Why Our Political System Will Only Get WORSE
By Four Walls
@FourWalls (68132)
United States
February 20, 2016 5:25pm CST
A friend posted something on his Facebook wall about Kentucky senator Mitch McConnell's statement in the wake of the death of Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia. McConnell said no justice should be confirmed until after the 2016 presidential election. My friend, a Democrat, chewed McConnell up one side and down the other.
When I pointed out that New York senator Chuck Schumer said the exact same thing when the president was George W. Bush, no one wanted to hear that.
And this is why the U.S. political system smells like an outhouse and and will only get worse.
Wrong is wrong. Period. End of statement. Wrong is NOT okay if the person stating something or doing something has your party affiliation after his/her name.
If Republicans were upset with what Schumer said in 2006 when "their guy" was in the White House, then they should also be upset now with Mitch McConnell articulating the same sentiment. By the same token, if Democrats are having a cow over McConnell's statement, then they should also blast Schumer's stand.
In order for our nation to continue to survive we MUST set a standard for what is right and what is wrong, and abide by it. It cannot come with an asterisk that says "but if the person has a (D) [or an (R)] after his/her name it's okay." We are at the point in our country that, if Ben Carson (I use him because he's a doctor) announced that he has discovered the cure for cancer, the Democrats would dismiss it as a "publicity stunt" or a "republican ploy." By the same token, if Bill Clinton negotiated world peace tomorrow the Republicans would blast him for it. We don't think there's any good ideas coming from "the other side" of the political spectrum anymore.
This must stop. Not all Republicans are good and not all Democrats are bad. Not all liberals are angels and not all conservatives are the devil incarnate. We have to work together for the good of our country...and ourselves.
5 people like this
4 responses
@OneOfMany (12150)
• United States
21 Feb 16
I think we need to stop electing politicians. Let's get scientists and engineers and economists into the government and reform it rather than playing a system that is completely broken.
3 people like this
@OneOfMany (12150)
• United States
22 Feb 16
@bagarad You see a lot of that any more. I don't see how so many candidates can be so corrupt. Some of them should be in jail rather than campaigning.
2 people like this
@DWDavis (25805)
• United States
21 Feb 16
I agree with your stand. We need a strong third party to give the two entrenched parties a run for their money, and we need to vote every single member of Congress out of a job. That is why, years ago, I started a movement called DRAIN which stands for Don't Re-elect Anyone In November. The only way to fix our broken system is to get rid of all the broken parts, the people who now hold office.
2 people like this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
25 Feb 16
@DWDavis IQ isn't the problem. The problem is laziness about learning the real positions of candidates and instead getting one's political information about them from short soundbites in commercials and selected media quotes. If Trump weren't a celebrity, the media would not be giving him all the free publicity. How many people get all their information from TV and never bother to visit candidate web sites?
2 people like this
@FourWalls (68132)
• United States
21 Feb 16
The general problem is, since they say "all politics is local," so many people think, "well, my congressman/senator is good. It's that lousy congressman/senator in Texas/Oregon/Nebraska." No, it really is your congressman/senator. Look at the two senators I have: Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul.
And that leads to the bigger issue: we can't get quality individuals to run for office. Believe me, McConnell was the lesser of two evils in both the primary and the general election.
I remember a sitcom I used to watch in the 80's lamenting "We can't get a Mr. Smith to go to Washington anymore." Look at our presidential front runners: one belongs in prison and one belongs in a looney bin. Heck of a choice, isn't it? 
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25805)
• United States
21 Feb 16
@FourWalls This year's election campaign reminds me of the saying, "A democracy gets the government it deserves." I wonder what I ever did to deserve a choice between Hillary and The Donald. Would we be better off if people had to pass an IQ test to vote? Because such a requirement would definitely thin out the Trump supporters.
2 people like this
@irishidid (8687)
• United States
21 Feb 16
They won't and that's why were so screwed up.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (68132)
• United States
21 Feb 16
The bad thing is that it isn't just the politicians. It's us, the people who elect them, too. A lot of people just cannot get over that (D) or (R) after a person's name.
I'd love to see us have an election where candidates gave us their ideas and we voted for them based on that, not whether they were one party or the other.
2 people like this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
21 Feb 16
@FourWalls Our country did not start out with a party system. I'd like to see the end of parties so that people could run on issues and ideas and raise support from those who agree with them. Without parties, Congressional leaders wouldn't have the large organizations that enable them to get so much control. Unfortunately, Goerge Washington was the only president who was elected before the parties started being organized.
1 person likes this
