are we talking about real history? Or Texas history where we write school history textbooks to make certain folks happy? << To the Victor's go the spoils. Lesson number one. If you wish to write History....win the War!
Originally Posted By Longhorn12 >>Lesson number one. If you wish to write History....be white!<< Fixed it for ya.
Originally Posted By MPierce >>> >>Lesson number one. If you wish to write History....be white!<< <<< >> Fixed it for ya. << Those aren't my words. What are you some sort of racial bigot?
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<To the Victor's go the spoils. Lesson number one. If you wish to write History....win the War!>> What about the culture war? Why do so many folks have such a skewed view of reality? I guess I'm basically only asking my pal, Pierce ... because the only place anyone talks anymore on this site is World Events and I don't venture there except to read which posters are crazy and which posters should likely be institutionalized! I'm guessing that Disney has done a great job of killing forums like this both directly (Disney Blog, D23) and indirectly (getting into bed and doing the nasty with anyone who will simply whore their product). Or maybe everyone is just really bored with Disney ... I could understand that at WDW ... but even the three DL boards here have less traffic then some decomissioned parts of Route 66! There's definitely something going on because it's affecting all Disney fan sites ... but I live for conspiracy theories!
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 >>> >>Lesson number one. If you wish to write History....be white!<< <<< >> Fixed it for ya. << <<Those aren't my words. What are you some sort of racial bigot?>> Without getting all political (which I will come off sounding like it anyway), I can't help but feel that a lot more folks are racists in this country than we'd like to believe ... and that so many people who object to Obama's policies do so because he simply isn't the same old WASPs that have run the world from 1600 anymore. All this anger of healthcare for people?!?!? I don't care whether you agree with it, disagree with it, or (like me) think it has flaws but support it because it is so much better than the status quo. But where were Tea Parties and such vitriol and anger when the prior Prez started a war that has cost us billions (or trillions, who really knows?) and countless lives for NO good reason? Where were they when using 9/11 as a pretense he tore up our Constitution and basic rights? Where were they when the current guy didn't immediately (or yet now) shread the Patriot Act? ... I dunno ... just thinking out loud and since no one is here I doubt anyone will join in ... but it sure seems like all the racists and all the 'I don't like that he's not one of us, but I'll keep an open mind' racists are out in force. But what do I know? I hate WDW and have been calling folks 'babykillers' all day!
Originally Posted By bobbelee9 Do the president and the other politicians have the same insurance the rest of us do?
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< I'm guessing that Disney has done a great job of killing forums like this both directly (Disney Blog, D23) and indirectly (getting into bed and doing the nasty with anyone who will simply whore their product). Or maybe everyone is just really bored with Disney ... I could understand that at WDW ... but even the three DL boards here have less traffic then some decomissioned parts of Route 66! There's definitely something going on because it's affecting all Disney fan sites ... but I live for conspiracy theories! >>> I do think I have some concrete answers for you: 1. Disney has launched its own Disney Parks Blog. Although the information is all sanitized for release by the company, it does offer quite a variety of information, including lots of "behind the scenes" stuff and talk about things that are not officially announced (or at least being currently promoted). It used to be that in order to know anything about what was going on other than the major promotions for things already in service, you had to turn to third-party sites. Take for example DCA's upcoming World of Color. If it were 10 years ago, you *might* have at most a vague press release about it by now, but with nothing else official until just before it opened: then, when it opened, there would be the full court press to get it on every morning and evening news show within driving distance of DL, there would be TV ads, billboards, ticket promos, and the like, but nothing before then. Then came along message boards, with speculation, eyewitness reports of construction activities, and the inevitable leaking of details (some of them true! ) that come from a company that large. But now that you can get pre-release information directly from the horse's mouth, there's less need to turn to message boards. This is the smaller of the two. 2. By far, the larger issue is the evolution of social media. People may be spending the same amount of online time with Disney stuff, but in addition to the official Disney blog, a great deal of it is spent on Facebook and Twitter, especially the part where a sense of community developed around the message boards. I'm not sure what can be done about it (also begging the question of "should anything be done?"). Message boards and fan communities like LP and several others offer something that cannot be obtained from an official corporate blog site. And, the sense of interaction just isn't the same on social networking sites where everyone's fighting to come up with the most clever quip that can fit in 140 characters rather than having an actual discussion, let alone the issue of the threads on message boards being much more persistent, such that they can be used as references by all and introductions by new users.
